Head of Home - Sunflower House - Aylesbury

Overview

About the role

As the Registered Manager, you’ll be responsible for the overall leadership and management of the home, ensuring compliance with Residential Family Centre Regulations, Ofsted requirements, and our Statement of Purpose. You’ll lead a dedicated team, driving high standards of care and safeguarding, while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Take a look at our Children's Residential Candidate Pack to learn more about working in Residential at Buckinghamshire Council.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead and manage the day-to-day operations of the Residential Family Centre.
• Ensure the service operates in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations, and quality standards.
• Manage, develop, and support a multidisciplinary team to deliver high-quality assessments and interventions.
• Oversee safeguarding practices and promote the welfare and protection of children.
• Monitor assessment quality, outcomes, and reporting standards.
• Manage budgets, resources, and occupancy levels effectively, ensuring that all new referrals can be safely matched within the home.
• Build positive relationships with local authorities, commissioners, and partner agencies.
• Drive continuous improvement and maintain excellent inspection outcomes.

This pivotal role requires not only strong leadership but also a deep passion for making a positive difference in the lives of children, young people and their families.

Follow the link below to hear from one of our current Heads of Home.

From New Starter to Leading a Home: Dan’s Journey in Children’s Residential Care

About you

We’re looking for a passionate and experienced leader who shares our commitment to improving the lives of children and young people. You’ll bring:

• Level 5 Children’s Residential Management qualification and at least two years of residential management experience.
• Strong knowledge of current legislation, regulations, and best practice in children’s residential care and Residential Family Centres.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
• A ‘can-do’ attitude, resilience, and the ability to inspire and motivate others.
• Flexibility to work unsocial hours when required and the ability to travel across the county.

Access to a vehicle and a full driving licence are essential.

Ready to make a real difference? Join us in creating a home where children can feel safe, valued, and supported to achieve their full potential. Apply today and be part of something truly special.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about this role, please contact of either Laura Armstrong at [email protected] or Krishane Madhavan at [email protected]

Closing date: Sunday 27th September 2026.

Interview date: TBC

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

 

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Buckinghamshire is a successful, growing place with fantastic natural assets, a highly productive economy and many resourceful and thriving communities. However, we are far from complacent and our new and ambitious unitary authority is well placed to tackle the challenges associated with growth, an aging population, climate change and inequalities in both opportunities and outcomes – particularly for our children and young people.

Children’s Services is on an improvement journey and as our very recent Ofsted report shows, we have continued to improve despite the pressures of the pandemic and have built solid foundations for future success. Relationships with partners are strong and our collective response to the pandemic has strengthened and deepened our work together.

We have a big, ambitious agenda for Buckinghamshire, and our teams work collaboratively and at pace to make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people across the county.

We are looking for talented and driven individuals to help us achieve the best outcomes for our children, young people and families in Buckinghamshire. Our key priorities include continuing to protect vulnerable children and young people from harm, whilst sustaining an environment where social work practice can thrive. Through our vital work with our partners, including The Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Childrens Partnership, we continue to improve our collective response to children and young people who have been exposed to domestic abuse, exploitation, substance misuse and mental health issues.

No matter what role you take on in our Children’s services, you will be part of a team who is dedicated to supporting children and their families to achieve their full potential.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/