Senior Support Worker

Senior Residential Support Worker – Reading

Are you passionate about making a difference in young people's lives? We are seeking a dedicated Senior Residential Support Worker to join a residential care team in Reading. This role offers a unique opportunity to help create a safe, nurturing, and therapeutic environment where children and young people feel valued and supported to recover from past traumas.

As a Senior Residential Support Worker in Reading, you will lead by example, inspiring a team while building trusting relationships with children aged 8–18 who have experienced trauma, abuse, and disrupted attachments. Your role will involve supporting their emotional and behavioural development through therapeutic approaches such as PACE, and contributing to care planning, safeguarding, and multi-agency collaboration.

Main Responsibilities:

• Develop positive, consistent relationships with children and young people, support children in expressing their views, wishes, and feelings, promote independence, confidence, and emotional resilience, create and maintain a warm, safe, and therapeutic home environment, support children with routines, personal care, education, hobbies and community activities, recognise, record, and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns
• Follow organisational policies and procedures to ensure a safe setting
• Mentor and support Residential Support Workers and participate in supervision
• Work collaboratively with professionals such as social workers, health teams, and families
• Ensure the home remains well-maintained, safe, and compliant with regulatory standards
• Be flexible to work evenings, weekends, bank holidays, and sleep-in shifts

Candidate Requirements:

• Experience working with children or young people in a residential setting
• Level 4 Diploma in Residential Childcare (or willingness to achieve within the required timescale)
• Strong understanding of safeguarding responsibilities
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Calm, resilient, and emotionally regulated under pressure
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Full UK driving licence

Desirable Skills:

• Experience with therapeutic parenting approaches, including PACE
• Knowledge of Children’s Homes Regulations and Quality Standards
• Supervisory or mentoring experience
• Contributing to care planning and multi-agency working

What We Offer:

• Starting salary from £31,000 per year plus extra for sleep-ins (£50 per sleep-in)
• Full-time, 40 hours per week with shift work including evenings, weekends and sleep-ins
• Fully funded induction, training, and qualification development
• Opportunities for overtime and career progression
• Pension scheme, 28 days annual leave including bank holidays
• Free meals on shift
• Ongoing professional development
• The chance to genuinely improve children’s lives

This Senior Residential Support Worker role in Reading plays a vital part in helping young people rebuild their trust and confidence. If you are committed to making a positive impact, we want to hear from you.

Vetro Recruitment acts as an employment business when supplying temporary staff and as an employment agency when introducing candidates for permanent employment with a client. Vetro is an equal opportunities employer and decisions are made on merit alone.