Deputy Manager,

• EBD Children’s Home

• Barnet, North London

• 2 on 4 off

• Up to £18.50ph + £60 per sleep

This is a Deputy Manager role in a two bed EBD children’s home in Barnet, North London, paying £17 to £18.50 an hour depending on experience, which works out at £35,360 to £38,480 basic before you add around ten sleeps a month at £60 each. That puts realistic earnings somewhere between £42,560 and £45,680 a year before you’ve picked up a single extra shift, and if you do fancy the odd extra one, overtime is paid at £2 an hour on top of your base rate. The home runs on a 2 on 4 off pattern, and you’d be working alongside an experienced Registered Manager who is already settled in post and genuinely keen to bring their deputy on.

Why this one stands out

I think the thing that makes this role feel different is that it’s a proper deputy role, with a manager beside you who has done it all before and wants to share it, so you get to properly learn the craft of running a home while still having someone to talk things through with on the tricky days. You’d be sharing the load on Reg 44 visits, Reg 45 reviews and inspection prep, getting a real feel for what leading a home looks like, and building the confidence that makes the step into registered management feel like the natural next move when it comes.

Then there’s the shift pattern, which to be honest is the bit people tend to lean in on. If you’re used to Monday to Friday with on call sat on top, or a long rolling rota that spreads you across the whole week, 2 on 4 off could potentially give you back four clear days at a time to spend with your family, get properly rested, or just enjoy a bit of life outside the home, and you come back in fresher for it, which the young people notice more than we sometimes give them credit for.

Who you’d be working for

The organisation was founded in 2022 by someone who spent the best part of twenty years helping adults move out of really tough situations into stable, long term homes, before deciding to put that experience into children’s care and building the whole thing from scratch. She runs it alongside her husband, and it still has that close, values led feel where the founder knows the homes and the people in them, while now having a Chief Executive in post to lead the next stage of growth.

The established homes are based around Northampton, with new homes coming through in Leicester and Kent, and the Barnet home is part of that London presence. Every inspected home was rated Good by Ofsted at its latest inspection, and one of the sister homes was recently judged Outstanding across all three areas with a completely clean report. The lovely part of that story, and maybe the bit worth sitting with if you’re thinking long term, is that the Registered Manager who led that home to Outstanding started out as a Residential Support Worker within the organisation and worked her way up. They talk openly about growing their people from within, and with new homes opening, the conversation about progression into a Registered Manager role is a real one here.

The care itself is therapeutic and trauma informed, with specialist input for young people with ADHD, autism, dyspraxia and a range of mental health needs. There’s a decent investment in training too, running from introductory workshops all the way through to accredited qualifications, and the founder’s belief that looking after the team is how you look after the children comes through pretty clearly in how they talk about their staff.

The money, and why it reflects the work

Leading a home for young people with complex emotional and behavioural needs takes a lot of skill, a lot of heart and plenty of judgement calls that nobody sees, so it’s good to see a package that recognises that. With base pay of £35,360 to £38,480, around £7,200 a year in sleeps and overtime at an uplifted rate, you’re looking at a realistic £42,560 to £45,680 for a Deputy Manager role, with a genuine route towards a Registered Manager salary as your Level 5 progresses.

What you’ll be doing

• Supporting the Registered Manager to lead a two bed EBD children’s home in Barnet, keeping practice therapeutic, trauma informed and centred on the young people

• Leading shifts, supervising and developing the staff team, and being a visible, hands-on presence in the home

• Working closely on Reg 44 visits, Reg 45 quality of care reviews and Regulation 40 notifications so they become second nature

• Helping keep Annex A, the Statement of Purpose and wider records accurate, current and inspection ready

• Contributing to Ofsted inspections and the preparation that goes into them

• Building positive relationships with social workers, schools, therapists, families and placing authorities

• Supporting young people with ADHD, autism, dyspraxia and mental health needs alongside specialist input

• Stepping up to lead the home in the Registered Manager’s absence, with their support behind you

What you’ll bring

• Residential experience with young people who have EBD or complex needs, which is essential for this role

• Experience as a Deputy Manager, Team Leader, Shift Leader or Senior Residential Support Worker, ideally with time leading shifts and supporting a team

• Hands-on involvement in Reg 44s, Reg 45s, Reg 40s, Annex A and the Statement of Purpose, and ideally direct experience of an Ofsted inspection

• The Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare as a minimum, with Level 5 achieved, in progress or ready to start, and if you’re partway through I’d love to hear how far along you are, because it genuinely shapes the conversation about the Registered Manager route later on

• A full UK driving licence

• A real eagerness to learn and grow, and a warmth that young people pick up on straight away

If you’ve been leading shifts for a while and quietly wondering whether you’re ready for the next step, or you’re a deputy who’d love to do the job somewhere that invests in you properly, I’d really like to have a chat. Apply here or drop me a message, and we can have an honest, no pressure conversation about the home, the team and where this could take you, and I’ll share the full details of the organisation once you’re happy to go forward.