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About Us

Breakwater provides four young people aged 12 - 17 short to medium-term residential care facing social, emotional, and mental health challenges. Children referred to Breakwater are often victims of exploitation or involved in crime and may have experienced disrupted education. They may be at risk of becoming homeless and have limited support around them.

Alongside the main home, two self-contained flats offer semi-independent living for those preparing for adulthood. Children complete a six-month independence programme that develops emotional, social, and practical skills. The Breakwater team are trained in interventions to promote independence and guide young people through this transition.

For more information, please visit our dedicated Residential website, Children's residential care careers.

About the Role

Salary: £28,598 - £30,023 per annum (includes weekend working allowance) plus excellent pension, annual leave and additional benefits
Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Location: Shoreham-By-Sea
Shifts and Rotas: for day work, you will be required to work on a shift rota between 07:00 - 22:00, including every other weekend and approximately one sleep-in duty per week currently with enhanced pay. This can be discussed with candidates in more detail at interview.

As a Residential Childcare Worker at Breakwater, no two days are the same. Guided by each young person's individual care plan, your role may involve supporting them through challenging behaviour, offering emotional reassurance when it's needed most, and ensuring their safety when returning from time spent in the community.

The ideal candidate will have experience working alongside young people who have faced social, emotional, and mental health challenges. Your care, understanding and resilience will help create stability and trust for the children in our care.

At Breakwater, while the role can be challenging at times, the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our young people and support positive outcomes is incredibly rewarding. You will have support from our fantastic team along with excellent professional development opportunities and closely with a wide network of professionals. Together, we provide consistent, high‑quality care in a homely, nurturing environment where children feel valued, safe, and encouraged to thrive.

Experience and Skills

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare or equivalent. If you do not have this, the service will support you to complete this qualification; you must achieve this within two years of appointment as it is a statutory requirement of this post.
• Sound communication and interpersonal skills to a range of children and families.
• Ability to promote and encourage a multi-agency approach to support the child.
• Ability to use initiative to resolve problems within given parameters.
• Ability to work under pressure and prioritise work.
• Ability to work as part of a team around a child.
• Good standard of literacy e.g. ability to write reports around individual young
  people and significant incidents and to be able to write application for level 3
  diploma if required. Could be gained through formal education or vocational
  experience.
• Knowledge of how to support children who have experienced trauma, harm or
  abuse - Desirable

For a full list of key skills, experience and qualification requirements please review the job description attached below and reference them in your application form.

Rewards and Benefits

In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement 244.2 to 266.4 hours
• ability to apply for a Blue Light Card
• access to a wide selection of retail discounts and savings such as groceries, shopping, travel and more through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.
• a range of commuting and business travel discount and initiatives
• maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme
• financial wellbeing support including access to educational tools and webinars, loans or debt consolidation options and savings scheme
• training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06460 .

To apply, upload your CV and complete our short application form, explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role, ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and an occupational health check. A full employment history will be requested and covered for this role.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!