Location: South East Region (Clonmel)
Contract: Full-Time, Fixed-Term / Specific Purpose Contract
Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience
An established children's residential service is seeking an experienced and motivated Deputy Manager to support the delivery of high-quality care for young people aged 15–17 years who require short-term residential accommodation.
This is an excellent opportunity for a social care professional with leadership experience to play a key role in supporting young people, developing staff teams, and ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and person-centred services.
About the Role
As Deputy Manager, you will work closely with the Service Manager to ensure the day-to-day operation of the residential service, providing leadership, support and supervision to staff while promoting positive outcomes for young people.
You will help create a safe, nurturing and stable environment where young people can develop, build resilience and achieve their individual goals.
The successful candidate will play a central role in maintaining service compliance, supporting staff development, managing referrals and care planning processes, and ensuring the highest standards of service delivery.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the management and operation of the residential service.
- Provide leadership, guidance and direction to residential care staff.
- Promote a positive, professional and child-centred culture within the service.
- Ensure a safe, nurturing and supportive environment for young people.
- Oversee the implementation, monitoring and review of Care and Placement Plans.
- Engage effectively with young people, families, social workers and external agencies.
- Provide regular staff supervision and support professional development.
- Support recruitment, induction, training and performance management processes.
- Monitor compliance with safeguarding, health and safety, confidentiality and organisational policies.
- Coordinate referrals, case allocations and record management.
- Prepare reports and maintain accurate service documentation.
- Assist with budget management, service reviews and quality improvement initiatives.
- Deputise for the Manager when required to ensure continuity of service.
- Participate in on-call duties, meetings, training and partnership working with relevant stakeholders.
Essential Requirements
- CORU registration as a Social Care Worker.
- Honours degree (Level 8) in Social Care, Social Studies, Youth Work, Psychology, Addiction Studies or a related discipline.
- Minimum of three years' post-qualification experience in residential child care or a related field.
- Previous experience at Social Care Leader level or equivalent supervisory role.
- Strong understanding of the impact of childhood adversity and trauma on adolescents.
- Experience supporting young people who may present with complex needs and challenging behaviours.
- Experience working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams.
- Knowledge of therapeutic crisis intervention approaches.
- Strong understanding of children's residential care legislation, regulations and national standards.
- Proven leadership, organisational and communication skills.
Desirable Experience
- Experience in service development and quality improvement initiatives.
- Knowledge of children's residential inspection and regulatory frameworks.
- Experience managing staff supervision, training and performance processes.
- Understanding of safeguarding and child protection procedures.
What We're Looking For
The ideal candidate will be:
- Passionate about achieving positive outcomes for young people.
- A confident and supportive leader.
- Skilled in building effective relationships with young people, families and professionals.
- Resilient, adaptable and able to work in a fast-paced environment.
- Committed to delivering high-quality, trauma-informed and person-centred care.
- Dedicated to continuous improvement and best practice.
- Valid working rights for Ireland.
Benefits
- Competitive salary package.
- Ongoing professional development and training opportunities.
- Supportive and collaborative management team.
- Opportunities for leadership development and career progression.
- Employee wellbeing supports and assistance programmes.
- Meaningful work supporting vulnerable young people to achieve positive futures.
For more information, or to apply, please reach out to Zoe Lawlor today –
Call: + 353 1 947 6238
Email: zoe.lawlor@cplhealthcare.com
