Residential Assistant

Essex County Counci; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 14,000 - 17,000; Part time

Job summary

Essex County Council is seeking a part-time Residential Assistant in Chelmsford. You will work on a rota to support adults in a residential/short break service, helping with daily living tasks and enabling independence within a person-centred approach.

Full training is provided, induction paid, and you will join a team focused on high-quality care for adults with needs. This role includes working a fixed base schedule with a pro rata salary based on 22.2 hours per week.

Qualifications

• Educated to RQF Level 2 (GCSE) or equivalent by experience.
• Experience in a social care setting and team environment.
• Good communication skills and ability to engage with diverse groups.
• Experience with adults with disability or willingness to work in this field.
• Awareness of person-centred approach and safeguarding principles.

Responsibilities

• Support individuals to reach optimum independence per care plan.
• Help with personal care, medication, meals and laundry.
• Support access to social and leisure activities and community access.
• Monitor wellbeing and report safeguarding concerns to seniors.
• Respect dignity and privacy and promote client choice.

Skills

GCSE / Level 2

Social care experience

Communication skills

Disability awareness

Dignity and privacy respect

Education

RQF Level 2 (GCSE) or equivalent

Job description

Residential Assistant

Permanent,Part Time

£25,959 to £26,285 per annum (full time equivalent)

Location:Chelmsford

Working Style: Fixed-base worker

Closing Date: 18th November 2026

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

This is a part-time position working 22.2 hours per week with a pro rata salary of up to £15,771 per annum.

ECC Adult Social Care, through effective practice, is moving towards a transformational shift from a focus on long-term care support, to a model with four key principles:- prevention; early intervention; enablement and safeguarding. This will enable people, their families and carers to be able to access information and tools to live healthily and independently. Providing an opportunity to respond pro-actively to growing service demand in a sustainable way, within the financial constraints of the Council.

About You

You will work as part of a rota to meet the needs of the home and the post Holder. You must be an experienced carer and work in a person-centred manner, that is flexible and reliable. You must have previous experience in this field and be able to hit the ground running. Full training is provided, and induction is paid.

This role will be focused on being a committed, flexible and passionate member of a team working within a residential/short break service to ensure the provision of a high quality service for adults. The role will work collaboratively with adults, their families and other professionals in a residential home environment.

Accountabilities

• Provides support to individuals to ensure they are able to reach their optimum independence and can exert control in their everyday lives, in accordance with the care plan. Supports individuals with personal care, medication, meal preparation and laundry.
• Supports individuals/groups to access social and leisure activities which may include college classes, resource centres, community access and other activities.
• Monitoring individual emotional and general wellbeing on a daily basis and ensure the protection of adults from abuse, reporting any concerns to senior managers.
• Support individuals to make choices in a way that always respects their dignity and privacy and promotes their choice in accordance with the care plan and any other key documents.
• Ensure respectful, patient and courteous approaches are undertaken with adults, their families, visitors and colleagues whether within the home or out in the community.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Educated to RQF Level 2 (GCSE) or equivalent by experience with a willingness to achieve the award within 24 months of starting the role.
• Experience within a social care setting and working within a team environment.
• Good communication skills and an ability to develop a rapport and engage with diverse groups of individuals.
• Some experience working with adults with disability or the desire to working in this field.
• Awareness of a person entered approach and respect for dignity and privacy, promoting choice.
• Understanding of and the ability to develop knowledge of the needs of individuals and legislation in respect of Vulnerable Adults, Mental Capacity and other such relevant legislation policy and procedure as appropriate.
• Willing to undertake training in the following if not already completed: Manual Handling, First Aid Awareness, Food Hygiene, Risk and Conflict Management, Data Protection and Health and Safety

To read more about our business area, please visit Adult Social Care

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we are dedicated to making a positive difference for residents, communities and businesses across the county. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, Greater Essex was accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview allveteransandcare leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email [e-mail]

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