Website Blue Heart Residential
Children’s Registered Manager
New Solo Children’s Home · Cinderford, Gloucestershire · Ofsted
£65,000 – £70,000 per annum, with clear progression as you take on oversight of additional homes
Full-time · Permanent · Senior leadership
Expected Home opening: September 2026
Immediate start
Blue Heart Residential is opening a new solo children’s home in Cinderford, and the groundwork is well underway. The Statement of Purpose and core policies are in place, planning is secured, and the Ofsted registration is progressing. We’re looking for a Registered Manager to complete registration as the named manager to build the team, and lead the home from opening.
This is for someone who’s done it before, or a strong Deputy ready to step up and lead their own service. No inherited culture to unpick and no firefighting someone else’s shortcuts – a properly resourced solo home where, from day one, your focus is the young person, the team and the culture, not catching up on paperwork.
About Blue Heart Residential
Blue Heart Residential is a fast-growing children’s residential care provider operating across the South West of England and Wales. We’ve built our reputation on stable, therapeutic, outcome-focused homes. We put quality of care ahead of occupancy, and we back the managers who deliver it. This home is part of that growth and so is the person who leads it.
The role at a glance
- Location: Cinderford, Gloucestershire (Forest of Dean)
- The home: solo home, single occupancy, 5-17 young people with EBD / complex needs
- Reports to: the Responsible Individual
- Registration status: progressing Statement of Purpose, core policies and planning in place; you complete registration with Ofsted as the named Registered Manager
What you’ll actually be doing
- Completing registration with Ofsted as the Registered Manager
- Taking ownership of the Statement of Purpose and bringing it to life in practice
- Recruiting, inducting and developing your team ahead of opening
- Embedding trauma-informed, relationship-based practice not reactive care
- Meeting the Children’s Homes Quality Standards in day-to-day practice
- Working with the RI and independent visitor on Regulation 45 quality of care reviews and Regulation 44 visits
- Building strong relationships with placing local authorities and the local safeguarding partnership
- Keeping safeguarding tight, aligned to Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and the Children Act 1989 / 2004
- Leading Ofsted inspections (SCCIF) with confidence and consistency
Why this one is different
Most Registered Manager roles ask you to fix problems. This one lets you prevent them.
- A new solo home, properly resourced built around one young person, not run on empty
- The setup and compliance foundations are well underway, so you focus on care, not catch-up
- You build the team and set the culture from day one
- Real clinical and therapeutic support around the placement
- Quality over occupancy, we don’t fill beds to hit numbers
- Genuine progression: oversee multiple homes as Blue Heart Residential grows, with earnings to match
What we need from you
Essential
- Experience in children’s residential care
- Registered Manager experience, or strong Deputy experience and ready to register with Ofsted
- The Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England), held or being worked towards within the statutory timescale
- A solid working grasp of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015, the Quality Standards and Ofsted’s inspection framework
- Confident with safeguarding, Working Together (2023) and multi-agency working
- A proven ability to build a team and keep it
Desirable
- Experience opening or registering a new children’s home
- Experience running a solo or small home
- Experience with complex, high-risk or challenging presentations
- Existing relationships with Gloucestershire and South West placing authorities
What we’re offering
- The chance to open and shape a solo home from the start
- Real autonomy and trust – your professional judgement matters here
- Strong senior leadership and clinical support around you
- Comprehensive induction and advanced leadership CPD
- Clear salary progression as additional homes come under your oversight
- A values-led organisation that puts quality of care ahead of occupancy
Ready to lead something worth leading? If you’re an experienced Registered Manager, or a Deputy ready to make the step, and you want ownership rather than another list of problems to inherit – this is it.
