Placements Manager

The right home, at the right time, can change a child’s life. Help us make that happen.

Every child deserves to feel safe, valued and supported — especially those in our care.

We are looking for a passionate and committed Placements Team Manager to lead our approach to finding and securing the best possible homes for children in care. This is a role where your leadership will directly impact children’s lives — ensuring they are truly supported to thrive.

About the Role

As Placements Team Manager, you will lead the service responsible for identifying and securing homes for children in care — playing a vital role in delivering our sufficiency strategy and improving outcomes for children and young people.

This is a fast-paced, high-impact role at the centre of children’s commissioning, where good decisions really matter.

You will:

• Oversee home finding activity – working closely with social care, providers and partners to secure the best possible homes

• Build strong relationships with providers – fostering collaboration with fostering agencies, residential homes and carers to improve quality and choice

• Champion quality and consistency – contributing to quality assurance and improvement activity across placements

• Lead and support your team – creating a positive, motivated environment where staff are supported to deliver their best work

• Make best use of resources – overseeing placement spend, monitoring budgets and ensuring value for money while always prioritising children’s needs

• Use data to make better decisions – analysing placement trends, performance and demand to continuously improve how we work [

This role sits at the point where practice, commissioning and finance come together — requiring both compassion and strong decision-making.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone who leads with purpose, care and integrity.

You will:

• Have experience in children’s services, placements or commissioning

• Understand the importance of stability, matching and quality in children in care placements

• Have a good understanding of due diligence for children in care and a sound understanding of ofsted regulations and inspection outcomes

• Be a confident leader of people, able to support, motivate and develop a team

• Be skilled in building relationships with partners, providers and colleagues across services

• Bring strong financial awareness, with experience managing or influencing placement budgets

• Be able to balance compassion with challenge, making decisions that are in the best interests of children

• Stay calm and focused in a busy, high-pressure environment

Why Join Us?

You’ll be joining a team and organisation that is:

• Deeply committed to improving outcomes for children in care

• Focused on working together across services to get the best results

• Supportive, inclusive and values-led in everything we do

• Ambitious about creating a stronger, more responsive home finding system

In this role, you will:

• Make a real, visible difference to children’s lives every day

• Help shape how we deliver placements now and in the future

• Be part of a service that is continually learning and improving

Ready to make a difference?

If you want to lead a service that sits at the heart of children’s care — where your work directly shapes children’s experiences and futures — we would love to hear from you.

Apply now and help us ensure every child has a place they can call home.