Development Manager jobs in United Kingdom

Location: Peterborough, Lincolnshire (with regional travel across our care homes)
Salary: £45,000 per annum

Are you a hands-on operational leader with a proven track record of improving care home performance? Do you thrive in services that need strong, practical support to stabilise, strengthen, and succeed? If so, we want to hear from you.

We are seeking a committed and proactive Service Development Lead to join our Operations Team. In this regional role, you will work directly within our senior living care homes, providing on-site support, driving improvement, and ensuring that high-quality, person-centred care is consistently delivered.

This is a hands-on role, ideal for someone who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves, work alongside teams, and personally model best practice to bring about sustainable change.

As our Service Development Lead, you will:

Lead and personally deliver development and turnaround plans.

Work within services to resolve issues first-hand and embed effective practice.

Strengthen leadership and governance through on-site coaching and support.

Improve care planning, risk management, medication processes, and daily operations.

Enhance the quality and use of electronic care planning systems across homes.

Act swiftly on quality assurance findings with practical, on-the-ground solutions.

Work intensively with homes requiring improvement or at risk of non-compliance.

Promote safe, effective, evidence-based practices that meet CQC standards.

Ensure documentation and care planning are accurate, person-centred, and compliant.

Identify training needs through direct observation.

Deliver hands-on coaching and model good practice.

Support new or underperforming managers through practical mentoring.

Train staff in the effective use of electronic care planning systems such as Nourish.

Step in with temporary leadership where services need stabilisation.

Strengthen staffing structures, rotas, and workforce planning.

Build positive team culture, communication, and cohesion.

Lead by example in safeguarding, dignity, respect, and person-centred care.

Maintain focused development plans with measurable outcomes.

Track progress using audits, KPIs, observations, and staff/resident feedback.

Report risks, progress, and themes to senior leadership.

Ensure accurate documentation through electronic systems.

Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health & Social Care or an equivalent qualification (e.g., nursing or social work degree).

Significant experience in a senior care home role (Registered Manager, Deputy Manager, Quality Lead, etc.).

Proven success in turning around underperforming services.

Strong knowledge of CQC regulations, safeguarding, and compliance.

Experience using electronic care planning systems, ideally Nourish.

Excellent communication, coaching, and problem-solving abilities.

Confidence in analysing data and driving action plans.

Willingness to travel regularly and work on site across multiple homes.

Training or competency assessment experience.

Experience supporting multiple homes within a group.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a direct impact on the quality of care across our group. You’ll work closely with our leadership teams, influence change, and play a key role in ensuring our services provide the highest standards of care.

If you are motivated by improving lives, strengthening services, and leading by example, we’d love to speak with you.

Apply today to join our team as Service Development Lead.