Registered Manager - Fostering North EastTeam Fostering North Shields / Middlesbrough 60,052 - 64,341 Permanent 37.5 hours Hybrid
This vacancy is being managed by our Recruitment Partner, Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited. If you would like to express an interest in the role, or for a confidential conversation regarding the position, please get in touch directly with our Recruitment Partner Katie Kendall - Senior Manager -
Lead an Outstanding fostering service and help shape its future across the North East.
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and inspirational fostering or children's social care leader to join Team Fostering, an ethical, not-for-profit fostering agency with a strong reputation for delivering high-quality placements and positive outcomes for children and young people.Their North East service was rated Outstanding by Ofsted in November 2025, and they are now looking for a Registered Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership across the region.
This vacancy is being managed by Team Fostering's Recruitment Partner, Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited, and I am delighted to be supporting them with this important appointment.
The opportunity
As Registered Manager, you will have responsibility for the Social Work Service, providing leadership to managers and staff while ensuring the service continues to deliver outstanding outcomes for children, young people and foster families.Working closely with the Senior Leadership Team, you will ensure services remain effective, well-led and fully compliant with fostering legislation, National Minimum Standards and regulatory requirements. You will also play an important part in continuous improvement and the future growth and development of the North East service.
This is a leadership position, but you don't necessarily need to already be working as a Registered Manager to be considered.
We would be particularly interested in speaking with experienced professionals currently working within:
Independent fostering agencies
Local Authority fostering or children's social care services
Other not-for-profit, charitable or values-led children's services organisations
Fostering services with significant Ofsted and regulatory responsibility
Fostering Team Manager, Service Manager or equivalent-level positions, where you are ready to take that next step into Registered Manager responsibility
If you have strong fostering leadership experience, understand the regulatory environment and feel ready for broader strategic responsibility, we would encourage you to have a conversation with us even if you haven't previously held the Registered Manager title.
What you'll be doing
You will:
Be the Ofsted Registered Manager for Team Fostering's North East service.
Provide leadership, management and support to managers and staff, creating a culture of high standards, accountability and professional development.
Ensure safe and robust decision-making across safeguarding, referrals, assessments and allocation of work.
Oversee the recruitment, assessment, training, support and retention of foster carers.
Lead quality assurance and auditing activity across the service.
Monitor outcomes for children and young people and identify opportunities to improve placement stability and care experiences.
Ensure compliance with fostering legislation, National Minimum Standards and regulatory requirements.
Develop strong working relationships with Local Authorities, Ofsted, partner agencies and other key stakeholders.
Contribute to budget planning, annual targets and performance reporting.
Support tendering activity, contract opportunities and regional growth.
Report on performance, compliance and financial viability to the Board and Senior Leadership Team.
Drive continuous improvement, innovation and strategic development across the North East service.
Who we're looking for
Above all, Team Fostering is looking for an experienced, credible and values-led leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people.
In line with Fostering Standards, you will have a recognised social work qualification or a professional qualification relevant to working with children at least at Level 4; a qualification in management at least Level 4 ; at least two years' experience relevant to fostering within the last five years; and at least one year's experience supervising and managing professional staff.Appointees to the role of registered manager who do not have the relevant management qualification (above) must enrol on a management training course within six months, and obtain a relevant management qualification within three years of their appointment.
You are likely to bring:
Significant leadership and management experience within fostering or children's social care.
Strong knowledge of fostering legislation, safeguarding, National Minimum Standards and regulatory frameworks.
Experience of managing teams, performance and service improvement.
A strong understanding of Ofsted requirements, inspection and quality assurance.
Confident safeguarding and risk-based decision-making.
Excellent relationship-building skills, including working with Local Authorities, Ofsted and partner organisations.
The ability to balance operational delivery with strategic leadership.
A genuine commitment to achieving outstanding outcomes for children, young people and foster families.
A full UK driving licence and flexibility to travel as required.
If you're currently a strong Fostering Team Manager or Service Manager and feel ready to step up, please don't rule yourself out. The breadth of your leadership experience, understanding of fostering and ability to operate confidently within an Ofsted-regulated environment will be key.
Why Team Fostering?
Team Fostering is an ethical, not-for-profit fostering agency with a strong track record of providing high-quality fostering placements for looked-after children.The organisation is values-driven and invests heavily in its people, professional development, health and wellbeing. Team Fostering is also a Real Living Wage Foundation Employer, Investors in People Employer and Mindful Employer.
Their benefits include:
30 days' annual leave plus 8 bank holidays
Hybrid home and office working
Flexible working arrangements
Flexitime and TOIL
Monthly supervision and annual appraisal
Company sick pay
Pension scheme
Staff loyalty bonus
Employee Assistance Programme
Retail discount and salary sacrifice schemes
Life assurance
GP Helpline
Learning and development opportunities
There will be travel across the North East and occasional travel to Team Fostering's Yorkshire and East Midlands offices, alongside participation in the agency's out-of-hours rota.
Interested? If you're already operating at Registered Manager level, or you're an experienced fostering/social care leader ready to take that next step, I'd really like to hear from you.For a confidential conversation about the opportunity and application pack, please contact:
Katie Kendall, Senior Manager Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited
Closing date: 9.00am, 6 November 2026, Interview date: TBC
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