Children's Residential Worker

Join us in Staffordshire to work with our children, young people, and families. 

We are committed to providing the best care and support, fostering lifelong relationships with our children. Creativity and fun are at the core of our approach, both inside and outside the homes. Our specialist teams support children and young people across Staffordshire, with numerous vacancies available.

As we continue to develop and enhance our in house residential service, we currently have roles across different EBD homes and a disability service. Our new increased pay range recognises the challenging nature of the role.

Working hours vary between homes, but all operate on a shift basis which includes weekend and bank holiday work and equate to 37 hours per week. 

Please note: Due to recent changes in legislation (effective 22 July 2025), this role is not eligible for sponsorship.

We currently have vacancies in the children's residential services in Stafford, each provision offers unique ways of working with and supporting young people from 11 years old to 17 years old. 

You will:

• work within the children's home, supporting young people aged 11 to 17. Your role will involve basic household tasks and providing emotional support, as many children come from challenging backgrounds.
• engage in 1:1 sessions addressing emotions and behaviours, collaborating with professionals to meet their needs. 

We prioritise your well-being, ensuring manageable workloads and a supportive environment. 

We embrace strength-based approaches and offer a rewarding work-life balance.

What you can expect from us:

We have:

• a detailed induction programme specifically designed to cover all elements of the role, so that you have all the tools and knowledge ready to get going.
• an ambitious, confident, and motivated management team who are experienced, supportive, and keen to help you learn and grow.  
• a selection of free courses for you to learn new things, and even have funded qualifications we can support you with obtaining.
• a monthly 1:1 reflective space with managers, a comprehensive employee support offer, and lots of opportunity to network with other professionals that support children.

We encourage our children to participate and get involved in all decisions, and recruitment is no different. It is really important to us that anyone joining the residential team has the skills, abilities, and outlook that our children tell us they need from us.

What our children want from you:

• "I would like someone like me who has time to listen instead of being behind a locked door”
• "I would like someone who listens to me but also takes action and who I can have a laugh with – they also need to be able to make nice food"
• "I would like someone who spends time with me"

The minimum criteria we're looking for you to have is:

• the ability to work in partnership, collaboratively with the young person, their Social Worker, family and relevant agencies in order to ensure that their needs are met.
• to be able to fulfil key worker responsibilities by building positive relationships with young people.
• be able to write reports and participate in reviews for young people.
• have an ability to communicate to a high standard in verbal and written form with children and other stakeholders
• ability to build and maintain positive trusted relationships with young people. 
• ICT literate in a range of Microsoft software  
• demonstratable self-awareness and resilience. 
• ability to maintain a safe working environment in compliance with Health & Safety Standards and Regulations, including Risk Assessment Management. 
• commitment and ability to demonstrate restorative approaches to working with families and children.   
• commitment to continuous professional development   

What we are also looking for:

• Passion – Thinking creatively to ensure that our children are supported to achieve their aspirations (no matter how big or small) will need to be top of your list!  We are looking for passionate practitioners (irrelevant of length of experience) who truly care and want to make a difference to children, young people and families.
• Challenge – Some days will be tough, for our children, for you, and for your colleagues - we're after someone who is dedicated and committed, and who will always go that extra mile for our children (even on the bad days).  Working as part of a close professional team is really important and you will need to be a team player to get through those tough times.
• Forward thinking – We are an expanding service with big ideas and aspirational views.  We are looking for workers who can join our team and join us on this exciting journey, making contributions to help shape and inform the future of the service for our children
• Values – We are looking for someone who has values aligned to those that are integral to our service and our organisation - supportive, innovative, respectful and collaborative

Are you interested? 

You are welcome to contact Sue Dodd (Registered Manager) by email on susan.dodd@staffordshire.gov.uk or John Rowlands, [email removed] to  discuss the role in greater detail and gain more information about the service.  

Interviews will be in person and are scheduled to take place on 9th,10th, and 11th September 2026 at Brunswick Place, Stafford. 

Please note: In line with Schedule 2 this role is regulated by Ofsted so it a requirement that we obtain FULL employment history, from leaving secondary school. Please ensure that this is completed on your application as this will be discussed with you should you be invited to interview.

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role. Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes.

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too. 

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance. 

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to