Job details

This role is part of a Hays Exclusive campaign with one of our key clients, a Children's Residential Service based in South West London.

Your new company

This home is a 4-bed home, supporting 11-17 year olds with EBD. They have historically had a maximum of 2 young people at a time in placement. Although registered with Ofsted to accommodate up to 4 young people, they have previously had solo placements requiring 2-3 staff at all times, or 2 young people, both requiring a minimum of 1:1 staffing. They have also historically only had females placed there, although they are registered to support both males and females.

This home tends to support young people with more acute needs, often coming to the client as a ‘step down’ provision, following being admitted as in-patients due to their mental health, or having complex needs that have led to a placement breakdown elsewhere. The client has had success with supporting this transition for young people with complex needs re-engaging in education and becoming active members of the wider community.

Some of the typical needs they have supported are:

• Self-harm and suicidal ideation
• Risk of CSE and the need for close monitoring of online/ phone access
• Learning difficulties
• Emotional and cognitive processing challenges
• Substance misuse

Your new role

The key skills you will need for this role are:

• Good understanding of CSE and keeping young people (particularly females) safe from contemporary approaches to managing exploitation.
• Vigilant professionals who can naturally engage young people whilst constantly dynamic risk assessing.
• Great communication skills and can engage young people on a wide range of topics
• Understand trauma informed approaches and can attribute challenging behaviour to its root causes
• Can remain calm in situations where a young person is struggling to manage their feelings and is perhaps unintentionally trying to illicit panic amongst the staff team.
• Staff that are self-aware of their own triggers, capacity and capabilities; alongside being resilient.
• Staff that are able to manage and administer medication when necessary.
• Maturity within the role, both professionally and personally

What you'll need to succeed

• 3 years of experience in supporting young people with EBD in a residential setting
• You will need to be physically and mentally strong to cope with the extreme challenges of this role
• Available to work full time (average 39 hours per week), and be able to cover some weekends and bank holidays
• Must have NVQ L3 in Residential Childcare (or equivalent), or be willing to work towards it

What you'll get in return

• Competitive salary based on your level of experience and qualifications
• Opportunity to work towards L3 qualification (if required), and further career progression
• DBS check completed by client (if required)

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.

If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion on your career.