The Social Care People Development Manager will lead the design and delivery of a comprehensive learning and development framework that ensures all staff are fully prepared, competent and confident to work within our Disability and Paediatric Division.
This role is central to embedding a culture of safe, compliant and person-centred practice, ensuring that employees, from new starters to experienced leaders, possess the skills, knowledge and values required to deliver high-quality care in people’s homes and community settings.
You will ensure that learning, induction and ongoing development directly support HIQA standards, regulatory compliance and continuous quality improvement, while also nurturing staff wellbeing, professional growth and retention.
What the Role Involves
Learning Strategy & HIQA Alignment
- Develop and implement a HIQA-led Learning & Development strategy aligned with: National Standards for Residential Services for Children and Adults with Disabilities
- Organisational values and service model
Work closely with the Senior Leadership Team, Head of Services, Persons in Charge (PICs) Quality, HR and Operations to anticipate workforce capability needs.
Ensure all learning frameworks demonstrate clear evidence of:
- Staff competence
- Safe practice
- Continuous improvement for inspection and audit purposes
Establish measurable learning outcomes linked to inspection performance, audit findings and service quality indicators.
Develop governance systems to evidence training compliance, including audit-ready records and reporting dashboards.
Monitor and respond to changes in HIQA standards and national policy, ensuring timely adaptation of learning frameworks.
Induction & Readiness
Design and own a structured, mandatory induction programme that prepares staff to work safely and confidently in:
- HIQA-regulated houses
- Community services
Ensure induction covers:
- HIQA standards and regulations
- Safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children
- Person-centred planning and rights-based care
- Professional boundaries and ethical practice
- Health and safety, medication management and infection prevention
- Organisational policies, procedures and values
Implement ‘fit for duty’ and readiness to practice frameworks, ensuring staff are appropriately inducted before working independently.
International Workforce & Regulatory Readiness
- Lead the development of structured onboarding and adaptation programmes for internationally recruited staff
- Ensure alignment with Irish regulatory requirements, including Health Information and Quality Authority standards, safeguarding legislation and professional practice expectations
- Conduct competency gap analysis to identify differences between international training and Irish care standards
- Design “bridging to practice” programmes to ensure safe, compliant and confident practice
- Support cultural competence, communication skills and understanding of person-centred care in an Irish context
- Work with HR and recruitment teams to ensure workforce readiness prior to deployment in regulated services
Capability Building for Community & Residential Services
Lead ongoing training and upskilling aligned with HIQA requirements and service needs, including:
- Safeguarding and protection
- Positive behaviour support
- Risk assessment and risk management
- Restrictive practices and human rights
- Dignity-based care
- Ensure learning reflects real-life practice in community and residential settings
- Align all training programmes with competency frameworks that demonstrate readiness for HIQA inspection and safe practice in regulated environments
Leadership Development & Practice Oversight
Develop learning pathways for:
- Team leaders and senior support workers
- Persons in Charge (PICs)
- Regional Managers
- SCA
Support leaders to:
- Evidence competence and training compliance
- Lead HIQA inspections and action plans
- Foster safe, accountable and compassionate team cultures
- Embed reflective practice, supervision and peer learning to support continuous development
- Partner with Quality and Operations teams to ensure learning supports inspection readiness and service improvement
- Equip leaders to assess and evidence staff competence, particularly for newly inducted and internationally recruited staff
- Support leaders in closing competency gaps identified through audit, supervision and inspection findings
Employee Experience & Professional Development
Embed learning throughout the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and induction to progression and leadership.
Create clear development pathways for:
- Social care workers
- Support workers
- Supervisory and management roles
Promote inclusion, wellbeing and reflective practice in high-demand care environments.
Skills, Experience & Qualifications
- Minimum 5 years’ experience in Learning & Development, Workforce Development or Practice Development within social care, disability, healthcare or regulated community services.
- Qualification: Minimum Level 8 In Social care and CORU Registered.
Strong working knowledge of:
- HIQA regulations and inspection processes
- Community and residential service delivery models
- Safeguarding legislation and best practice
Demonstrated experience designing:
- Staff induction programmes
- Mandatory and compliance training frameworks
Proven ability to work collaboratively with Operations and Quality teams.
Experience supporting or working with internationally recruited healthcare or social care staff.
Experience implementing compliance-driven training systems in regulated environments.
To apply, please ensure eligibility to work in Ireland. For more information, contact our recruitment team at 01 833 8000.
Pay: €55,000.00-€65,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Bike to work scheme
- Company pension
- On-site parking
- Private medical insurance
Experience:
- Learning & Development withing Healthcare: 5 years (required)
Licence/Certification:
- CORU Registration (required)
Work authorisation:
Work Location: In person
