Job Description

Registered Manager - Fostering

Salary: £52,400 per annum - negotiable for an exceptional candidate

Location: Bristol

Contract/Hours: Perm/Full time – 37 hours per week

Benefits:

• Over 7 weeks inclusive paid leave and the option to buy or sell leave . consideration of continued service leave balance
• As part of our commitment to staff wellbeing, you’ll receive a paid annual Wellbeing Day to use however you choose, supporting a healthy balance between work and life.
• Excellent support and leadership opportunities
• Flexible maternity, paternity and adoption packages
• Up to 5% employer contribution and life assurance cover
• Blue Light Card eligibility with discounts at 15,000 national retailers
• We will honour local authority terms and conditions (continuous service)

At Action for Children, we offer more than just a job. Join us and you’ll be part of a team dedicated to giving children safe and happy childhoods. See how your skills can make a real difference, leading on embedding a therapeutic fostering offer to children and young people

A bit about the role

As a Registered Manager for fostering, you will oversee regulatory standards and the compliance, safeguarding and sustainability needs of fostering services within southwest England

You will lead a dedicated team, ensuring compliance to fostering standards and maintaining a strong team culture and being ambitious for children and young people. You will provide strong leadership and direction to a range of professional social work, health and business support staff and work in partnership with marketing and central AFC staff to maintain sustainable services

About the service

This is an exciting opportunity to take over services that embed the therapeutic HOMES model throughout its entire fostering approach. You can find out more about our HOMES model here. You will be part of the senior leadership team in England Fostering services and will be supported by highly equipped and experienced managers who see the importance of delivering on a culture of psychological safety

Action for Children Fostering Services in England southwest provide the highest standards of care to the most vulnerable children and young people by the provision of safe, secure, and successful foster homes

We provide foster families with excellent training, supervision, and support to achieve the best outcomes for the young people we look after. We provide high quality of care always ensuring children and young people are at the centre of our approach. We offer a therapeutic HOMES model and carers and staff have access to skilled psychologists with specialist knowledge of the needs of looked-after children

What you do could make a difference

• Provide strategic leadership to ensure strong practice and leadership is upheld
• Provide and deliver on Action for Children values
• Oversee the day‑to‑day operations of regulated services across southwest
• Provide oversight and accountability to AFC Head of Service (Fostering) and Ofsted, the Regulatory Body
• Lead and be accountable for safeguarding, recording and practice.
• Build strong relationships with carer families, local organisations and partner agencies
• Be the external representative and attend local events, panels and forums to promote and strengthen the service.

Let's talk about you.

• Hold a recognised social work qualification (Degree, DipSW) and be registered with Social Work England
• Significant experience across children’s social care, including fostering.
• Experienced in leading, motivating and supporting managers and social workers, challenging under‑performance and promoting best practice.
• Confident analysing data, inputs to budgets and applying commercial awareness within a social care context.

Why Action for Children?

Every child should have a loving home, food, warmth, the chance to grow and learn - the support to cope with life’s challenges. But too many children don’t.

By bringing your passion and unique skills and experience, you’ll help us create change that really matters. And when we succeed, we’ll recognise what you did to make a difference.

We've been driven by love to take action for children for over 150 years, giving them the protection and practical help they need. A lot’s changed since 1869. But what children really need, hasn’t. So as long as children need us, we’ll be here.

Will you join us?

How to apply

If you require any support to apply, please contact: Scott Jones via email at recruitmentservice@actionforchildren.org.uk quoting reference 13972

For any questions or early enquiry, please contact Colette Ferns Head of Fostering via email at colette.fearns@actionforchildren.org.uk, or Adrienne Cronin. Foster Service Manager adrienne.cronin@actionforchildren.org.uk

Our Commitment to Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

At Action for Children, we are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued, and able to thrive. We know that racism and discrimination create barriers, and we are taking active steps to challenge these inequalities in our organisation and in the communities we serve.

We strongly welcome applications from people who are Black, Asian, or from other racialised and ethnically marginalised communities, as well as disabled people, who are currently under-represented in our workforce. We are committed to removing barriers in our recruitment processes and ensuring fair access to opportunities.

We also encourage applications from men, who are under-represented in our Children’s Services roles. We recognise that people hold multiple identities, and we value the richness this brings to our team.

See below for further information about working with us:

Job Description

AfC Commitment Statement

Management Competency Framework