Head of Care - Education Division

Salutem; England; Presencial; GBP 95.000 - 130.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Salutem Care & Education seeks a Head of Care to provide strategic and operational leadership across care, residential, therapeutic support, safeguarding, and student welfare services within our schools and colleges. The role sits on the Education Senior Management Team, guiding outstanding care that complements educational outcomes for SEND learners.

The post holder will ensure services are safe, compliant, person-centred, and outcome-focused, promoting Salutem's vision of healthy, active,

Formación

• Senior leadership experience in education, residential care, or integrated services.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to drive cultural change and continuous improvement.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and large-scale service delivery.
• Knowledge of CQC and Ofsted frameworks, safeguarding, and health & social care regulation.
• Expertise in person-centred care planning, clinical governance, and quality assurance.
• Knowledge of Preparing for Adulthood and specialist education settings.

Responsabilidades

• Develop and implement a care strategy aligned with organisational and educational priorities.
• Lead the integration of care and education to create cohesive learner pathways.
• Promote innovation in care delivery, including person-centred approaches and assistive technologies.
• Contribute to executive decision-making and long-term organisational planning.
• Provide executive oversight of safeguarding, risk management, and quality governance.
• Oversee staffing models, supervision, and competency frameworks across services.
• Lead on admissions, transitions, and capacity planning for learners.
• Collaborate with education leaders to align care strategies with curriculum delivery.

Conocimientos

Strategic thinking

System leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Strong communication

Culture change

Descripción del empleo

About The Company

At SalutemCare and Education, our aim is to empower people to live a life they choose,regardless of the care or support they need.

We are proud to provide a range of care and supportacross ourschools,day centres, andresidential homesforchildren and adults. Just like any strong community, we want the very best forthe individuals we support.

We’re proud to be recognised by theTop Employers Instituteas aTop Employer United Kingdom, reflecting our exceptionalculture, care, and commitment to our people.

In addition, we’re honoured to be named among the2025Top 100 Global Inspiring Workplaces, and to haveachieved Top10in the2026 UK & Ireland InspiringWorkplaces Awards.

We’re passionate about developing and supportingcolleagues for the future. Through a culture ofcontinuouslearning and reflective practice, we create opportunities forpersonal and professional growth — helping our people build meaningful andrewarding careers in care.

About The Role

The Head of Care will provide strategic andoperational leadership for all care, residential, therapeutic support,safeguarding, positive behaviour support and student welfare services acrossSalutem's portfolio of schools and colleges.

As a member of the Education Senior Management Team(SMT), the post holder will lead the development of outstanding care provisionwhich complements and enhances educational outcomes for children and youngadults with SEND.

The Head of Care will ensure that care services aresafe, compliant, person-centred and outcome focused whilst promoting Salutem'svision of enabling individuals to live healthy, active, meaningful andfulfilling lives.

The role will work closely alongside the DivisionalDirector of Education, Education senior leadership team, Principals,Headteachers, Quality Team, Safeguarding Leads and Therapeutic Services todeliver an integrated education and care model across all education provisions.

Job Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Leadership & Service Development

• Develop and implement acare strategyaligned withorganisational and educational priorities.
• Lead the integration of care and education to ensurecohesivelearner pathways, reflecting the model of close liaison between educationand residential services.
• Promote innovation in care delivery, including person-centredapproaches and assistive technologies.
• Contribute to executive decision-making and long-termorganisational planning.
• Extensive travel nationally supporting both pre-school primary,secondary and P19 provisions within the division.

2. Quality, Compliance & ClinicalGovernance

• Ensure all services meetCQC, Ofsted, and safeguardingstandards, always maintaining inspection readiness
• Establish robustquality assurance frameworks, includingaudits, service reviews, and continuous improvement cycles.
• Oversee the development and audit ofperson-centred care plansand clinical protocols, ensuring consistency and quality across services.
• Lead systems that ensure safe practice in areas such as medication,infection control, and delegated healthcare tasks.
• Provide senior oversight of systems supporting learners withcomplex health needs, including enteral feeding, epilepsy care,respiratory support, moving and handling, intimate care, continencesupport, dysphagia management, medication administration and delegated
  clinical tasks, ensuring that staff areappropriately trained, assessed as competent and regularly reviewed.
• Work with nursing, therapy and external health professionals toensure that clinical delegation, competency sign-off, escalation pathwaysand emergency protocols are robust, current and consistently implemented.
• Lead implementation and optimisation ofdigital care systems, reporting platforms, and data dashboards.
• Ensure data integrity and real-time oversightof service performance.

3. Safeguarding & Risk Management

• Provide executive oversight of safeguarding across theorganisation, building on the expectation that care leaders hold DSL/DDSLresponsibilities.
• Ensure robust systems forrisk assessment, behaviour support,and safe care practicesare implemented and monitored.
• Promote a strong safeguarding culture aligned with statutoryguidance and best practice

4. Operational Leadership

• Provide oversight and direction to service leadsacross the portfolio.
• Ensure effective delivery of care services thatmeetindividual learner needs, health requirements, and personaloutcomes.
• Lead on admissions, transition, and compatibility decisions,ensuring accurate assessment of needs and provision capacity.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex care issues,families, and external stakeholders.

5. Workforce Leadership & Culture

• Lead the recruitment, development, and retention of askilledmultidisciplinary workforce, including nurses, care staff, and supportworkers.
• Ensure effectivesupervision, appraisal, and competencyframeworks, reflecting expectations for ongoing training and practicechecks.
• Drive a culture ofaccountability, excellence, and continuousprofessional development.
• Address underperformance and support staff progression throughstructured HR processes.
• Provide oversight of safe staffing models across complex careprovision, ensuring that staffing levels, skill mix, training, supervisionand deployment are matched to learner need and risk.

6. Integration with Education

• Ensure care provision actively supportslearning,communication, and Preparing for Adulthood outcomes.
• Promote approaches that enable student voice, independence, andparticipation in their own care.
• Work collaboratively with education leaders to align carestrategies with EHCP outcomes and curriculum delivery.

7. Multi-Disciplinary & Stakeholder Engagement

• Lead effective collaboration withtherapy teams, healthcareprofessionals, commissioners, and families.
• Represent the organisation in external forums, inspections, andpartnership meetings.
• Ensure strong communication systems that enable consistent,high-quality service delivery.

8. Performance, Reporting & Governance

• Monitor and report onservice performance, quality metrics,and learner outcomes.
• Ensure high-quality documentation and reporting for regulators,commissioners, and senior leaders.
• Use insight and data to driveservice improvement andinnovation.

This job description should not be seen as allencompassing, and the post holder will be expected to undertake any otherresponsibilities appropriate to the post as identified by the company.

Knowledge, skills and competency

Experience

• Senior leadership experience ineducation, residential care,or integrated services
• Proven ability to deliverhigh-quality, compliant services incomplex care environments
• Experience leadingmultidisciplinary teams and large-scaleservice delivery

Knowledge & Expertise

• Strong understanding ofCQC and Ofsted frameworks,safeguarding, and health & social care regulation
• Expertise inperson-centred care planning, clinicalgovernance, and quality assurance
• Knowledge ofPreparing for Adulthood and specialist educationsettings

Leadership Capabilities

• Strategic thinking and system leadership
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills
• Ability to drive cultural change and continuous improvement

Role Impact

This role extends by:

• Providingportfolio-wide leadership and strategic direction
• Ensuringconsistent standards across multiple services
• Embeddingintegration between care, health, and education
• Holding accountability forquality, compliance, safeguarding,and outcomes at scale

Our CoreValues:

Supportive:Helping everyone reach their full potential.

Ambitious:Striving for the best outcomes.

Loyal:Prioritising our staff and the people we support.

Unique:Innovating without compromising quality.

Transparent:Fostering openness and mutual respect.

Engaging:Partnering with everyone involved.

Meaningful:Offering fulfilling opportunities.

Why ChooseUs?

EmotionalSupport: 24/7 Employee Assistance, mental health resources, meditation apps,and bereavement support.

Medical Support: Free Online GP access, Health Cash Plan, Cancer Cover, andMenopause support.

Financial Support: Flexible pay with Wagestream, utility bill savings, MoneyHelper, and Life Assurance.

Physical Support: Online workouts, Cycle to Work scheme, gym discounts, andNational Trust activities.

Still notconvinced?

Recognised as a Top Employer United Kingdom 2026 by the Top EmployersInstitute.

Named among the Top 100 Global Inspiring Workplaces by Inspiring Workplaces.

Proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer.

Salutem Careand Education is dedicated to protecting and promoting the well-being ofchildren, young adults, and vulnerable individuals. As part of our saferrecruitment process, the successful candidate will be required to completethorough pre-employment checks, including an enhanced DBS and, whereapplicable, overseas criminal record checks.