Salary: £28,000 full-time (£15,135 pro rata)

Contract: Part time, 20 hours per week (at least 4 days per week, hours and days are flexible and we are happy to discuss options for this with candidates)

Location: This role will be based in our Children's Home in Sutton. 

Screening: This role is subject to an Enhanced DBS check.

About Lighthouse

Lighthouse is a charity creating life-changing, education-focused children’s homes to ensure that children in care have the same opportunities as everyone else. We believe that children growing up in residential care should go on to achieve great things and lead fulfilling lives. We believe that social pedagogy, a focus on education, people and place is the best approach to supporting young people.

The Lighthouse team is driven by a shared commitment to creating empowering places where everyone has the opportunity to grow and learn. We follow our key values of Respect, Play, Difference, Empowerment, Curiosity and Excellence.

We have reached an exciting point in our journey - our team has been working to launch Lighthouse’s first not-for-profit children’s home, which will support up to six 12-18 year olds and is set to open in late 2021. We are recruiting an office manager to work alongside the team in the home to provide high quality and efficient administration service to support Lighthouse’s overall aim to improve outcomes for children.

Difference is one of our core values, and we strive to take the broadest possible view of diversity. We value people from all backgrounds – by this we mean ethnicity, gender, age, and any other visible or invisible quality that makes you unique. We welcome that every person brings their own perspective and experience to our children’s homes, to contribute to our vision.

Lighthouse is a charity that sits within the Catch22 group of organisations, running independently on a day-to-day basis.  

Your role

As the Office Manager of our first children’s home, you will be responsible for undertaking a variety of administrative tasks to ensure the smooth running of the home.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Office Manager to support the creation of a new home from the beginning. We have purchased a building, which is undergoing carefully-designed and bespoke refurbishment so it best meets the needs of our children. You will assist the Registered Manager and Head of Operations in the set up of the systems and processes in the home.

The role requires working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Lighthouse staff, young people, families and carers, schools, health services, police and others external agencies. You will build relationships with these people who come into contact with the home and be part of creating a welcoming environment.

As we are setting up a new home, it is likely the role will start in October 2021.

Click here to view the full job description and person specification.

About you

We are looking for people who are committed to ensuring young people in care have the same opportunities as everyone else.

You will need to have experience of working in an administrative role and be capable of planning and prioritising your own workload. If you have worked in a children’s home or similar environment before that would be great, but it is not essential.

You will be working from our children’s home, so you will need to be comfortable working in this environment. This will require flexibility and patience. You will need to be well organised, with strong written and verbal communication.

Everyone who works in our homes will be responsible for safeguarding young people and putting their safety and wellbeing first.

We believe it is important that our first home has a family-feel and that we create an inclusive culture, and we expect all our staff to play a key role in this.

We are a new home, so we are looking for people who are committed to building up a new home and growing with us over time.

Click here to view the full job description and person specification.

Application Process

Please provide a cover letter on no more than one side of A4 that outlines how you meet the essential experience outlined in the person specification and why you are interested in working for Lighthouse. 

We will not be able to consider any applications that only provide a CV.

Please note that as we are setting up a new home, it is likely the role will start in October 2021.

If you would like to find out more about the role and Lighthouse please email [email protected].

Closing date:5th September 2021

Interviews: Friday 10th September

See the benefits of working for Catch22 here.

Unless otherwise stated, interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

At Catch22 we value equality, diversity and inclusion. We are wholeheartedly committed to the principle of equality of opportunity, both as an employer and as a provider of services. Diversity and Inclusion is part of what we do every day, working to deliver our vision to build a strong society where everyone has good people around them, a purpose, and a good place to live.