Registered Manager

College House is a welcoming and nurturing residential children’s home, working within the pioneering Harbour model framework to provide outstanding support to young people with disabilities or those with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). Our goal is to equip them with essential life skills, helping them transition into foster care or return home, ensuring they have the best possible start in life.

Why Join Us?
You'll be part of our continually improving Children’s Services, recently rated GOOD by Ofsted, and play a key role in shaping the lives of young people in Dorset. We are committed to making Dorset a place where all children thrive.

At Dorset Council, we invest in our people. You’ll receive strong support, a comprehensive training programme, and opportunities for professional development to help you grow and succeed in your role.

You’ll be making a real difference—keeping children in Dorset where they belong, ensuring they receive the best care, support, and educational opportunities to help them reach their full potential.

The Role
As the Registered Manager of College House, you will lead a dedicated team, providing hands-on support and driving meaningful change. You will:

• provide strong leadership, fostering a trauma-informed and restorative approach to care.
• oversee the home’s operations, ensuring high-quality, child-centred care.
• support young people with complex needs, particularly during critical moments.
• work closely with families and partner agencies to keep children in local placements and improve decision-making.
• reduce risks and create positive, sustainable relationships that help young people thrive.

About You
We are looking for an experienced, motivated, and dynamic leader who is ready to develop and shape this service. You will:

• have at least two years’ experience in residential care within the last five years.
• have previous experience in a senior or management role within the past two years.
• be knowledgeable about the Children’s Home Regulations, Quality Standards, and Ofsted Inspection Framework.
• ideally, hold a Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification (or be working towards it) or a social work qualification.

Most importantly, you’ll be a compassionate, resilient, and aspirational leader, passionate about improving the lives of Dorset’s children. If you’re ready to lead from the front and create real change, we’d love to hear from you.

For an informal conversation to discuss this vacancy further, we welcome you to contact Adam Male, Service Manager at [email protected] or Daniel Tonkin [email protected]

You must be able to work some evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

This post has a significant travel requirement and you are contractually required to have a vehicle (or transport deemed to be suitable by the council) available for use as required

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
• have ambitious aspirations
• are excited about our future
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success

You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

For further information on our policy on safeguarding children and young people please click here.

This post involves working with children or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them and will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Please refer to our policy on the employment of ex-offenders for further information. 

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.