Residential Practitioner

Role overview

Leeds City Council is looking for caring, committed Residential Practitioners to join its children’s services team in Leeds. This position is centered on supporting vulnerable children and young people, helping them feel safe, build confidence, and progress towards independence and adulthood.

The council has several opportunities available across the city. These include part-time roles working 18.5 hours and waking-night roles working 17.5 hours in homes supporting young people with complex needs, as well as full-time posts of 37 hours in mainstream homes. Applicants should state on their application which service or post they are interested in.

Working patterns are arranged to meet service requirements and will include alternating weekends. Some posts also involve sleep-in duties. Extra pay is available for sleep-ins, waking nights, and weekend working. Weekend shifts are paid at time and a half where applicable.

Salary and contract

The role pays C1 £28,598 to £31,022 pro rata, with enhancements for weekend work and sleep-in duties where appropriate. This is a permanent position based in Leeds, city wide.

Purpose of the role

The aim of the post is to support, encourage, and safeguard children and young people so they can develop positively and contribute to their families, communities, and wider society. The role also focuses on maintaining strong, supportive relationships through shared routines, daily living, meaningful activities, and clear boundaries.

What the role involves

• Carrying out key worker responsibilities, putting care plans into practice, completing risk assessments, and helping create support and health plans.
• Maintaining a safe, welcoming, and secure home environment that supports both physical and emotional wellbeing.
• Working alongside professionals and the children’s communities of origin to preserve connections and better understand background issues.
• Encouraging ambitions, education, and learning both inside and outside school.
• Supporting emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing to help build self-esteem.
• Respecting privacy while fulfilling safeguarding duties and ensuring living spaces remain clean and safe.
• Providing personal care where needed for children and young people with disabilities or complex needs, including bathing, toileting, dressing, changing, and feeding.
• Keeping records accurate, current, and compliant with GDPR requirements.
• Managing challenging behaviour with a calm, firm, restorative, and sensitive approach.
• Reducing the chances of criminalisation by promoting restorative practice and constructive outcomes.
• Working rota-based shifts that may include sleep-ins, early starts, late finishes, weekends, and bank holidays.
• Building strong working relationships with colleagues, families, external agencies, and the wider community.
• Remaining adaptable and supporting other services where needed, within the grade of the post.
• Taking part in appraisal, training, and development activities to keep knowledge and skills current.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues and knowing when to ask for guidance or support.
• Contributing to the wider aims and culture of the service by attending meetings, training days, and events when required.
• Following council policies and procedures relating to child protection, health and safety, security, confidentiality, and data protection, and reporting concerns appropriately.
• Promoting equality and inclusion, working in an anti-discriminatory way, and upholding council values and equal opportunities standards.
• Challenging racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and other forms of abuse or unfair treatment in line with policy.
• Working within the council’s flexibility protocol and carrying out other duties that fit the spirit and grade of the role.

About you

To succeed in this role, you should have a good standard of literacy and numeracy, along with basic computer skills. A Level 3 Diploma in Residential Child Care, or something equivalent, is required. If you do not already have it, the council will support you to study for the qualification and cover the course fees. The diploma must normally be completed within two years of starting, otherwise you will not be able to continue in the post.

You should also have recent experience of supporting children, young people, or vulnerable adults with emotional or behavioural difficulties. This can come from paid work, volunteering, student placements, or personal experience. Strong communication, active listening, teamwork, emotional intelligence, and the ability to stay flexible are all important.

Essential criteria

• Ability to travel and work across different locations, including supporting children living in family settings when needed.
• Willingness to work on a rota and adjust working patterns as required, including sleep-ins, early mornings, late evenings, weekends, and bank holidays.
• Confidence in building relationships and engaging with individual children and groups.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of people.
• Ability to keep manual and digital records accurately and in line with GDPR.
• Good initiative and the ability to adapt to changing situations and find solutions.
• Experience using de-escalation methods to manage conflict and aggression.
• Demonstrable literacy and numeracy skills through qualifications or an interview assessment.
• Understanding of health and safety, security, confidentiality, and data protection responsibilities.
• Awareness of the needs of looked-after children and the importance of advocacy.
• Basic computer literacy, including use of Microsoft packages.
• Recent experience working with young people or vulnerable adults with emotional or behavioural difficulties, either paid or voluntary.
• Physical fitness to meet the demands of the role, including using Therapeutic Crisis Intervention when required.
• Commitment to ongoing improvement, training, and development.
• Willingness to follow equality, diversity, health and safety, confidentiality, and anti-discrimination policies, and to report concerns appropriately.

Qualifications

You must hold, or be willing and able to work towards, a Level 3 Diploma in Residential Child Care or an equivalent qualification. If you do not already have it, the council will fund the training, and it must usually be completed within two years of starting. Good literacy and numeracy are also required and may be assessed at interview.

Working conditions and additional information

The role is based in the UK. Candidates must show they have the right to work in the UK before starting employment, whether through UK or Irish citizenship, the EU Settlement Scheme, or another suitable work visa. Applicants who do not already have the right to work should check their own sponsorship eligibility before applying, as sponsorship normally requires a salary of at least £41,700 per year or another qualifying route.

A higher-level Disclosure and Barring Service check will be carried out for the successful candidate. A criminal record will not automatically rule out employment, as decisions will depend on the nature of the offence and the circumstances involved.

The council welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds and actively encourages interest from women, carers, veterans, LGBT+ candidates, people from ethnically diverse communities, disabled people, and care-experienced applicants.

If you would like an informal conversation about the post, you can contact the children’s homes team by email. The application must be completed online, and all sections should be checked carefully before submission.

Benefits

• Competitive salary with additional pay for nights and weekends.
• Generous annual leave, plus bank holiday entitlement.
• A clear career pathway with ongoing professional development and qualification support.
• Membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with strong employer contributions.
• A range of staff benefits designed to support wellbeing and help your money go further.
• Rewarding work with the chance to make a visible difference to children, young people, and the wider community.