Job title: Deputy Manager, Children’s Home, Kettering (Monday to Friday)

This Deputy Manager role is based in a small, therapeutic EBD children’s home in Kettering, Northamptonshire, paying £17 to £18.50 an hour depending on experience, and because it’s mainly a Monday to Friday position with around four paid sleep-ins a month, your realistic earnings sit between £38,240 and £41,360 a year before any overtime is added.

If you’re a Senior, Team Leader or Deputy Manager in residential childcare and you’ve been thinking about how to keep growing as a leader while keeping your evenings and weekends for the people who matter to you, this is well worth a proper look, because the organisation behind it has just seen one of its homes judged Outstanding by Ofsted in every area, led by a Registered Manager who started out as a support worker with them and grew into the role from within.

Why this Deputy Manager role in Kettering stands out

• It’s mainly Monday to Friday with around four sleep-ins a month, so you get a working week that fits around your life while still being properly present in the home and close to the young people.

• With only a small number of young people living in the home, you’ll have the time and headspace to know each of them well, build real trust and see the progress they make up close, week after week.

• You’ll work alongside an experienced Registered Manager who sees developing their deputy as part of their own role, and who’ll bring you into the regulatory side so your confidence grows with every month you’re there.

• A sister home nearby was judged Outstanding across all three Ofsted judgements in July 2026, with no requirements or recommendations, which tells you a lot about the standard of practice and the support you’d be joining.

• Developing people from within is how this organisation grows, and with new homes opening in Leicestershire, London and Kent, there are genuine leadership opportunities ahead for people who are already part of the team.

Pay and package

• £17 to £18.50 an hour depending on your experience and qualifications, which works out at a basic salary of £35,360 to £38,480 a year on a 40 hour week.

• Around four sleep-ins a month at £60 each, adding roughly £2,880 to your annual earnings.

• Realistic total earnings of £38,240 to £41,360 a year before overtime.

• Overtime paid with a £2 an hour uplift on your base rate, so any extra hours you choose to pick up are properly recognised.

• Generous annual leave, a workplace pension and a health and wellbeing programme that looks after the team as carefully as the team looks after the young people.

• Ongoing professional development, support towards your Level 5 when the time is right, a casual dress code and a cycle to work scheme.

About the organisation

• Founded in 2022 by a director who spent nearly twenty years helping homeless adults move into stable, long-term homes, and who noticed how many of the people she met had grown up in care, so she set out to change that story right at the start of a child’s life.

• Every home is designed to be somewhere the team would be proud to raise their own families, with spacious, beautifully furnished living areas, private gardens and a real sense of belonging for the young people who live there.

• A therapeutic, trauma-informed model of care, backed by a partnership with clinical psychologists who advise and support the staff team and work directly with young people in a gentle, child-led way.

• Homes judged Good and Outstanding by Ofsted, with inspectors at the Outstanding home highlighting how leaders championed young people’s education until they were attending regularly and working towards qualifications.

• Specialist input for neurodevelopmental needs including ADHD, autism and dyspraxia, alongside support for a wide range of mental health needs, so you’ll always have expert guidance around you and your team.

• Values of compassion, empowerment, collaboration and education that shape everyday life in the homes, from how decisions are made to how young people are encouraged to have their say.

• A strengthened senior leadership team led by an experienced Chief Executive, with a clear belief that when the team is looked after well, the children are looked after well too.

As Deputy Manager, you’ll

• Support the Registered Manager with the leadership and day to day running of the home, deputising fully in their absence and taking your share of on call.

• Lead, coach and supervise a team of Residential Support Workers and Seniors, modelling the therapeutic, trauma-informed practice that sits at the heart of the home and being a visible, hands on presence on shift.

• Take an active part in Regulation 44 and Regulation 45 processes, Regulation 40 notifications, Annex A and the Statement of Purpose, building a confident working knowledge of the Children’s Homes Regulations and Quality Standards.

• Work directly with Ofsted during inspections, helping the home show the quality of care it provides and the progress each young person is making.

• Contribute to care plans, risk assessments and behaviour support plans, making sure each young person’s voice, wishes and feelings stay at the centre of every decision.

• Build positive, trusting relationships with families, social workers, schools, health professionals and everyone else in each young person’s network.

• Support recruitment, induction, supervision and ongoing development of the staff team, helping to build a team that learns and grows together.

What you’ll bring

• A Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare as a minimum, or an equivalent recognised qualification, and if you’ve started your Level 5 or you’re keen to, even better.

• Experience in an EBD or complex needs children’s home, ideally including time as a Senior, Team Leader, Shift Leader or Deputy Manager.

• Confidence with the regulatory side of residential childcare, or a real enthusiasm to learn it properly from a Registered Manager who wants to teach you.

• A curious, reflective approach to your practice and a genuine eagerness to keep growing as a leader.

• Flexibility to cover around four sleep-ins a month and your share of on call, living within roughly 30 minutes of Kettering so you can respond well when the team needs you.

• A full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle, as you’ll be supporting young people to get out and enjoy their community.

If you’re ready for a small home where your leadership will be supported, developed and noticed, with a Monday to Friday working week and an organisation that has already shown it can take people from support worker to an Outstanding Registered Manager, we’d love to have a proper, honest conversation with you about what this Deputy Manager role in Kettering could mean for your next step, so send your CV over or get in touch and we’ll talk it through.