Job Description

Barnardo's Leaving Care Service - Belfast
We are seeking to recruit an experienced manager with the passion and ability to lead a team of practitioners committed to enabling young people leaving care to reach their full potential and positively transition to independent living. Our successful applicant will have responsibility for service delivery including quality assurance, team development, change and financial management. They will report to an Assistant Director of Children's Services, and will line manage and be supported by a full time Team Manager.
Our Leaving Care Services are jointly commissioned by Health and Social Care Trusts and Supporting People (NIHE). The service provides accommodation, support, assistance and guidance to young people aged 16 to 21 based on individually assessed need.
Applicants should have an interest in and experience of Service Improvement and Development implementation. This role requires weekend and evening working as part of the hours.
When completing your application please ensure that you outline how you meet the criteria below:
Essential Criteria:

• Professional qualification in Social Work, social care, youth and community work or related discipline.
• Demonstrable management experience, including leading a staff team in a residential setting
• Demonstrable experience of managing risk including safeguarding concerns.
• Demonstrable capability in understanding and managing finance and budgets
• Ability to drive and have a valid driving licence or alternatively be able to demonstrate how they can meet the mobility requirements of the post.

Applicants must meet the qualification requirements to hold registration for Residential Children's Services in Northern Ireland.
Location: South Belfast.
Hours: 29.6 per week. It is essential that applicants demonstrate a willingness to work flexible hours including evenings and weekends. Please see additional information sheet.
Salary: 43,066-53,270 FTE
Allowance: On-call
Closing: Midnight, Sunday 3 August 2025.
Interviews: Thursday 14th August 2025
Contact email: recruitment.support@barnardos.org.uk
We will also hold a waiting list of suitable candidates to be considered in the event that other similar vacancies arise in the next 12 months.
The successful candidate will also be required to undertake Enhanced Access NI with Child and Adult Barred List check.
For informal enquires please contact Christine Doherty,
Pay and Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's . We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out 1st April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a key pillar of our Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to grow and develop in their career at Barnardo's as it will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues to progress through the pay band of their role.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band - this ensures that pay progression steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
Benefits
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract
About Barnardo's
At Barnardo's we believe in children - no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.
Barnardo's is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce for staff and volunteers. We actively encourage applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and male candidates as they are under-represented within Barnardo's.