Care manager jobs

Care Manager jobs: frequently asked questions

Welcome to our care manager jobs page, featuring all the latest roles throughout the UK, as well as frequently asked questions below.

What does a care manager do?

The role of a care manager normally refers to someone who manages the operation of a care or nursing home.

These roles might also be listed as care home manager, home manager, or residential home manager.

Occasionally, care management might actually describe a role in another care setting – perhaps a position managing carers who visit people’s own homes.

As a care manager, you’ll have to recruit and manage employees, balance residential home budgets and provide care that meets nationally regulated industry standards.

The homes you manage could support adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health conditions or older people.

What are the day-to-day duties of a care manager?

A care manager is normally legally responsible for the daily operation of care homes.

This means a number of different duties can come under your remit, which broadly, will include:

• Providing high quality, personalised care according to industry standards

• Recruiting, training and managing staff at various levels of seniority

• Managing the income and expenditure of the home – including overseeing agency workers and occupancy rates

• Working carefully to health and safety and Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards

• Linking up with organisations within a community – especially hospitals and medical facilities

• Overseeing medication and treatment plans, and ensuring suitably qualified medical professionals are always available

• Co-ordinating group activities

• Working closely and communicating with residents’ families

• Preparing for CQC inspections In terms of working hours, being a care manager is normally a 24/7 job – so may involve evenings, weekends and unsocial hours.

What qualifications are needed to become a care manager?

To become a care manager, you’ll need to get registered with the CQC.

This will require a mix of skills, qualifications and experience – and registration is achievable in a number of different ways.

The primary route in is gaining a level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care.

This qualification was created specifically for aspiring care managers.

However, this isn’t your only route.

If you’re an NMC registered nurse with leadership experience, you might be ready to apply for registration.

Also, with a Level 4 NVQ in Health and Social Care and experience in a leadership role, you might also be accepted.

Equally, an undergraduate or master’s degree in social care would certainly make you an attractive candidate.

Your skills will be carefully assessed too.

You’ll need to be caring, patient, resilient and compassionate, like any care worker.

But care management demands real leadership skills too – and you’ll have to prove you possess these.

How much do care managers get paid?

Care managers mainly work in privately run residential homes, which means pay is unregulated and an average is difficult to pinpoint.

But industry statistics suggest that the average is somewhere between £30,000 and £35,000.

With plenty of experience, this rises well beyond £50,000, and it isn’t unheard of for sought after care managers to earn as much as £80,000 a year.

The future for care manager pay might be even brighter.

Experienced care managers are in high demand with the UK’s ageing population, and care sector pay is currently being scrutinised.

Higher average salaries could be on their way.

Find your next care manager job today

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