House Manager - Residential Care

Life Without Barriers; Geelong; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

12% Super

Salary Sacrifice up to $15900 a year

Entertainment card $2600

Job summary

Life Without Barriers Geelong is seeking two experienced Therapeutic Residential Care House Managers to lead a team and provide high‑quality support to young people in our therapeutic residential program. You will mentor Residential Care Support Workers and oversee day‑to‑day operations in a trauma‑informed, culturally respectful environment.

You’ll implement care plans, coordinate transitions, and ensure safe, nurturing homes while partnering with external services to connect young people with

Qualifications

• Prior knowledge and/or experience working with young people in Residential Care programs (essential).
• Hold a Certificate IV in Child, Youth and Family Intervention or similar (essential).
• Completed Top Up Units CHCMHS007, CHCPRT009, CHCCS009, CHCPRT010 (essential).
• Prior experience as House Manager / Supervisor is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in leading a team and strong leadership skills.
• Ability to manage crises and complex situations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including MS Office proficiency.

Responsibilities

• Build professional, trusting relationships with children and young people through visible interest and engagement.
• Oversee day-to-day operations of the Therapeutic Residential Care program in Geelong.
• Mentor a team of Support Workers and lead staff to work collaboratively.
• Lead staff in applying Therapeutic Crisis Intervention to prevent and de‑escalate crises.
• Coordinate rostering and transitions of children and young people into/out of the home.
• Ensure the CIRTS database is maintained with client information.

Skills

Prior leadership skills

Team mentoring

Crisis management

Communication skills

Microsoft Office

Education

Certificate IV in Child, Youth and Family Intervention

Top Up Units CHCMHS007 CHCPRT009 CHCCS009 CHCPRT010

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

• Competitive salary +12% Super + Salary Sacrifice up to $15,900 a year (increase your take home pay) + $2,600 entertainment card!
• Prior disability and/or child, youth, and family experience essential(2-3 years)
• Rewarding role with Learning & Development opportunities and paid study days

About the Organisation

At Life Without Barriers, we’re all about creating safe, supportive environments where children and young people can thrive. Every day, we work closely with families, carers, and communities to help shape brighter futures.

From supporting children and families to empowering people with disability, mental health, or those seeking refuge — we’re here to break down barriers and build better lives.

We want to employ people who reflect the diversity of our clients to ensure we can support each client's individual needs and wants. We encourage people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background and people with disability to apply.

Join us to discover a purpose you can wrap your heart around!

Join Our Team at Life Without Barriers!

Are you a passionate leader and want to make a difference in the lives of young people? Do you have skills and compassion to manage a home that provides support and care to young people? Do you thrive in challenging yet rewarding environments? Life Without Barriers is looking for two experienced Therapeutic Residential Care House Manager’s to join our teams in Geelong. This is your opportunity to positively impact the lives of young individuals in a supportive and dynamic setting.

About the Role

The House Manager will oversee the day-to-day operations of our Therapeutic Residential Care program in Geelong. You will mentor a team of Therapeutic Residential Care Support Workers in providing purposeful support to young people, with high and complex behaviours and/or disabilities.You will strive to enhance the lives of young people incorporating a therapeutic, trauma informed approach within the daily structure and purposeful programming.

There is a strong emphasis on leading your team to provide a secure base for our young people within the home, liaising with culturally appropriate services, and providing opportunities for the young people to connect with the culture in which they identify within.

Additional Support

Life Without Barriers offers a dedicated After-Hours Service (AHS) for all Child Youth and Family programs, AHS ensures efficient responses to after-hours events that cannot wait until the next business day, relieving our front-line staff from on-call duties and significantly improving their work-life balance.

Key Responsibilities

• Build professional, trusting relationships with children and young people through visible interest and active engagement.
• Ensure the home is a place that is emotionally and physically safe, nurturing, and appropriately engaging and stimulating, to foster growth and resilience.
• Assist with the development and implementation of the Departmental Case Plan (where applicable) and develop and implement the LWB Case/Care plan that drives day to day service delivery.
• Manage, support, and provide reflective supervision and team meetings to a team of residential workers, and lead staff to work as a team in the best interests of children and young people.
• Support staff to apply the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention system (TCI) to prevent, de-escalate and respond to crisis incidents involving children and young people.
• Undertake rostering of residential workers ensuring that risks are managed, and staffing levels reflect the needs of children and young people living in the home.
• Coordinate the intake and transition of new children and young people into the home and the exit of children and young people to permanent homes or step-down services.
• Ensure the CIRTS database is up to date with all client information.

Skills & Experience

• Prior knowledge and/or experience working with young people in Residential Care programs, (essential).
• Hold a Certificate IV in Child, Youth and Family Intervention or similar (essential)
• Completed Top Up Units in Child, Youth and Family Intervention (CHCMHS007, CHCPRT009, CHCCS009,CHCPRT010) (essential).
• Prior experience as House Manager / Supervisor is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in managing and leading a team and possessing strong leadership skills.
• Demonstrated capacity to manage crises and critical issues and deal with complex and challenging situations.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including strong interpersonal skills, use of Microsoft Office packages.
• A current Senior First Aid Certificate (or willingness to obtain if successful) (essential).

Successful candidates will be required to clear probity checks including National Criminal History Record Check, Worker and Carer Exclusion Scheme and VIC Working with Children Check.

• At Life Without Barriers, we prioritise a strong evidence-based culture and offer extensive professional development opportunities. Successful candidates may receive training in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) and Children and Residential Experiences (CARE) from Cornell University.
• Work for one of Australia's largest social purpose organisations
• The new funding allows us to expand and improve our residential services, providing better support and resources for both staff and residents.
• Be part of a team that truly makes a difference in young people's lives, providing them with the support they need to thrive.

Additional Support

Life Without Barriers offers a dedicated National After-Hours Service (NAHS) for all Child Youth and Family programs. NAHS ensures efficient responses to after-hours events that cannot wait until the next business day, relieving our front-line staff from on-call duties and significantly improving their work-life balance.

Candidates with disabilities who require adjustments to the recruitment process or the application form in an alternate format can visit https://www.lwb.org.au/careers/ for information on our access and inclusion work and how to contact us directly.