Waking Nights Manager

Durham County Council; Newton Aycliffe; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in Newton Aycliffe is seeking a Waking Nights Manager to lead a dedicated care team at Aycliffe Secure Centre. This rewarding role involves working directly with young people faced with challenges, providing support and effective leadership during night shifts. Key responsibilities include ensuring safety, improving service quality, and fostering a positive environment. The position also offers extensive training and a competitive salary package, including generous leave provisions and pension scheme participation.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Generous annual leave of 27 days

Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme

Qualifications

• Significant experience working with young people with challenging behaviours.
• Experience as a trauma-informed practitioner.

Responsibilities

• Motivate and develop an effective waking night care team.
• Improve the quality of service throughout the Centre.
• Provide effective leadership to the waking night care staff.
• Ensure personal security and safety of young people.

Skills

Resilience

Empathy

Passion for working with young people

Education

Level 5 management qualification

Job description

NOT JUST A PLACE OF WORK

The team at Aycliffe Secure Centre provide a caring, trauma informed and aspirational environment for young people aged between 10 and 18. Our young people are accommodated under a welfare or criminal justice order and have faced many adversities, including neglect, trauma, relationship breakdown and criminal proceedings. As a result, you will be working with young people with complex needs and behaviours including violence and aggression. Our job is to provide them with a safe and caring home and to support them to develop the relationships and skills that will help them towards a positive and successful future.

The Multidisciplinary team at the Centre work collaboratively together and with external professionals and families to create an experience for young people that results in a successful and safe transition into a community home.

We are rated Good overall by Ofsted and Outstanding in Children’s Health and Wellbeing.

Find out more about our exceptional facilities and testimonies from our team at: www.durham.gov.uk/aycliffesecurecentre

Hear from our team about what it’s like to work at Aycliffe Secure Centre: What is it like to work at Aycliffe Secure Centre?

NOT JUST A JOB

Joining us as a Waking Nights Manager at Aycliffe Secure Centre is one of the most rewarding career development choices you could make as you will be key to the delivery of 24-hour care for our young people.

The role is challenging both physically and mentally but is extremely rewarding when you get to witness first‑hand the positive impact you can make to a young person’s life just by giving your care, compassion and time.

You will be that person providing effective leadership to the dedicated waking night care staff across the Centre as well as being responsible for the personal security and safety of our young people.

In this role you will have the opportunity to:

• Motivate and develop an effective waking night care team
• Improve the quality of service throughout the Centre
• Set outstanding standards of practice outlined within the Children’s Homes Regulations and Quality Care Standards 2015

With significant experience of working with young people with challenging behaviour and a experience of being a trauma informed practitioner, you will be:

• Resilient
• Empathetic
• Passionate about working with young people

You will also need a Level 5 management qualification.

NOT A NORMAL 9 to 5

Our young people are cared for 24/7. As a Waking Night Manager you will work shift patterns which cover the hours of 9.30pm to 7.45am on week nights (Sunday to Thursday) and 9.30pm to 8.30am on weekends (Friday and Saturday) with some requirement to complete day shifts in order to support the function of the management team.

NOT JUST TRAINING

There are excellent initial and ongoing training and development opportunities as well as time to reflect upon workplace practice and access to specialist support. You will be able to make use of the thorough mandatory training via Durham County Council as well as accessing service specific training designed and delivered by Aycliffe Secure Centre.

As well as access to formal training you will be joining a leadership team with hundreds of years’ experience between them and as such a wealth of knowledge and skills to share.

NOT JUST A SALARY

The difference we make to the lives of our young people is extremely valuable and we want everyone who contributes to that to feel appreciated.

As a valued member of the team you can expect a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years’ continuous local government service) and membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme. Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26895/Rewards-and-benefits-if-you-work-for-us

Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions.

INTERVIEWS

It is anticipated interviews will be held week commencing 8th December 2025.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people and offer support throughout the recruitment process.

HOW TO APPLY

Please note, we do not accept CVs. All applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal. Use the ‘Person Specification’ section of the form to clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential (and where possible, desirable) criteria. Applications that do not evidence the essential requirements will not be shortlisted. For guidance on completing your application, visit our website: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/2083/How-to-apply-for-a-job-with-us

If you require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27, or via email [e-mail]

All correspondence relating to your application will be sent from [e-mail]. Kindly check your spam/junk folder regularly to ensure you don’t miss any updates.

CONNECT WITH US

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Visit our website https://www.durham.gov.uk/jobsandcareerswithus

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