Registered Manager – Build the Home You Always Needed.Start from strength. Lead with heart. Be the Change you want to see.
Therapeutic Children's Home: 4 Bed, EBD, ages 8–16 years old
Location: New Malden, KT3
Type: Full-time
Start Date: November 2025 –January 2026
We're ready to begin, but for the right candidate, we'll schedule the start around your availability.
Your Leadership, Valued and Backed
Base Salary
* £65,000–£75,000, depending on experience and outcomes
Performance & Recognition
* £10,000 "Outstanding" Bonus - Awarded if the home achieves Ofsted Outstanding within 12 months of your start date as Registered Manager.
* 2-Week Paid Sabbatical - Awarded after two consecutive Outstanding ratings.
* Additional performance bonus linked to therapeutic outcomes and staff retention
* Innovation Allowance: "First to Pilot" - Pitch, trial, and lead new therapeutic models you believe in — with full backing.
Wellbeing & Development
* 28–33 days annual leave (based on service)
* Employer pension contribution
* Ongoing clinical supervision and reflective leadership support
* Access to full training suite and 24+ proven personal development workshops
* Option to enrol on a Foundation Degree in Therapeutic Residential Care** for you and committed staff
* Free on-site parking
Where This Could Lead
This isn't just a role — it's a starting point.
Once the New Malden home is running well, you'll have the opportunity to:
* Lead the setup of two additional Sanctuary homes — a solo provision and a supported step-down setting
* Step into a broader leadership role as Area Manager or Responsible Individual
* Co-create new therapeutic services, grounded in what works for young people and practitioners
* Shape sector impact through consultancy, mentoring, and innovation, aligned with LA sufficiency strategy needs and provide edge-of-care solutions
"Sanctuary is more than a children's home — it's a lived commitment born from experience.It was created by someone who's walked through the fire and turned it into fuel for others.Every part of its culture is shaped by what works in real life — what holds, heals, and helps people grow.It's the home I needed when I was homeless.
That means giving children the stability and attuned care I wish I'd had long before I ever faced homelessness.If it speaks to you, we'd love to hear from you."
We know that children don't just need systems — they need steady, emotionally present adults who are supported, held, and thriving themselves.
That's why Sanctuary is designed as much for the people who care as for the children they care for.
Because when the adults are thriving, the children can finally stop surviving.
They can start to trust.
And that changes everything.
We know that leading a children's home isn't just a job — it's a calling. And it can be heavy.
Too many Registered Managers are expected to hold everything and be held by no one.
That's not how we do things here.
At Sanctuary, you'll be backed emotionally, practically, and therapeutically by people who understand what this work takes and why it matters.
You'll help shape something extraordinary.
But you won't have to build it from scratch or carry it alone.
You'll be stepping into something real.
The property is secured — a high-spec home in New Malden, expanding to five beds with its own step-down studio.
A therapeutic consultant team, a clinical psychologist, and an experienced Responsible Individual are already in place.
You'll have access to over 200 trained mentors from rites-of-passage networks, as well as staff with lived and professional experience ready to join you.
And at the centre of it all is the founder, present, grounded, and committed to creating the kind of home that holds the people doing the holding.
You'll be joined by a children's home consultant who has successfully helped set up over 10 homes that are running today.
You'll inherit something rare: a fully developed Pathway to Independence programme built around over 24 proven workshops.
These aren't tick-box sessions — they're real-world, trauma-informed, and delivered by mentors with both professional credibility and lived experience. Including and not limited to:
* Emotional Resilience
* Stress Management
* Entrepreneurship
* Property Investment
* Ikigai (Finding Purpose)
* Rites of Passage.
* Budgeting
* Cooking
* Employment Readiness.
* Microsoft Office to Exploring AI.
The programme equips young people and our staff with the mindset and skills to thrive beyond care.
This isn't a blank slate. It's a ready-built launchpad.
"It's the home I needed when I was homeless."
What You'll Lead
Sanctuary isn't starting from scratch — it's starting from strength.
Now we need a Registered Manager to take this foundation through registration and onward to Outstanding.
You'll lead across:
You'll be expected to uphold the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and Quality Standards — not just for compliance, but because they align with our values.
* Therapeutic Culture & Ethos — shaping values and emotional tone
* Ofsted Registration & Regulatory Frameworks — with expert RI and consultant support
* Team Leadership & Development — building a resilient, reflective team
* Operational Foundations — systems, rotas, care planning, QA
* Trauma-Informed Practice — embedding relational, attuned responses
* External Relationships — commissioners, social workers, and families
Who You Are
You're a relational, reflective leader with proven experience, emotional depth, and the vision to build from the ground up — not just operationally but lead culturally.
The commitment, drive and ability to take this from an established foundation to an Outstanding accreditation from Ofsted.
You won't be inheriting a system — you'll be helping bring one to life.
Experience (Essential)
* Successfully taken a children's home from pre-registration to 'Good' or 'Outstanding'
* Helped establish a new home, including policy set-up, team building, developing and embedding the right culture
* Direct experience with EBD, developmental trauma, and complex needs
* Successfully built and led staff teams from the ground up, including safe recruitment, reflective supervision, and embedding therapeutic values
Diligently managed safeguarding, compliance, rotas, risk, budgeting, and multi-agency collaboration end-to-end
Skills & Leadership Approach
* A relational, values-led leadership style — emotionally present, boundaried, reflective, and calm under pressure
* Psychological-mindedness — sees behaviour as communication of inner experience and responds with curiosity, not control (and can coach this across the whole team)
* A builder's mindset — confident in ambiguity, decisive in complexity, and quietly resourceful in new territory
* The ability to translate vision into structure — turning therapeutic ethos into daily rhythms, rituals, and systems
* Emotional maturity — self-aware, grounded, not reactive or defensive
* Cultural intentionality — you understand that leadership sets the tone, not just the direction
* A commitment to learning and growth, including engaging in reflective practice and feedback as part of your leadership model
Qualifications (Required)
* Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (or willingness to complete)
* Enhanced DBS clearance
* Up-to-date Safeguarding, First Aid, and Health & Safety training
* Full UK driving licence
* A Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare is desirable for those progressing from Deputy Manager roles.
Safeguarding & Inclusion
Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
This role is subject to Enhanced DBS and comprehensive reference checks.
We especially welcome applicants with lived experience of care or marginalisation.
We're building a culture of belonging, integrity, and deep respect — and that starts with who we hire.
How to Apply
If this speaks to you, we'd love to hear from you.
Not quite ready to apply? Reach out for an informal, confidential chat —
Email:
Ready to apply? Please submit:
* Your CV
* A brief cover letter outlining:
– Your vision for leading a therapeutic home
– How does your experience align with this role
– (If available) your most recent Ofsted inspection report
Send to:
What Happens Next
We'll review applications as they come in.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a meaningful conversation with our founder to explore the vision, ask honest questions, and see if Sanctuary feels like the right place to bring your leadership to life.
Next steps
If you'd value an informal chat before applying, email or call — we're happy to talk.
"It's the home I needed when I was homeless.
That means giving children the stability and attuned care I wish I'd had long before I ever faced homelessness."Now it needs a leader with heart. If you're ready, we're listening.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: £65,000.00-£75,000.00 per year
Benefits:
* Additional leave
* Bereavement leave
* Company events
* Company pension
* Cycle to work scheme
* Employee discount
* Employee mentoring programme
* Financial planning services
* Flexitime
* Free parking
* Health & wellbeing programme
* On-site parking
* Referral programme
* Sick pay
Work Location: In person