Children's Residential Worker

The minimum criteria we're looking for you to have is:

• The ability to work in partnership, collaboratively with the young person, their Social Worker, family and relevant agencies in order to ensure that their needs are met.
• To be able to fulfil key worker responsibilities by building positive relationships with young people.
• Be able to write reports and participate in reviews for young people.
• Have an ability to communicate to a high standard in verbal and written form with children and other stakeholders.
• Ability to build and maintain positive trusted relationships with young people.
• ICT literate in a range of Microsoft software.
• Demonstrable self-awareness and resilience.
• Ability to maintain a safe working environment in compliance with Health & Safety Standards and Regulations, including Risk Assessment Management.
• Commitment and ability to demonstrate restorative approaches to working with families and children.
• Commitment to continuous professional development.

What we are also looking for:

• Passion – Thinking creatively to ensure that our children are supported to achieve their aspirations (no matter how big or small) will need to be top of your list! We are looking for passionate practitioners (irrelevant of length of experience) who truly care and want to make a difference to children, young people, and families.
• Challenge – Some days will be tough, for our children, for you, and for your colleagues - we're after someone who is dedicated and committed, and who will always go that extra mile for our children (even on the bad days). Working as part of a close professional team is really important and you will need to be a team player to get through those tough times.
• Forward thinking – We are an expanding service with big ideas and aspirational views. We are looking for workers who can join our team and join us on this exciting journey, making contributions to help shape and inform the future of the service for our children.
• Values – We are looking for someone who has values aligned to those that are integral to our service and our organization - supportive, innovative, respectful, and collaborative.

Are you interested?

You are welcome to contact Sue Dodd (Registered Manager) by email on susan.dodd@staffordshire.gov.uk or John Rowlands, john.rowlands@staffordshire.gov.uk to discuss the role in greater detail and gain more information about the service.

Interviews will be in person and are scheduled to take place on 9th, 10th, and 11th September 2026 at Brunswick Place, Stafford.

Please note: In line with Schedule 2, this role is regulated by Ofsted, so it is a requirement that we obtain FULL employment history, from leaving secondary school. Please ensure that this is completed on your application as this will be discussed with you should you be invited to interview.

Our Recruitment Process:

We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role. Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organization. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behavior, organizational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

• We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
• We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognize that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire.

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organization and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities.

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer, and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable, you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions, and convictions in your application form.