Children's Social Work Matters
Service Manager - Residential Portfolio
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Job Description
Barnsley is investing in three new children’s residential homes as part of its Children in Care Sufficiency Strategy 2026 to 2030, reducing reliance on external and out of area placements and giving more of our children in care a home in Barnsley.
We’re recruiting a Service Manager to lead this residential portfolio from the ground up. You’ll take responsibility for all three homes as they move through registration, staffing and opening, and then for their ongoing operational and strategic management once live.
What you’ll be doing
You’ll provide leadership and line management across the three homes, taking the lead on their development and on the recruitment of the staff who’ll run them, including Registered Managers. You’ll build relationships with partner agencies and stakeholders across the sufficiency programme, represent the homes at internal and external forums, and manage the budgets, contracts and performance systems that keep the service running to standard.
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You’ll also sit on the Out of Hours Senior Management Rota.
This is a new post, and you’ll be building the team and the operating model for the homes rather than stepping into something already established.
What we’re looking for
- Educated to degree level or equivalent, and a qualified, registered social worker
- A post-qualifying award, ideally with a postgraduate leadership or management qualification
- Team manager level experience (or equivalent) of operational management in a large organisation delivering services to children, young people and families
- Experience managing complex budgets and financial processes
- Experience of planning or delivering services in a multi-agency context, including within a commissioning environment
- A track record of leading and motivating teams to deliver sustainable, high quality service improvement
- Sound knowledge of the legislative and policy framework around children’s services, and of the regulatory and inspection regime you’ll be operating under, including Ofsted registration requirements
- Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and resolve conflict at a senior level
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Why this role
You’d be shaping three services from inception rather than inheriting an existing structure, with direct input into staffing models, practice standards and how the homes operate day to day. It’s a chance to build something rather than manage around the edges of something already fixed.
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