Shift Leader

About the role

Join the Residential Short Breaks Service at Furze House, where you'll lead a dedicated team supporting children with complex needs. You'll help create a safe, nurturing and supportive environment where children can feel valued, enjoy new experiences and achieve the best possible outcomes.

You'll lead by example, guiding colleagues and ensuring high-quality, person-centred care is delivered on every shift. This is the role for you if you're ready to take the next step in your career and want to make a meaningful difference every day.

You'll work a two-week rolling rota, including a mix of early and late shifts, as well as allocated sleep-in duties. Early shifts run from 7.00am to 2.30pm and late shifts from 2.00pm to 9.30pm. Week one includes Tuesday (early), Thursday (late), and Friday (early). Week two covers Monday (late), Tuesday (late), Thursday (early), Friday (early and late split shift), Saturday (early), and Sunday (late). This shift pattern is currently under review and may change within the next year.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the management of the home during your shift, making decisions to safeguard the wellbeing of children and young people
• Providing advice, guidance, and support to children, families, and colleagues as part of a twenty‑four‑hour service
• Managing and responding to challenging behaviour using risk assessment, de‑escalation, and approved physical intervention techniques where required
• Ensuring accurate, timely, and high‑quality recording to support handovers, care planning, and regulatory compliance
• Leading the implementation of individual care plans and risk assessments alongside multi‑agency partners
• Coaching, mentoring, and supporting colleagues on shift, modelling good practice and promoting a supportive team culture

Interviews for this role will be held on 13th July 2026. Click Apply Now to discover more about this opportunity.

About You

You'll be passionate about supporting children and young people with complex needs and ready to take on leadership responsibilities. This role requires someone who can remain calm under pressure, make effective decisions during challenging situations, and inspire others to deliver exceptional care.

The ideal candidate will:

• Hold a Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce, or willingness to start this within three months, or have at least one year's experience in residential childcare
• Have experience working with children and young people with learning disabilities and complex communication needs
• Demonstrate strong observation skills and the ability to produce clear, accurate, and timely written records
• Show confidence in assessing and managing risk, adapting practice to meet changing needs during a shift
• Possess the ability to mentor and support colleagues, offering guidance and constructive feedback
• Have the physical ability to meet the demands of the role, including moving and handling and use of specialist equipment

We're committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. Whatever your background, you will be welcome here if you share our values of being dedicated, respectful and collaborative.

As part of the pre-employment checks, should you be offered the role, we'll carry out an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, unless you are currently registered with the DBS Update Service.

Milton Keynes City Council's Offer to You

Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across eight areas. We're very proud of our diversity and are committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. We aim to make a difference every day through being dedicated, respectful and collaborative, working as one council to create cleaner, safer and healthier communities while tackling inequalities and supporting people to thrive.

We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organisation there are always new opportunities to explore when it's time for a new role. Working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a difference.

In addition to your salary, we offer:

• Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years, plus a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days each year
• Excellent pension - everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available
• A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support and a childcare subsidy
• Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel
• Salary sacrifice car scheme - eligible employees can access low‑cost leasing of electric and low‑emission vehicles
• Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses