HR Manager

Children's Residential Social Care
Head Office based, DE24 catchment area, Derby

Salary £35,000 to £40,000 (DOE&Q)

This is a 30 hour per week post worked across four days, sitting within the head office of a growing children's residential care group, with the potential to grow into a full time position as the organisation continues to expand across its sites in Derby, Walsall and Castleford.

You would be the HR Manager holding the people function together for a group of therapeutic children's homes, which means the work reaches further than a good deal of the HR roles currently advertised on Indeed. There may be the occasional bit of travel out to the homes when something needs a face to face touch, though the core of the job lives at head office, where the policies, the people decisions and the safer recruitment practices all come together.

In a children's residential setting, HR carries a weight that it does not always carry elsewhere. The person who manages recruitment here has a direct hand in who comes through the door to care for young people who have lived through significant trauma, which makes a solid understanding of safer recruitment and the full 360 recruitment cycle a safeguarding responsibility as much as a people one.

You would be writing and implementing the policies that protect both the team and the children, leading the employee relations work that keeps a workforce well and supported, and building the HR foundation that allows a therapeutic care provider to grow while holding onto its standards. That is a different brief from managing an absence log for a large faceless employer, and the work will suit someone who wants their HR experience to count for something.

The group runs its homes within a Non-Violent Resistance therapeutic framework, supported by attachment theory and a PACE informed approach to therapeutic parenting, caring for children and young people aged 8 to 18 with emotional, behavioural and social needs across the Midlands and West Yorkshire.

The leadership are hands on and properly invested in their staff, putting newer recruits through an intensive training programme and a thorough probationary structure rather than leaving people to find their own feet, and that level of investment in people is where a capable HR Manager makes the most difference. Placing professionals have described the care here as some of the most stable that young people have experienced in years, which is the sort of outcome that follows from getting the people side right in the first place.

What you would be leading

• Supporting and managing HR and recruitment at every level, with a confident grasp of the full 360 recruitment cycle and safer recruitment practices within a regulated children's social care environment

• Keeping the organisation current and compliant on HR employment law, including writing and implementing new policies as the group develops

• Leading HR matters end to end, including disciplinary processes, investigations, grievances, wellbeing initiatives and absence management

• Working closely alongside the Home Managers and the Senior Team, acting as a trusted point of guidance on all things people related

• Helping to build the HR infrastructure that supports safe, sustainable growth across the Derby, Walsall and Castleford homes

What you will bring

• A minimum of four years experience within the HR field, with at least two of those years in an HR Management capacity

• CIPD Level 3 qualified or equivalent as a minimum, with Level 5 CIPD or above being a genuine advantage and reflected in where you land within the salary range

• A working knowledge of safer recruitment and, ideally, some understanding of the children's residential social care or wider children's social care sector

• The confidence to lead sensitive employee relations matters with fairness, sound judgement and a genuine duty of care

• A proactive, self directed approach, given this is a role with real autonomy and influence

On the salary, the £35,000 to £40,000 range for a four day week reflects the responsibility involved, and where you sit within it will come down to your experience and your CIPD level. The four day pattern also leaves room for a life outside work, with the door open to full time should you want it as the group grows.

If this sounds like the right move for you, we would be glad to have a conversation. Whether you are ready to apply or would prefer to ask a few questions first to see whether it feels like a good fit, send your CV across or get in touch for an informal chat, and we can take it from there.