Registered Manager: Solo Children's Residential Care - #2181865

Location: Bootle, Liverpool (L20 area)

Salary: Up to £50,000 per annum (depending on experience) + Performance Bonus & Registration Incentives

Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm (40 hours/week), flexible management presence + shared senior on-call rota

Are you an ambitious Deputy Manager ready for the backing to step up to your first Registered Manager post, or an established manager looking for a calm, settled solo home with clear regional expansion? Whether you're an experienced leader seeking a values-led provider, or a proven Deputy Manager keen and ready to take the reins of your own service, we want to hear from you.

At MerseyCare Children's Services, we believe children's care works best when it's personal, relational, and built on real heart. We don't believe in managing young people through rigid rules and corporate red tape; policies are there to support and enable our care, not dictate it.

Why join MerseyCare Children's Services?

• The Ideal Step-Up Opportunity: Stepping into our calm, settled solo environment, you'll have the direct, hands-on mentorship of our Director and a highly experienced Responsible Individual bringing over 23 years of residential sector leadership.

• Clear Career Pathway to Dual Registration: Take the helm of our founding Bootle service today, with a direct route to oversee our second opening as a dual-home Registered Manager as our service grows.

• Low-Arousal, Relational Care: Experience residential childcare the way it was meant to be practiced. With minimal incidents, a generous activity budget, gym and martial arts memberships, and regular weekend trips away, the home is a vibrant, fun, and purposeful living environment.

• Comprehensive Registration & Training Backing: Full executive support to guide you smoothly through your Ofsted fit-person interview and registration, backed by fully funded Level 5 qualification pathways if you're currently completing your studies.

We believe that residential childcare should feel like a true home from home - relaxed, informal, and built on unconditional positive regard. We lead through connection before correction, championing a person-centred, trauma-informed approach where children feel secure, celebrated, and deeply understood.

As a Registered Manager with us, you'll never feel isolated or feel a lack of support. Our owners and Responsible Individual maintain a proactive and visible presence, ensuring you have the resources, staffing budgets, and executive backing to lead with confidence. We value personality, open-door leadership, and mutual respect; we only get serious when we need to, keeping the day-to-day atmosphere enjoyable, energetic, and focused on life-changing outcomes.

About Our Home:

The home features comfortable young person's spaces, a bright communal lounge, a spacious modern family kitchen and dining room, two staff sleep-in rooms, a dedicated manager's office, and a newly landscaped rear garden and yard. Designed specifically for solo residential care, the service provides an intimate, safe sanctuary where you have the time and space to practice deep, relational childcare without the friction of large group settings. The young person in placement is actively engaged in martial arts, regular gym sessions, and outdoor activities, and is making excellent progress towards living with family again—a testament to the calm, nurturing culture already embedded by the team.

What you'll be doing

Taking overall operational and regulatory responsibility for the home, you'll guide the service through the completion of Ofsted registration (with the full support and backing of the Directors), lead and support the staff team, and maintain continuous regulatory compliance under the Children's Homes Regulations 2015.

Your day-to-day:

• Therapeutic Leadership: Fostering a warm, nurturing, and trauma-informed culture where relational practice, positive reinforcement, and restorative approaches guide everyday care

• Team Mentorship & Culture: Line-managing, supervising, and developing your Team Leaders and care staff, promoting reflective practice, open communication, and high practice expectations

• Regulatory Excellence & QA: Leading on Ofsted registration, overseeing Regulation 44 visits and Regulation 45 quality reviews, and maintaining complete inspection readiness

• Multi-Agency & Family Partnership: Working closely with placing local authorities, social workers, CAMHS, schools, and birth families to facilitate positive transitions and champion the child's care plan

Your Experience and Qualifications

Essential:

• The Background: Minimum of 2 years' supervisory/management experience (at Deputy Manager level or above) within an Ofsted-registered children's residential home within the last 5 years

• The Qualifications: Hold the NVQ / Diploma Level 3 in Residential Childcare (or equivalent), and hold or be actively working towards the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (we will fully fund and mentor you through completion)

• The Personality: Approachable, resilient, and collaborative, with natural leadership presence and the ability to gel with an established, passionate team

• The Logistics: Have the legal right to work in the UK, and be able to commute reliably to Bootle, Liverpool (L20) on a daily basis

• Safer Recruitment: Willingness to undergo an Enhanced DBS check on the Update Service and complete a full safer recruitment application

Desirable:

• Established experience as an Ofsted Registered Manager with a proven track record in inspection outcomes

• Full completion of the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare

• Hold a full, valid UK driving licence

Package and Perks

• Salary: Up to £50,000 per annum (depending on experience and track record).

• Incentive & Bonus Scheme: Performance-linked bonus scheme plus dedicated financial recognition awards for successful Ofsted registration and inspection outcomes.

• Generous Annual Leave: Highly competitive holiday entitlement

• Professional Development: Fully funded NVQ Level 5 Diploma in Leadership & Management

• Career Progression: Opportunity to step into dual-home management as the organisation opens its second local service.

• Environment & Wellbeing: Modern property, dedicated private manager's office, generous young person activity budget, Workplace Pension, and casual dress code.