Service Manager – Residential Portfolio

Barnsley Council; Barnsley; On-site; GBP 63,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

Barnsley Council is seeking a Service Manager to lead a new residential portfolio for children in care in Barnsley.

You will build three homes from inception, recruit staff including Registered Managers, manage budgets and performance, and work across multi-agency partnerships to ensure Ofsted readiness.

This full-time permanent role offers a competitive salary (£63,375–£68,707) and the opportunity to shape services from the ground up.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent and a qualified, registered social worker.
• Post-qualifying leadership or management qualification is desirable.
• Experience in operational management in a large organisation delivering children’s services.
• Experience managing complex budgets and financial processes.
• Experience of planning or delivering services in a multi-agency commissioning context.
• Track record of leading teams to deliver service improvement.
• Sound knowledge of the legislative and policy framework around children’s services and Ofsted requirements.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and line management across the three homes, including recruitment of staff.
• Build relationships with partner agencies and stakeholders across the sufficiency programme.
• Represent the homes at internal and external forums.
• Manage budgets, contracts and performance systems to keep the service running.
• Sit on the Out of Hours Senior Management rota.
• Build the operating model for the homes from inception and lead ongoing management.

Skills

Leadership

Budget management

Stakeholder engagement

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Degree level qualification

Registered social worker

Job description

Barnsley Council have an exciting opportunity for a Service Manager - Residential Portfolio (Children's Social Care) to join the team based in Barnsley. You will join us on a full-time, permanent basis . In return, you will receive a competitive salary of £63,375 - £68,707 per annum.

Barnsley is investing in three new children's residential homes as part of its Children in Care Sufficiency Strategy 2026 to 2030, reducing reliance on external and out of area placements and giving more of our children in care a home in Barnsley.

We're recruiting a Service Manager to lead this residential portfolio from the ground up. You'll take responsibility for all three homes as they move through registration, staffing and opening, and then for their ongoing operational and strategic management once live.

What you'll be doing

You'll provide leadership and line management across the three homes, taking the lead on their development and on the recruitment of the staff who'll run them, including Registered Managers. You'll build relationships with partner agencies and stakeholders across the sufficiency programme, represent the homes at internal and external forums, and manage the budgets, contracts and performance systems that keep the service running to standard.

You'll also sit on the Out of Hours Senior Management Rota.

This is a new post, and you'll be building the team and the operating model for the homes rather than stepping into something already established.

What we're looking for

• Educated to degree level or equivalent, and a qualified, registered social worker
• A post-qualifying award, ideally with a postgraduate leadership or management qualification
• Team manager level experience (or equivalent) of operational management in a large organisation delivering services to children, young people and families
• Experience managing complex budgets and financial processes
• Experience of planning or delivering services in a multi-agency context, including within a commissioning environment
• A track record of leading and motivating teams to deliver sustainable, high quality service improvement
• Sound knowledge of the legislative and policy framework around children's services, and of the regulatory and inspection regime you'll be operating under, including Ofsted registration requirements
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and resolve conflict at a senior level

Why this role

You'd be shaping three services from inception rather than inheriting an existing structure, with direct input into staffing models, practice standards and how the homes operate day to day. It's a chance to build something rather than manage around the edges of something already fixed.

Closing date for application

Friday 9th October