Service Manager

Overview

As Service Manager for Aldine House, you provide strategic and operational leadership to a secure children’s home. You will align care, education, health and psychology around a common direction and drive occupancy growth while ensuring safe, high-quality services. You lead referrals, placement matching, workforce readiness and partnerships to sustain a therapeutic, trauma-informed culture. This is a mission-driven role with a strong emphasis on safeguarding, regulation readiness and cross-agency collaboration.

Pay / Benefits

• generous holiday entitlement
• flexible working opportunities
• reduced hour contracts / job share options
• full-time 37 hours per week, 52 weeks
• opportunities for progression
• commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

Responsibilities

• Establish a clear vision and strategic plan for Aldine House
• Oversee service performance, quality, safeguarding, workforce, occupancy and finance
• Ensure regulatory accountability and inspection readiness
• Strengthen therapeutic and trauma-informed culture across the service
• Coordinate care, education, health and psychology as an integrated team around each child
• Lead occupancy growth with safe, evidence-based placement decisions
• Align workforce capacity and deployment with children’s needs and planned occupancy
• Use performance and financial data to identify risks and inform decisions
• Represent Aldine House with senior leaders, regulators and partners

Key requirements

• substantial leadership and management experience in children’s residential care or secure provision
• experience of leading service improvement and organizational change
• strong understanding of therapeutic, trauma-informed and relationship-based practice
• detailed knowledge of safeguarding, risk management, quality assurance and regulatory compliance
• strong partnership and influencing skills
• visible, compassionate and accountable leadership
• commitment to children’s rights, equality, diversity, inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice

• leadership
• strategic thinking
• collaboration
• therapeutic and trauma-informed practice
• safeguarding and risk management
• regulatory compliance (Regulation 44 and 45)

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