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Head Housekeeper

Silversprings
Colchester, Essex

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Colchester, Essex

Job Summary

Creating spotless, hospitable and comfortable care homes where residents love to live is vital to what we do at Care UK.

Care UK is one of the UK’s leading providers of health and social care services. As our Head Housekeeper you’ll be central to making our home a palace for residents, their guests and visitors alike.

You’ll lead and supervise the hostess, housekeeping and laundry teams to ensure the home meets the highest standards of hospitality and cleanliness at all times. Daily tasks might include updating the team rota to ensure we’re fully staffed, liaising with residents about the best times to clean their rooms. Above all, you’ll ensure residents and their guests don’t want for anything and that everything runs smoothly 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Are you an experienced head housekeeper - you could be from any sector – and keen to take on a role with more meaning? Are you a great supervisor with a positive ‘can do’ attitude and superb people skills? Do you have a warm personality and great sense of humour that makes you popular with everyone? If so, we’ll treat you to flexible hours and a competitive rate of pay that will add sparkle to your career.

Responsible To Home Manager
 

Key Responsibilities

  • Prepare and maintain a 4 week Rota, ensuring the Housekeeping and Hostess teams are adequately staffed at all times.
  • To instruct the Housekeeping team in their role and required duties / allocation.
  • To instruct the Hostess team in their required duties.
  • To provide hospitality services to residents and their guests. Serving meals, snacks and beverages at their request in the location of their choice.
  • Daily to ensure all displayed menus and meal information throughout the home is correct and up to date.
  • To consult with residents on a regular basis to ensure that their needs and choices are being met. Obtain feedback from residents and staff regarding cleaning and laundry quality to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the home and our residents at all times.
  • To ensure that all cleaning and laundry consumables are ordered from current nominated suppliers in line with Company purchasing policy.
  • To ensure stock takes are carried out at the end of each month.
  • To work within agreed budget guidelines on staff costs and consumables and to co-operate in any action necessary so as to keep to budget.
  • To implement and maintain cleaning schedules for the entire home and ensure that they are adhered too.
  • To ensure cleaning of all areas of the home are to the highest standard, including grounds.
  • Establish and maintain a rapport with individual residents and agree a convenient time to carry out cleaning of their personal rooms.
  • To organise deep cleaning duties when required.
  • To ensure the laundry of residents clothing is to the highest standard, including ironing.
  • Ensure the Laundry team collect and return laundry to the correct area of the home on a regular basis, and put away personal clothing of residents in a neat and tidy manner.
  • Ensure that all residents’ wardrobes and clothing drawers are kept clean, neat and tidy.
  • Ensure deliveries are checked against order forms and ensure that invoices are accurate, and to action any discrepancies immediately.
  • Ensure catering, cleaning and laundry supplies are stored safely and used effectively to minimise wastage.
  • Maintain a high standard of hygiene within the home and adhere to COSSH guidelines.
  • Maintain health and safety in the home by adhering to the company’s policies and procedures at all times, including instructions in the Facilities Manual.
  • To co-operate with requests from the Home Manager and residents wherever possible.
  • To attend resident/relative meetings whenever possible.


Skills & Experience

  • Experience of supervising a team of staff.
  • To understand and ability to adhere to infection control, health and safety/COSHH guidelines
  • Proven communication skills both written and verbal.
  • Proven ability to organise priorities.
  • To recruit, motivate and lead a team of staff
  • Ability to appreciate the needs of others
  • Ability to work as part of a team
  • Ability to work unsupervised, using initiative and maintain professional standards, even when under pressure
  • Flexible to meet the needs of the home
  • Smart appearance, good personal hygiene standards.
  • Sense of humour and a lively, sociable personality
  • Shares ideas with others [to make improvements]
  • Keen to learn and improve own performance
  • Committed to communicate with customers to understand their needs
  • Will go the extra mile to help fulfil customers’ needs
  • Has a ‘can-do’ attitude to work
  • Enjoys working effectively as part of a team


Qualifications

  • GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and Maths
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At a glance

Location

Tenpenny Hill
Thorrington
Essex
CO7 8JG

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Pay
Up to £13.21
Shifts
Days
Contract
Permanent
Reference
SYS-10698

Why work at Silversprings

At Care UK's Silversprings in Thorrington, Essex, providing the highest standard of care for residents is at the heart of what we do. As part of our friendly team, you'll have the opportunity to develop your career and the support to go far.

Our team works in a purpose-built care home with a family atmosphere. We provide residential, nursing, dementia, and short-term respite care with fantastic facilities for residents, including a hair and beauty salon and surroundings of beautiful landscape gardens.

We truly believe that every one of us makes a difference. If you're a passionate, caring individual who works well in a team, consider a rewarding career at Silversprings.

Why work at Silversprings
Why work at Silversprings
Why work at Silversprings

A housekeeping role at Care UK

Working at Care UK in a home support role

With a role in one of our care homes, you’ll be able to give something back and make a real difference to older people’s lives. Whether you’re just starting out in the workplace, looking for a change in career or looking for a new challenge, we can help build the right career for you. 

New to care? No problem. We'll support you with plenty of training to help you build a varied, fulfilling career that makes a positive difference to people’s lives. 

 

Everyone needs to feel motivated and rewarded, so we offer a competitive package of pay and benefits. Read more here.

Here at Care UK, we want all our colleagues to have a long and successful career with us. Our vision is to provide an inclusive training culture that empowers all colleagues with sector-leading development opportunities. View our opportunities for apprenticeships, development programmes and career progression.

At Care UK, we're proud to promote our diverse workforce and are committed to nurturing an inclusive culture. Our teams’ wellbeing is our top priority, and we believe it’s important to foster a culture of promoting open and honest conversations. Read more here.

As a colleague at Care UK, we believe it’s important that you know what you can expect from your manager to ensure people are fairly treated and properly recognised from day one. Our People Promise sets out clearly what you can expect from your manager and Care UK.

Working at Care UK in a home support role
Working at Care UK in a home support role
Working at Care UK in a home support role

Trusted to care

A closely-knit team of managers, carers, nurses and support colleagues – and each of us is dedicated to your loved one’s care, health and wellbeing.

I first qualified as a nurse back in 1987 and completed further training in 1992. I then worked in both health and social care, working with adults with learning disabilities, mental health needs, and also as a manager of two other care homes in Suffolk. I joined Silversprings in 2020 after seeing from the Care UK website how beautiful the home is.

I believe it’s important for the home manager to be approachable, caring, and open with both their team, the families, and also and most importantly the residents that live in the home. 

My favourite part of my job is knowing that no one day is the same. I love spending time with the residents and also seeing how the staff engage with them, hearing their stories from their youth and their words of wisdom to the younger generation.

I'm also the Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) Champion. My role is vital to ensuring that colleagues at Silversprings maintain a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness as this is fundamental to keeping residents, colleagues and visitors safe.

Outside of work spending time with my family is my big love, I have three grown-up children, and a beautiful granddaughter who stays regularly. I also enjoy walking my Labrador, Max, in the countryside around my home. A glass of rosé wine is my favourite tipple after a long day.

Joanne Rix Home Manager