Salary: up to £40,000 depending on experience and qualifications

Contract Type: Permanent

Working hours: full-time at 40 hours per week & part-time at 20 hours per week; shift work between 7am-10pm including weekends, bank holidays and occasional sleep-ins

Sleep-ins: £50 

Location: East Croydon

closest station is Sanderstead Station, CR2 - one stop after East Croydon on the Southern Railway.

Are you a Team Leader looking for your next challenge?

We have a fantastic opportunity to join St Christopher's fellowship as a Team Leader for our new specialist Children’s home in Croydon. You will work alongside the Registered Manager and Deputy Manager to lead and support a professional team of staff committed to transforming young lives and creating positive outcomes. You will be supported by experienced Residential Practitioners, as well as our Wrap Around and Education Teams.

About Us

Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.

St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people. We are proud of our history of providing fostering, children's homes and innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.  We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do.  We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home.

We are an equal-opportunity employer keen to develop an inclusive workforce where people feel they belong.  We hope to attract applications from under- represented groups, including people from different cultures, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religions, faith, sex, orientation, childcare responsibilities, and gender-diverse identities.

Watch our short video to gain an insight into our working life here at St Christopher’s

About the Role

As Team Leader, you will be directly involved in managing a 4 bed specialist short stay Home and looking after children aged 12 to 18 years old with complex needs; including Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (EBD), Mental Health Disorders, Substance Dependencies and Learning Disabilities.

Whether shift leading or joining in with daily activities, you will also share in the leadership of the team, helping to develop staff by modelling high standards of professionalism. 

St Christopher’s Academy

At St Christopher`s we can offer you a career where you can develop your skills and knowledge while making a difference to young people’s lives.

When you join St Christopher’s, we will set you up in your career with a tailored development plan. Whether you want to move across to a different service, become a Manager or just explore further your current role, we will support you to map out your career trajectory and help you achieve your professional ambitions. If you want to learn more about St Christopher’s Academy, please click here.

Check out our staff stories here to see how you can develop your career with us

We are proud that 84% of all our Team Leaders, Deputies and Managers are internal promotions. 

The successful candidate will have:

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Child Care or equivalent
•  GCSE English and Maths grades A-C.
• One year’s experience working at a level of responsibility with children and young people in a residential setting.
• An understanding of the regulatory framework relating to the provision of residential services for children and young people.
• Good understanding of the needs and risks regarding children in care.
• An understanding of trauma  informed practice.
• Experience of taking on leadership responsibilities in a teamwork setting.
• Ability to build genuine and trusting relationships with young people maintaining at all times high personal and professional standards.
• Excellent communication and team working skills.
• Ability to work shifts, including alternate weekend working and occasional sleep ins.

In return we offer:

• Salary up to £40,000 depending on experience and qualifications.
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry leading training programme including access to level 3 qualifications, children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and social pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, enhanced maternity and company sick scheme.
• UK Life Assurance (Death in service) to the value of 3 times your annual salary.
• BUPA employee assistance programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Bluelight card; discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary funded training programs.
• Employee awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

Recruitment Process

At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

For your application to be reviewed, it must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. Please note that CV’s will not be accepted.

For the full Job Description and Person Specification click here

For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk

We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and this opportunity might be filled before the stated closing date.

Please note:

• This post has a minimum age restriction of 21 year for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and supported accommodation Homes in line with the Equality Act ‘occupational requirement’.
• It is illegal to apply for any role that involves working with children and young people under the age of 18, if you know you are barred from working with children.
• All shortlisted candidates invited to interview will be asked to submit a Self-Declaration and Disclosure form which will need to be returned prior to an interview being booked