Senior Residential Support Worker – Children’s Residential Home

Salford, Greater Manchester

Full Time, Permanent

£34,000–£36,119 per annum

The provider behind this role has been providing residential care for young people aged 8 to 17 for a number of years, specialising in medium to long-term placements for children who have experienced trauma and abuse. They work to a four-pillar model built around positive progression, goal-setting, life transformation and healthy lifestyles. Their ethos is not just language on a website; it is the lens through which they recruit, train and retain their staff, and it filters through into everything from shift culture to individual care planning.

Salary for this Senior Residential Support Worker position starts from £34,000 and goes up to £36,119 per annum, with sleep-in payments already built in. The rota runs on a 3-week rolling pattern with 10am–10am shifts, and all shifts are planned out in advance for the full year.

What Makes This Role Different

Most Senior Residential Support Worker adverts will tell you about competitive salaries and career progression and yes, both of those things apply here too. But what this organisation offers that is maybe harder to find elsewhere is a culture where staff wellbeing is taken seriously. Regular supervision and reflective practice are baked into the working week.

They run a trauma-informed, relationally driven service meaning the way you are expected to work with young people is grounded in understanding behaviour rather than managing it. If you have spent time in homes that talk about relational practice without really living it, you will notice the difference here pretty quickly.

About the Senior Residential Support Worker Role

Reporting to the Homes Manager, you will be leading shifts and providing real-time support and coaching to Residential Support Workers. Day to day, your responsibilities as Senior Residential Support Worker will include:

• Leading shifts with confidence, maintaining routines, appropriate boundaries and emotional safety for the young people in the home.

• Modelling trauma-informed, relational practice in every interaction and supporting your team to do the same.

• Overseeing safeguarding on shift, ensuring concerns are recognised, responded to and recorded accurately in line with Children’s Homes Regulations.

• Providing direct coaching, guidance and informal mentoring to Residential Support Workers.

• Supporting the Registered Manager with audits, quality assurance and regulatory compliance, including preparation for Ofsted inspections.

• Contributing to individual care plans, risk assessments and behaviour support plans for young people.

• Maintaining high-quality recording standards and supporting staff to do the same.

• Acting as a key worker or co-worker for a young person, ensuring their care plan reflects their current needs.

• Empowering young people to have a voice in decisions about their lives, and advocating for them at reviews and planning meetings.

• Supporting young people with their education, extracurricular activities and community involvement.

• Carrying out monthly supervisions with residential support workers.

• Completing financial records and managing home expenditure responsibly when required.

What You Will Need

Essential:

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare (or an equivalent Level 3 qualification in a related discipline).

• Proven experience working in a children’s residential home, with a solid grounding in safeguarding and safer recruitment practice.

• The ability to lead shifts confidently, keeping young people safe while maintaining a warm, consistent environment.

• Strong communication, organisation and decision-making skills particularly under pressure.

• Emotional resilience and the ability to remain reflective and child-focused even on difficult days.

• A genuine commitment to trauma-informed, relational practice.

• Full UK driving licence.

Desirable:

• Previous experience supervising or mentoring residential support workers.

• Experience contributing to Ofsted inspections or quality assurance processes within a children’s residential home.

What You Will Get

• £34,000 to £36,119 per annum, with sleep-in payments already included in the salary figure.

• A fully planned annual rota based on a 3-week rolling pattern - 10am to 10am shifts, all scheduled in advance.

• Regular supervision and reflective practice sessions as a standard part of your working week.

• High-quality training across safeguarding, trauma-informed practice and leadership development, all fully funded.

• A values-driven working culture where staff wellbeing is genuinely prioritised.

• Real opportunities for career progression within a growing organisation, including potentially into management.

• The chance to work alongside a team that, by all accounts, actually looks out for each other.

Ready to Apply?

If you have been working in children’s residential care for a while and you are at the point where you want more responsibility, more structure and more genuine support to do your job well, then this Team Leader role in Salford is probably worth a proper look. You do not need to have everything perfectly polished before you get in touch, a good conversation is sometimes worth more than a perfect application.

This is a permanent, full-time position working in person in Salford, Greater Manchester. An enhanced DBS check will be required as part of the safer recruitment process. We welcome applications from experienced residential childcare practitioners at all stages of their leadership journey.