Senior Residential Support Worker

Derby DE1

£38,683.63 per annum (rising after successful 6-month probation)

Based within a small, two-bedded children's residential home supporting young people aged 8 to 18 who present with emotional, behavioural and social difficulties, including attachment disorder and complex early life trauma. The starting salary is £38,683.63, with a pay increase following a successful 6-month probation, and annual leave of 360 hours per year.

What Makes This Role Different

Most residential children's homes will tell you they care about the young people. What's harder to find is a provider that has thought carefully about how that care actually happens, and built something accordingly. This home operates within a Non-Violent Resistance therapeutic framework, informed by attachment theory, and the whole approach is unapologetically person-centred.

The leadership here has a clear ethos, and it shows in the way the service is structured and in the testimonials from both placing authorities and staff themselves. Local authorities have described the care provided as offering some of the most stable placement experiences young people in their care have had in years. This comes from consistent, thoughtful leadership, a strong staff culture, and a genuine belief that residential care can be a positive, life-shaping experience when it's done properly.

The Role

As a Senior Residential Care Practitioner, you will work as part of a close-knit senior team within a two-bedded home, sharing responsibility for the day-to-day leadership of care alongside a senior co-worker. Your shifts are built around a 3-week rolling rota, averaging 10 shifts per month, with hours made up of direct care, training attendance and team meetings to a total of 244.5 hours per month.

Shift pattern: 1 on 2 off - 08:00 to 23:00 + a sleep-in and a half-hour handover from 08:00 to 08:30 the following day.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading and supporting a small staff team to deliver high-quality, consistent residential care to children and young people with EBD and complex needs

• Contributing to the development, review and implementation of individual care plans and behaviour support strategies

• Modelling and embedding the home's therapeutic approach across all day-to-day interactions with young people

• Holding key working sessions that genuinely inform the decisions young people make about their futures

• Supporting young people's access to education, community resources, sport, life skills and wellbeing opportunities

• Maintaining robust safeguarding practice at all times, ensuring young people are kept safe and their rights are upheld

• Encouraging parental and family involvement as part of the wider support network

• Participating in training programmes, reflective practice and team meetings as part of your contracted hours

What we're looking for

• Minimum of 1 year's experience in a team leadership or supervisory capacity within children's residential social care

• Solid working knowledge of EBD, attachment theory, trauma-informed approaches and relevant childcare legislation

• A Level 3 qualification in Residential Childcare (or equivalent)

• Full UK driving licence (essential)

• A genuine interest in the therapeutic and person-centred model underpinning this home's approach

• The kind of resilience and self-awareness that comes from having done this work, not just having read about it

Salary, hours and leave

The starting salary for this Senior Residential Care Practitioner role is £38,683.63 per annum, increasing upon successful completion of a 6-month probationary period. Working hours are 56.4 per week inclusive of sleep-ins, based on a 3-week rolling rota of approximately 10 shifts per month. Annual leave entitlement is 360 hours.

This is complex, demanding work with real weight to it, and the package reflects that. You're not being asked to give a significant portion of your life to this role for a salary that says otherwise.

A word on culture

One of the Senior Care Practitioners who has worked within this service put it well: the organisation's nurturing ethos and positive practice created space to learn, reflect on mistakes, and share the joys of success. That's the environment you'd be stepping into. One where your development matters, where reflective practice is built into the structure rather than bolted on, and where experienced professionals who already care deeply about this work are encouraged to grow further.

The young people themselves are involved at various stages of the process, including the recruitment of staff. That detail alone tells you something meaningful about how this organisation thinks.

Ready to have a conversation?

If you've been in children's residential social care long enough to know what good looks like, and you're looking for a senior role in Derby where the approach to care is something you can actually be proud of, we'd love to hear from you. Apply below, or get in touch if you'd like to talk through the role before committing to a full application. There's no hard sell here, just a genuine opportunity to do meaningful work in a home that takes it seriously.