Overview

Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

Post Introduction

A dynamic and flexible individual with proven experience of effective contract management in the charity or government sector is sought to support Safe Spaces England and Wales (SSEW).

The charitable company ‘Safe Spaces England and Wales’ (SSEW) was formed by the Archbishops’ Council (Church of England) and the Catholic Church in England and Wales. 

SSEW has contracted with a charity to deliver the Safe Spaces service for the next 3 years.  The Safe Spaces service provides free support and advocacy to victims and survivors of church-related abuse.  More information is available from the service website - Safe Spaces England and Wales – Safe Spaces England and Wales

The Contract Manager will oversee the delivery of service contracts related to SSEW on a day to day basis.  The primary focus will be the main Safe Spaces service contract and an independent evaluation contract. The role will also support the governance of SSEW as a charitable company.

The role sits within the National Safeguarding Team (NST) of the Church of England, part of the National Church Institutions (NCIs).  The role will work with multiple NCI departments e.g. finance, legal office, data services, among many others as well as Safeguarding Bishops from both Churches and other stakeholders.

The role will also work with members of the Safe Spaces Advisory Committee, which includes safeguarding, legal, finance and communications representatives from both Churches, as well as victim and survivor representatives.

For an informal discussion about this role, please email nathalie.ballard@churchofengland.org

Role Responsibility

The main responsibilities for this role are:

The Contract Manager will oversee the delivery of service contracts related to SSEW on a day to day basis.  The primary focus will be the main Safe Spaces service contract and an independent evaluation contract. The role will also support the governance of SSEW as a charitable company.

The role will work with multiple NCI departments e.g. finance, legal office, data services, among many others as well as Safeguarding Bishops from both Churches and other stakeholders.

The role will also work with members of the Safe Spaces Advisory Committee, which includes safeguarding, legal, finance and communications representatives from both Churches, as well as victim and survivor representatives.

Contract Management

• Leading on the management and delivery of the service contract
• Lead on vendor liaison by setting communication and reporting standards, actively chasing for important deliverables
• Maintain oversight of key reporting deadlines, collecting and collating data to boards and committees 
• Ensuring compliance to contractual and legal requirements, including data protection
• Identifying, analysing and escalating risks and issues and planning corrective actions to mitigate those
• Cost estimating and tracking the budget
• Manage resource allocation and capacity
• Liaising with different NCI departments to ensure arrangements for input to the work
• Planning for contract end and future service arrangements as appropriate

Governance

• Planning governance and reporting cycles
• Producing and managing reports and necessary documentation for the workstream
• Providing project updates to all required governance bodies.
• Prepare agendas and papers for all governance boards  
• With the Company Secretary, ensure that SSEW meets all appropriate charity and governance obligations
• Providing updates to funding bodies as required

Stakeholder Engagement

• Acting as the day to day workstream representative
• Build highly effective relationships with SSEW trustees, SSAC members, partners and commissioned organisations, anticipating and responding to needs as they arise 
• Ensuring effective working relationships with key colleagues within the NST and the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA)
• Working closely with communications representatives, produce a Stakeholder Engagement and Communications plan to promote awareness of the service across both Churches
• Working closely with communications representatives in regards to all stakeholder communication

Procurement

• Follow company procurement processes for the engagement of any suppliers (e.g. independent evaluators).

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate must have:

Essential

Knowledge/Experience:

• Proven experience of effective contract management in the charity or government sector.
• Proven track record of proactively delivering successful results
• Knowledge and experience of project management
• Knowledge and experience of finance and budgeting
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams in a complex environment
• Experience of reporting to project boards and wider governance arrangements 
• Experience of charity governance
• Proven experience of building effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leaders and service users.
• Experience of risk identification, management and escalation

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Ability to build trust and credibility with a wide range of diverse stakeholders
• Ability to adapt and take a pragmatic approach in order to obtain an effective outcome
• Ability to be rational, objective and unbiased when making decisions and taking action
• Demonstrated organisational skills, including the ability to set priorities, manage time and plan work to meet deadlines
• Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills
• Strong IT skills and competent across the range of IT systems and packages used by the organisation (including MS Teams, Outlook, MS Office, Sharepoint)

Personal Attributes:

• Dedication to ensuring effective and high quality services for SSEW
• Demonstrable commitment to safeguarding

Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Requirements:

• Basic DBS check

Desirable

• Project Management qualification
• Understanding of the structures of the Church of England and sympathy with its work and aims
• Experience working for the Church of England, for Christian Charities, in the public or charity sectors or with safeguarding.

About Us

In the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we support the mission and ministries of the Church of England. We work with parishes, dioceses, schools, chaplaincies and other ministries, and with national and international partners including mission agencies, and other denominations and faith groups.-.  

Find out more about working for the National Church Institutions at Careers | The Church of England

Our NCI values

• We strive for excellence 
• We collaborate 
• We act with integrity 
• We show compassion 
• We respect others 

We welcome everyone and we accept and value people for who they are and what they contribute, treating others in the way we would wish to be treated ourselves. We actively listen to and include others, encouraging and enabling everyone’s voice to be heard in discussions and decisions. When we disagree, we aim to disagree well with respect and kindness.  

We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you. If there is anything we can do to support you in your application please get in touch via email to hr.recruitment@churchofengland.org.

• As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.  
• We are a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.