Service Lead - Children's Homes and 'Staying Close'

Job Introduction

Drive the very best outcomes for our Children in Care

Are you an experienced leader in children’s social care, passionate about driving excellent in residential care provision and delivering the best outcomes for young people? Royal Greenwich is looking for a Service Leader to provide strategic leadership and operational oversight of our Children’s Homes and Staying Close Pod – ensuring every child receives high-quality care and support through their journey into adulthood.
This is a pivotal leadership role, offering the opportunity to shape and develop innovative, locally-led services that provide stability, safety and nurturing environments for children in care and care leavers.

As the Service Leader, you will act as the Responsible individual, ensuring our homes meet all regulatory and Ofsted requirements and contribute to the council’s Sufficiency Strategy.

About the Role

Reporting to the Strategic Lead for Children in Care and Care Leavers, you will lead and manage our Children’s Homes and Staying Close Pod, providing expert support and supervision to Registered Managers. You will ensure that services are safe, effective, and responsive to the needs of children and young people. You’ll also work strategically with colleagues across Commissioning, Children in Care and Care Leaver services to support timely transitions and reduce reliance on out-of-borough or emergency placements.

• Act as the Responsible Individual for the Children’s Home and Staying Close Pod, ensuring full compliance with Ofsted, Children’s Homes Regulations and relevant quality standards.
• Lead the operational management of residential services, embedding a culture of high expectations, accountability, and continuous service improvement.
• Support and develop the workforce, providing direct supervision and leadership to Registered Managers and ensuring consistency in practice, effective safeguarding and high performance.
• Oversee care and transition planning for children from the Homes, ensuring children are placed in suitable, local provision and experience well-supported transitions into adulthood.
• Collaborate across services, building strong partnerships with health, education, leaving care and voluntary sector providers to improve outcomes and ensure wraparound support.
• Contribute to the Sufficiency Strategy, helping shape local provision that meets demand and supports stability, planning and long-term sustainability.

What We’re Looking For

You will be a confident and resilient leader with a proven track record in managing residential or children’s care services. You will combine strong knowledge of regulatory frameworks with the ability to lead complex services and drive cultural and practice change.

We are looking for:

• An appropriate professional qualification relating to the delivery of support for children and young people with substantial post-qualifying experience.
• A strong understanding of the Children’s Homes Regulations and how they apply in practice.
• Experience delivery and/or managements of children’s homes.
• Familiarity with the Ofsted Inspection Framework and its implications for service delivery.
• A clear understanding of the Responsible Individual’s duties and accountability.
• Proven experience in leading a team, service, or residential home, with a focus on quality and outcomes.
• Excellent partnership working skills, with the ability to build and maintain effective relationships.
• A genuine commitment to participation, ensuring that the voices of children and young people shape the services they receive.

How to Apply

If you’re an experienced, results-oriented leader in children’s social care with a proven track record in managing Children’s Home provision, we’d love to hear from you. We’re looking for a Service Leader who’s ready to make a real difference in the lives of the children in our care.

To apply, please submit your application along with a supporting statement that demonstrates how your experience aligns with the role's key responsibilities and person specification. 

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact Ishara Tewary;Ishara.Tewary@royalgreenwich.gov.uk 020 8921 2761  
If you require any assistance in viewing or accessing this opportunity, please contact recruitment@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or call 020 8921 8977

Diversity Statement: Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

Advert Close: All vacancies close at midnight unless otherwise stated. 

Early Advert Close: Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any job advert earlier than the advertised closing date where there is reason to do so (for example high volume of applications).

How Applications are Scored: Each application is scored according to how well the supporting statements addresses each point on the Person Specification for the role. Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the extent to which they meet the specific points within the Person Specification. The Person Specification is supplied with the job advert. When completing your application, please use the supporting statements section to tell us how you meet each of the points on the Person Specification. We need to have this information in order to consider your application.

Salary: Salaries advertised are for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Please use this 'Salary Calculator to help you calculate a pro rata salary.

Our Staff Values: Our Staff Values are important to us. Candidates will be continuously assessed against our staff values throughout the recruitment process. Where candidates demonstrate views and behaviours that do not meet the standards of our staff values, we reserve the right to reject their application/ registration.