Operations Manager – Barnardo's LINK Adoption & Family Support Service

Location: Flexible / Home-based (with national travel)Salary: Competitive, dependent on experienceContract: Full-time

About the Service

For over twenty years, Barnardo's LINK has delivered high-quality post adoption support to children and families. Our work supports prospective adopters, adoptive families, children and young people, birth family relatives, and families funded via the Adoption Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF).

We also have well established contracts with Health and Local Authority Commissioners offering short term therapeutic intervention to support families affected by mental health. To deliver the service we work with a network of independent therapists across England, offering both virtual and face-to-face therapeutic and parenting support.

A core component of our work is our Attachment Focused Therapy, which strengthens relationships between parents and children and supports the development of secure attachments. Our approach is grounded in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and the principles of PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy).

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Operations Manager to drive excellence across Barnardo's LINK. This is a senior role with strategic, operational and practice leadership responsibilities, supporting the continued growth and development of our post-adoption support work.

Key Responsibilities

Lead and embed high qualitytherapeutic practiceacross LINK and wider Barnardo's Family Placement provision, ensuring learning is shared and applied effectively.
Oversee and manage relationships with commissioners, including Local Authorities, Health partners, and ASGSF-funded contracts.
Represent Barnardo's at internal and external forumswithin the adoption sector.
Drive continuous service improvement, building on our2026 Ofsted Outstanding judgement.
Lead on recruitment, training, and developmentof therapists, ensuring a strong and responsive national network.
Identify opportunities for service growth, development, and promotion.

About You

You will bring:

Significant experience in post-adoption support, including therapeutic work with children and families.
Strong knowledge of attachment theory, therapeutic parenting models, and trauma-informed practice.
Experience of working with commissioning frameworkssuch as theAdoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF).
Proven ability to lead services and manage partnershipswith commissioners and stakeholders.
A passion for improving outcomes for children, young people and families through innovative, evidence-based practice.
Excellent communication, leadership and influencing skills.

Why Barnardo's?

At Barnardo's, we are committed to transforming the lives of the most vulnerable children.

Joining LINK means:

Being part of a nationally recognised, Ofsted Outstanding Service
Working within a values-driven, child-centred organisation
Access to ongoing professional development and leadership opportunities
Making a real differenceto adoptive families and mental health wellbeing

Apply now to help shape the future with Barnardo's LINK Adoption & Family Support Service.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible

values

People & Culture

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Barnardo's require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland)

The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
Service related sick pay from day 1
Cycle2work scheme
Interest free season ticket loans
20% discount at Barnardo's stores
Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

Reference number:23143
Job Title:Operations Manager - LINK
Location:Workplace offer: Hybrid working, Barnardo's hub/office or home address
Contract type:Permanent
Hours:37
Salary:£43,927 - £58,927 plus Office at Home Allowance £312 per annum
Closing Date:17 June 2026

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Operations Manager - LINK

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