Childrens Residential Worker - Nights

Overview

We are seeking Residential Support Worker (Waking Nights) to join our Residential Family Centre in Aylesbury.

This rewarding role involves providing a safe, supportive, and positive living environment for residents, enabling them to develop their parenting skills and build confidence in their ability to care for their children. You will play a key role in supporting assessments while identifying and managing any safeguarding concerns that may impact the wellbeing of young children.

The successful candidate will be confident in offering guidance, advice, and constructive challenge where appropriate, while ensuring that the needs, safety, and welfare of children remain at the forefront of all practice.

Take a look at our Children's Social Care Candidate Pack to find out more.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.  

Buckinghamshire is an ambitious, rapidly growing county, and our economy is one of the strongest in the country. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty and ranks as one of the top rural areas to live in the UK and yet it is incredibly well connected– only an hour from London on the train. The county has a rich history and heritage and is the birthplace of the international Paralympic movement.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey. You will be entitled to a range of different benefits to make sure you are happy both at work and at home.

About the role

You will work as part of a dedicated team supporting parents with children aged 0 to 6 years, helping them to develop the skills, confidence, and understanding needed to provide safe and effective care for their children while managing any identified risks.

As part of the assessment team, you will contribute to evaluating parents' long-term capacity to meet their children's needs, providing practical and emotional support, guidance, and positive role modelling throughout their stay.

The home has CCTV throughout, this will need to monitored on a rota basis throughout your shift. This will inform your observations of the families ability to safely care for their child and will go towards informing the final assessment.

You will also work collaboratively with wider family members, foster carers, social workers, and other relevant professionals and agencies to ensure the best possible outcomes for both parents and children. This will involve maintaining effective communication, sharing information appropriately, and contributing to a coordinated approach to assessment and support.

Fixed

As a ‘fixed’ worker, you’ll spend most of your time in the same location, which will likely be a fixed office or location where your role is performed. Typically, you’ll be based in the same location as the rest of your team, because you provide a particular service from that fixed location or need access to information there.

 

 

About you

You will be:

• Passionate about supporting families and young children within a residential setting, recognising that behaviours and circumstances can at times be complex and challenging.
• Knowledgeable and experienced in working with families and children, with a commitment to ongoing learning, training, and professional development.
• Proactive, creative, and able to use your own initiative to respond effectively to the needs of residents in a dynamic environment.
• Enthusiastic, resilient, and adaptable, with the ability to work positively in changing and sometimes demanding situations.

In addition, you will possess strong written, communication, and IT skills. A relevant qualification, such as an NVQ/QCF Level 3 in Health and Social Care (or equivalent), would be advantageous, although this is not essential. Previous experience within a social care, family support, or related setting, including voluntary work, is desirable.

Please refer to the attached Job Summary for full details of the role and responsibilities.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about this role, please contact Amanda Gardener at [email protected]

Closing date: 23:59 Tuesday 8th September 2026. 

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Buckinghamshire is a successful, growing place with fantastic natural assets, a highly productive economy and many resourceful and thriving communities. However, we are far from complacent and our new and ambitious unitary authority is well placed to tackle the challenges associated with growth, an aging population, climate change and inequalities in both opportunities and outcomes – particularly for our children and young people.

Children’s Services is on an improvement journey and as our very recent Ofsted report shows, we have continued to improve despite the pressures of the pandemic and have built solid foundations for future success. Relationships with partners are strong and our collective response to the pandemic has strengthened and deepened our work together.

We have a big, ambitious agenda for Buckinghamshire, and our teams work collaboratively and at pace to make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people across the county.

We are looking for talented and driven individuals to help us achieve the best outcomes for our children, young people and families in Buckinghamshire. Our key priorities include continuing to protect vulnerable children and young people from harm, whilst sustaining an environment where social work practice can thrive. Through our vital work with our partners, including The Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Childrens Partnership, we continue to improve our collective response to children and young people who have been exposed to domestic abuse, exploitation, substance misuse and mental health issues.

No matter what role you take on in our Children’s services, you will be part of a team who is dedicated to supporting children and their families to achieve their full potential.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/