Service Manager – Residential Portfolio

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

Job summary

Barnsley Council invites applications for a Service Manager – Residential Portfolio (Children’s Social Care) in Barnsley. This full-time, permanent post leads three new children’s residential homes, overseeing registration, staffing and opening, and ongoing operational and strategic management.

You will build the team, recruit Registered Managers, manage budgets and contracts, and work with partner agencies to ensure Ofsted readiness and high-quality services.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent, and a qualified, registered social worker.
• Post-qualifying award, ideally with a postgraduate leadership/management qualification.
• Experience delivering services to children, young people and families in a large organisation.
• Experience managing complex budgets and financial processes.
• Knowledge of legislative and policy framework around children’s services and Ofsted requirements.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and line management across three homes, leading development and staffing.
• Lead recruitment of staff, including Registered Managers, and engage with partner agencies.
• Manage budgets, contracts and performance systems to keep the service compliant and high quality.
• Sits on the Out of Hours Senior Management Rota and oversees operational delivery.
• Build the operating model for the new homes and shape staffing models during inception.

Skills

Leadership experience

Budget management

Multi-agency collaboration

Stakeholder influence

People management

Education

Degree level or equivalent, registered social worker

Post-qualifying leadership/management qualification

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:

Friday9th October