Children’s Registered Manager and Project Lead

Liquid Personnel is currently recruiting for a Children’s Registered Manager in Essex to support the opening of a Residential Family Centre in South Essex to Improve short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes for children and their families.
Our client's centre will have the mission to keep more babies safely with their families, break cycles of disadvantage and give families the best chance to thrive - where they belong, in their own communities.

Role Overview:

The Registered Manager will provide strategic and operational leadership for a new Ofsted-regulated Residential Family Centre, ensuring safe, high-quality, trauma-informed assessment and support for families subject to care proceedings.

The postholder will lead the service through pre-registration, mobilisation, and inspection, and will be accountable for compliance with the Residential Family Centres National Minimum Standards, Children Act 1989, and associated guidance.

In addition, the role will oversee the client's community-based parenting assessment offer and supervised contact provision, ensuring clear governance, consistency of practice, and proportionate pathways between residential and non-residential services.

What will your responsibilities be?

• Lead the preparation and submission of all documentation required for Ofsted registration, including Statement of Purpose, policies, staffing model, and quality assurance systems.
• Play a central role in property readiness, environmental risk assessments, and mobilisation planning.
• Develop staffing structures, rotas, induction and supervision frameworks aligned with regulatory expectations.
• Support recruitment and onboarding of residential and community-based staff.
• Work closely with the Responsible Individual to ensure the service is inspection-ready from day one.

Essential Requirements

• Level 5 Diploma in Leadership & Management for Residential Childcare (or equivalent).
• At least 2 years’ experience managing residential or intensive family support services.
• Strong working knowledge of:
• Care proceedings and parenting assessments
• Safeguarding and risk management
• Ofsted regulatory frameworks
• Experience leading teams and managing complex services.
• Commitment to trauma-informed, strengths-based practice.
• Project management experience
• Clean Driving license and full access to a road worthy vehicle

Reasonable Adjustments:

If you consider yourself to have a disability or require any reasonable adjustment during the recruitment process or within the workplace, please highlight this at the earliest opportunity by contacting our team. With this information, we will provide appropriate support to you throughout the process and into your work placement.

We are unable to support or accept applications from candidates who are residents within the Red or Amber list of the Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England, based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Workforce Support and Safeguard List.

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