Shift Leader

Contract: Full Time (36 hours per week)

Working Pattern: Days and Weekends

Friends of the Elderly (FotE) is a not-for-profit charity dedicated to providing excellent care with a family feel, we have been supporting older people for over 120 years. The charity provides care home and day care services for older people, as well as grants for older people in financial difficulty.

New Copford Place is a residential care home set in Copford in the outskirts of Colchester, Essex. It is one of nine care homes run by the not-for-profit charity Friends of the Elderly. Our focus is to give older people in our care the chance to live fulfilled lives, whether they stay with us for a longer residential stay, or a short-term respite break.

Joining our dedicated team as a Shift Leader, you will be responsible for delivering person-centred care, unique to each individual, supporting and enabling our residents to maintain key skills, personal interests, independence, choice, and dignity, so that they can lead fulfilled lives.

• You will make sure our residents are safe and comfortable.
• You will act as a champion for their safety and dignity.
• You will lead the team in providing quality, individualised care for our residents in line with procedures and policies.
• You will make sure that clear, accurate records are kept.
• You will follow our procedures for ordering, administering and dispensing medication.
• You will conduct supervisions and appraisals with the staff and promote their development.
• You will maintain a safe, clean workplace and follow infection control protocols.

To ensure we can achieve this, our shift patterns include evenings, weekends, and some unsociable hours.

To succeed in this role, you will need at least 2 years’ experience working in a similar role. It is essential that you have a Level 3 diploma in Health and Social Care (or working towards it).

You will need great communication and interpersonal skills, so that you can form great relationships with your residents and effectively handover information to colleagues. Number and digital skills are also required along with the ability to problem solve and adapt to situations, and to recognise and report situations where there might be a need for safeguarding.

Working as a Shift Leader means no two days are the same.

With a compassionate nature and a positive can-do attitude, you will be able to supervise your peers and take the initiative.

We will provide you with all the outstanding training and tools that you need; all we ask is a willingness to learn and a genuine enthusiasm to encourage others to live their lives to the full.

This isn’t just a job; it’s about making a difference to older people’s lives every day.

Rewards and Recognition

We really value the hard work and commitment of all of our staff, and offer:

• Learning, development, and career progression.
• Wellbeing support through various initiatives including an employee assistance programme offering up to 10 counselling, 4 life, 4 leadership, 3 financial coaching sessions per person, per issue, per year.
• Retail discount schemes to make your salary go further.
• Monthly prize draw, with 3 prizes to be won.
• Access to loans at affordable rates, saving directly from salary and advance pay already earnt.
• Health cash plans for you and your family.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Long service awards, that increase with length of service.
• Refer a friend to work for us and receive a £200 bonus.
• Group Pension Plan, with a 6% contribution from us.
• Evening, weekend, and bank holiday enhancements to pay, as well as overtime premiums for care staff.
• Paid breaks in our day care services for care staff.
• Free DBS checks.

Safeguarding:

Keeping everyone safe is one of the charity’s core values, and is central to everything we do at Friends of the Elderly. All staff follow our Safeguarding Policy & Procedures and, if they see or suspect abuse, we expect staff to report it straight away.

Criminal record checks:

As this role involves a regulated activity, successful applicants will undertake an enhanced DBS check, with barred lists check, and any offer of employment will be dependent on a satisfactory outcome.

Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar a person from working for us, this will depend on the circumstances and background of any record.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion:

Friends of the Elderly strives to treat all staff equally and be a diverse and inclusive workplace, where everyone can be themselves and everyone accepts each other’s differences. A charity where everyone is equal but definitely not the same.

Our ambition is to ensure equality and celebrate diversity, all working together to create an inclusive workplace, which attracts and retains the best people. People that care and can make a difference.

We currently do not provide sponsorship but we welcome applications from those who have a right work in the UK.

Don’t delay in sending your application as we may need to close the vacancy early if we manage to appoint before the advertising closing date. We interview applicants as they apply.

Please refer to the job description upon submitting your application.