Job Description:

Registered Manager: Solo Children's Residential Care

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

Key Benefits include: Generous annual leave package | Performance & Ofsted inspection bonuses | Funded Level 5 Leadership Diploma | Full backing of experienced Responsible Individual & Owners | Modern, freshly refurbished home & courtyard | Company pension | Future dual-home registration progression

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.

Located in a quiet residential area in Bootle, just 10 minutes outside Liverpool city centre, our flagship service - Blue House - is a warm, freshly modernised three-bedroom home dedicated to high-ratio solo care (2:1 staffing). The home is currently progressing smoothly through Stage 2 of Ofsted registration, led by an established, settled on-shift team and an inspiring young person who is thriving in education, active in the community, and progressing towards family reunification.

With plans already underway to open our second residential home nearby, you'll join at the ground floor with the unique opportunity to step into a dual-home management post in the foreseeable future.

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.

• A Pre-Built, Cohesive Team: Inherit an established, high-performing team of Team Leaders, Residential Support Workers, and dedicated sleeping night staff who already know the home and the young person inside out.

• 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.

Ready to apply? Skip to the ‘apply now’ button to start your journey with MerseyCare Children's Services.

Why join our team?

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: Blue House, Bootle

Situated in a peaceful residential community in Bootle (L20), just a short hop from Liverpool city centre, the docks, and local parks, Blue House is an attractive three-bedroom property that has been completely renovated and decorated to a high domestic standard.

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.

The Role: 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 as a Registered Manager will involve:

• 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.

• Operational & Service Oversight: Managing the home's devolved budgets, activity funds, staff rotas, and health and safety governance with full administrative backing.

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.

Your Package and Perks

• Salary: Up to £50,000 per annum (negotiable 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, giving you the time to rest and recharge.

• Professional Development: Fully funded NVQ Level 5 Diploma in Leadership & Management, with hands-on mentoring from an experienced Responsible Individual.

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

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

Our Interview Process

We value your time and keep our recruitment path clear, personal, and transparent:

• Apply: Submit your CV and initial screening answers.

• Stage 1 (Introductory Screening): An informal telephone conversation with the owner/director to chat through your background, approach, and aspirations.

• Stage 2 (Competency & Culture Interview): A face-to-face interview at the home with the owner and our Responsible Individual.

• Offer: Conditional hiring decision, subject to references and safer recruitment checks.

How to Apply

If you're ready to take the next step in your childcare leadership career and join a values-led provider that truly backs you, we'd love to hear from you. Please submit your CV.

MerseyCare Children's Services is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are strictly committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; all successful appointments are subject to comprehensive safer recruitment checks, full referencing, and an Enhanced DBS on the Update Service.