Residential Child Care Worker

Cheshire West & Chester Council; Chester; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Shift enhancements

Annual leave

Career progression

Pension scheme

Employee assistance

Job summary

Cheshire West and Chester Council is seeking committed Residential Child Care Workers to join its residential service supporting vulnerable children aged 6 to 17. The role focuses on building purposeful relationships, delivering trauma-informed care, and working in a close-knit team to meet children’s needs.

You will hold a Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (or equivalent), have at least 2 years’ experience, and be eligible to work in the UK.

Qualifications

• Hold a Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (or equivalent).
• Have at least 2 years’ experience in children’s residential care (or equivalent).
• Receive high quality supervision with a personal development plan.
• Deliver quality services in partnership with stakeholders within a manageable workload.
• Supportive environment, with an evidence-based approach to practice.

Responsibilities

• You will support and care for children aged 6 to 17 in residential settings.
• Build purposeful relationships to enable positive outcomes for children.
• Work in a trauma-informed way within the multi-agency partnership model.
• Deliver safe, high-quality services in collaboration with the team and families.
• Participate in supervision and development activities and keep records as required.

Skills

Experience in children’s residential

Be at least 21 years old

Eligible to work in UK (no sponsorship

Driving licence advantageous

Education

Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (or equivalent)

Job description

Residential Child Care Worker

We’re seeking to appoint a number of committed, creative and resilient and qualified Residential Childcare Workers to join our fantastic team. Cheshire West and Chester’s Residential Service aims to ensure that its most vulnerable children's needs are met and that their life chances are maximised to enable them to achieve their full potential. The Council has a strong residential service where all our homes are rated as 'Good' by Ofsted.

We currently have three 4-bed homes, a 2-bed home and a one-bed home, for children aged 6 to 17. Over the next few years, the Council is looking to build and expand on this essential service to open new, quality homes. Our Children and Families Teams work in a trauma informed way, using our innovative, multi-agency partnership model 'Our Way of Working'.

Cheshire West and Chester Council brings a fresh and energetic approach to providing top quality services for its many service users and communities.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is a place where everyone can Thrive - through our core values of Teamwork, Honesty, Respect, Innovation, Value for Money and Empowerment.

As a Residential Child Care Worker you will join an organisation where the focus is on achieving the best outcomes for the children and families we work with. The team strive to have purposeful relationships where all our interventions can truly bring about change and make a real difference to the lives of children and young people.

As a Residential Child Care Worker in our homes, you will:

• Be eligible to work in the UK - Cheshire West and Chester Council DOES NOT offer sponsorship.
• Be at least 21 years old.
• Hold a Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (or equivalent).
• Have at least 2 years’ experience in children’s residential care (or equivalent).
• Receive high quality supervision, with your own personal development plan to support your career and learning aspirations.
• Be expected to deliver quality services in partnership with stakeholders based upon a manageable workload within the team.
• A working environment where you will be supported in adopting an evidence-based approach to practice.
• Though not essential, a valid, clean driving licence would be advantageous.

Not qualified? Please keep an eye out for our Grade 6 Trainee Residential Child Care Worker vacancies. You'll receive all the same great benefits, with on the job training and support, whilst working towards a funded Level 3 Diploma for Residential Child Care!

You will also have access to a range of benefits including:

• Competitive salary - Starting at £31,537, with annual increments, up to £34,434
• Enhancements up to £4/5k - additional 10% per hour for evenings, 25% per hour for nights and weekends, and an additional fixed allowance for sleep-ins.
• Annual Leave -You will receive 26 days annual leave per annum rising to 31 days after five years continuous Local Government Service.
• Grow your own culture- We have a Career Progression structure comprising of three levels of progression programmes to support your professional development. Extensive training, induction and support will be offered to all candidates who want to join the council and regular appraisal process surrounding development needs.
• Working rewards -we have a variety of schemes available to employees which include, additional annual leave, car and cycle purchase scheme, WorkFit membership, home and electronics purchase scheme. Additional benefits include discounts at a wide range of high street and online retailers.
• Pension Scheme -our Local Government Pension Scheme is a career average pension scheme with employee contributions of between 5.5% and 8.5% and employer contributions currently of 23.8%. The scheme includes ill health and death in service benefits (after two years membership).
• Employee Assistance Programme - 24-hour, seven day a week lifestyle support for when you or your family members need a 'listening ear' from qualified advisor on a wide range of personal and work issues.

If you have any questions are require any further information about the role, please contact Rob Taberner on [e-mail]

Please note, this job may close when a suitable number of applications have been received.

Please note that this job is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults at risk and children. It's a criminal offence for people who are barred from working in Regulated Activity (under the Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act 2006) to apply for roles that require them to work unsupervised with that particular group (i.e. adults at risk, children, or both).

To find out more information about what it is like to work for Cheshire West and Chester Council including our rewards and benefits please see www.cwcrecruitment.co.uk

Candidates may use AI tools to support proofreading, editing and presentation. However, all application materials should represent the candidate's own experience, perspectives and thinking. We are seeking original and authentic responses, and applicants should ensure that any submission reflects their own analysis, judgement and vision for the role. No candidate will meet every single requirement - if your experience looks a little different from what we've identified and you think you can bring value to the role, we'd love to learn more about you!

Cheshire West and Chester Council are committed to equality and diversity in employment. Please see the Equality Policy for more information.

Cheshire West and Chester Council have adopted a Local Living Wage for our employees which means that all employees will receive a minimum of £13.45 per hour for all contracted hours.

For any technical enquiries please email [e-mail] and quote job reference number in all correspondence.

Attachments

• Residential Childcare Worker Job Role Profile 2.0 - July 2026.pdf