Deputy Manager (Spring Cottage)

About Us

Spring Cottage provides a safe, nurturing home for children with emotional and behavioural needs. We use therapeutically informed approaches, including PACE and social pedagogy, to help children build resilience, develop life skills, and reach their full potential.

As a Deputy Manager, you will:
✔ Provide high-quality care and support in a therapeutic setting.
✔ Build strong, trusting relationships with children and colleagues.
✔ Support children’s emotional, social, and educational development.
✔ Work closely with external professionals to ensure children receive the right support.
✔ Promote independence and life skills through daily routines and activities.

What We’re Looking For

✅ A caring, patient, and resilient individual.
✅ Experience in residential care, education, or social work (preferred but not essential).
✅ A commitment to therapeutic and trauma-informed care.
✅ Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare.
✅ Ability to work shifts, including evenings and weekends.

We are inviting applications from enthusiastic, skilled, caring and creative people who can work in and manage residential care for children.

You will be:

• Responsible for managing operational activities within a children’s residential home including staff, budgets and resources. Knowledge of the Children Act, the Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including Quality Standards and Ofsted requirements is essential, together with experience of direct work with children and young people and their families with complex needs in a residential setting.

This post provides an opportunity to join a highly motivated and enthusiastic staff team who are committed to providing a high-quality service to children and their families in Derbyshire. For an informal discussion contact Natalie Cantrell on 07528063869

Standby Duty

As Deputy Manager there will be an expectation of covering 50% of the on-call rota.

If your job means that you have to be available for contact or response outside your normal hours, you will be paid a duty payment based on the length of time you are on standby. You will be paid £29.93 for any period of standby duty up to 8 hours. If your standby duty is for a longer period of time, you will be paid an additional duty payment of £3.75 for each 2-hour block thereafter, up to a maximum of 24 hours for each period of standby duty.

Due to this post having access to children and/or vulnerable adults, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. Click here to see our policy on criminal background checks.

This is an Internal vacancy and is only available to employees of Derbyshire County Council, including temporary and relief employees and agency workers engaged by the Council. Employees specifically identified as ‘individually at risk’ of redundancy have priority interview status, and employees on pay protection have guaranteed interview status, for vacancies at the same grade or below. When applying for jobs please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that this status clearly stated on your application form. Please ask your manager if you are unsure of your status.School based employees who fall under the responsibility of the Governing body of an LA School are only able to apply for these posts if they are subject to notices of redundancy issued by the relevant school

Apply now and take the first step towards a fulfilling career with us! By joining Derbyshire County Council you will have access to a range of amazing rewards and employee benefits, including our generous annual leave scheme, excellent local government pension and fantastic employee discounts. To discover more detail about the rewards and benefits available to you, click here

CS1

We welcome applications from individuals who share our values — being Collaborative, Innovative, Empowered and Accountable. These values describe who we are and what we stand for as a council. They help shape our culture, encourage consistent behaviour and guide how we work together to make a positive difference for both our employees and the residents we serve.