Responsible Individual – Residential Children's Homes (Aspiring to Outstanding)

Lead with Purpose. Shape Futures. Change Lives.

Barnardo's is looking for an exceptional Responsible Individual to provide inspiring, values‑driven leadership across four residential children's homes, each committed to delivering therapeutic, relational care and each aspiring to be Outstanding.

This is more than a regulatory role. It is a chance to influence culture, strengthen practice, mentor Registered Managers, and ensure our homes are places where children feel happier, healthier, safer and more hopeful, fully aligned with Barnardo's vision of Changing Childhoods, Changing Lives.

Our homes are grounded in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy). Every relationship, every team decision, and every child's plan is shaped by these principles. We are looking for a leader who not only understands trauma-informed, attachment-focused practice but lives it.

What Our Children Say They Want from the People Who Lead Their Homes

“Please make sure our staff feel supported. It helps us feel safe too.” – J, age 14“We want people who don't give up on us… even when things get hard.” – S, age 11“Help the homes be happy places.” – L, age 9

Who wouldn't want their work to be guided by such powerful voices?

Your Role

As the Responsible Individual, you will:

• Provide strategic and operational oversight for four children's homes
• Drive quality and consistency, ensuring each home is safe, thriving, and inspection‑ready
• Embed DDP and PACE across teams, culture, and decision‑making
• Lead improvement journeys towards Outstanding
• Promote a strong safeguarding culture and regulatory compliance
• Champion the voice of the child and high‑quality relational practice
• Build collaborative working across internal and external partners
• Model reflective, compassionate, trauma‑informed leadership

What You'll Bring

• Significant leadership experience in residential childcare
• A Level 5 qualification (or equivalent) in Leadership and Management
• Strong understanding of regulatory requirements across residential settings
• Experience in supporting and improving multiple sites/services
• Emotional resilience, reflective capacity, and clarity of purpose
• The ability to inspire, influence, and develop others
• A passion for helping children feel safer, more hopeful, and more connected

What We Offer

• Comprehensive leadership development and access to sector‑leading training
• Regular supervision and reflective practice support
• A values‑driven organisation where care, compassion, and curiosity are central

What Our Colleagues Say About Working for Barnardo's
“Barnardo's invests in us. The training, the support, the supervision… it's the best I've had.” – Registered Manager
“I love that our values aren't just words, they show up in decisions, relationships, and how we treat each other.” – Deputy Manager

As Responsible Individual, you will nurture this culture, one where colleagues feel valued, reflective, motivated, and proud of the care they provide.

Join Us

If you are a courageous, compassionate leader who wants to help children feel happier, healthier, safer and more hopeful, and if you're ready to support managers and teams to achieve Outstanding, we would love to hear from you.

Apply now and help us continue changing childhoods and changing lives.

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 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

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

• Reference number:22346
• Job Title:Responsible Individual – Residential Children's Homes (Aspiring to Outstanding)
• Location:Leicestershire
• Locality:Leicestershire
• Contract type:Permanent
• Hours:37
• Salary:£57,253.56 dependent on experience
• Closing Date:31 May 2026
• Interview Date:TBC