Reception Centre Manager – Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children’s Service

Role Responsibility

We can offer you a competitive salary starting at £32,485, staff benefits package and excellent career development in an expanding service for UAS children.

Kent County Council’s Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking (UAS) Children’s Service provides accommodation and support to newly arrived Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking children in Kent. The Service leads on social work practice with Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking children in Kent, which Ofsted recognises as Outstanding. The Service is developing as a centre of excellence for social work practice nationally and we are seeking passionate individuals to join our service.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Service’s Reception Centre team. The Reception and Safe Care Services are Kent County Council owned, Ofsted regulated, children’s homes and supported accommodation, collectively termed Reception Centres. The Reception Centres, and the services they provide to children, are run by a diverse team of managers and workers, who are all committed to ensuring children are protected and supported to take the first steps in their journey to a more permanent home elsewhere in the UK.

We are seeking Reception Centre Managers who can support the day-to-day running of the Reception Centre, ensuring that all UAS children begin their resettlement journey with the support they need.  The manager needs to be able to role model good practice and organise staff to support all UAS children during their stay from practical objectives and learning, through to emotional support. 

We are looking for managers who have worked with UAS children previously and who have the energy and drive to strive for the best.  If you are passionate about UAS children, motivated and can lead by example, please apply.

This post will be required to work across a rolling shift pattern, with weekly alternating shifts, and regular cover over weekends.

Our Offer

• Full induction
• Training and development opportunities
• Basic salary of between £32,485 and £36,693
• Annual leave allowance of 29 to 30 days (plus bank holidays and an extra day off at Christmas)
• Relocation packages up to £8,000
• Excellent local government pension scheme
• Opportunities to develop in your career
• The opportunity to develop knowledge in niche areas of social work and expand your knowledge and skills of working with children seeking asylum

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service.