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.

Clergy Risk Assessment Regulations 2016 stipulate that any risk assessment for a member of clergy, must be independently completed. The regulations further state that a Diocesan Bishop must select an assessor from a list held centrally within the Archbishops’ Council.

The Church of England now seeks to appoint safeguarding consultants who are experienced and qualified risk assessors to this list. Whilst assessors are recruited, selected and paid for by the Church, they remain independent of the Church.

There will be no guarantee of work, with risk assessors chosen from the ‘approved list’ when necessary and contracted for the specific risk assessment.

Post Introduction

This is a key role within the Church of England’s drive to improve its safeguarding responses and risk management. Providing vital independent assessment and oversight, the assessors utilise their professional experience, knowledge and expertise to consider the risk of harm posed by Church Officers.

Independent Risk Assessors will conduct a detailed and thorough risk assessment on a member of clergy – the ‘respondent’. With consideration to the civil burden of proof, the primary purpose of the assessment will be to determine if a member of clergy can remain in or return to ministry.

Risk Assessments should be thorough, well presented and articulated and demonstrate professional expertise. They must provide a clear recommendation to the Church regarding risk of future harm and how this may be mitigated.

Role Responsibility

The responsibilities for the role are:

• Meet with the DSA or CSA and discuss the aims of the report, the terms of reference and identify any concerns or issues.
• Conduct face-to-face interviews with a respondent in order to consider the risk posed.
• Liaise with all relevant people and organisations in order to provide a professional judgement on risk, including but not limited to: The Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor (DSA), Diocesan Bishop, Core Group, statutory agencies, respondent’s family.
• Consider all relevant documents, information and interviews in order to determine a risk judgement.
• Respond to any issues and concerns raised within the terms of reference document in conducting the risk assessment and preparing the resulting report.
• Produce a high-quality report, with exceptional attention to detail and consideration to the audience’s understanding of professional terms and knowledge.
• Clearly outline in your summary of the report: risks identified, level of assessed risk, recommendation for future practice and risk management strategies.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidates should have:

Essential

Knowledge/Skills/Compentencies:

• Have a thorough understanding of “risk” and be able to assess the risk of harm to both vulnerable adults and children.
• Competent to complete risk assessments on a range of different forms of potential abuse, for example, sexual, physical, domestic, financial and emotional.
• Knowledge and understanding of ‘breach of trust’ offences and the impact this may have on victims and survivors.
• Thorough understanding of statutory safeguarding services (such as Police, Social Services and Probation Service) and a working knowledge of the different forms of risk assessments conducted by these agencies.
• The ability to reach an evidence-based decision, utilising the ‘civil standard’ of proof.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce written reports to a high standard.
• The ability to work to tight deadlines.

Experience:

• A minimum of five years practitioner experience in a relevant field, including directly writing safeguarding risk assessments.
• Experience in undertaking risk assessments in relation to specific offences and allegations, namely: sexual violence and abuse and physical abuse and harm.
• Experience in and thorough understanding of GDPR and confidentiality within the field of safeguarding.
• Experiencing in managing difficult and conflict situations.
• Experience in writing risk assessments and/or working with individuals where there is no conviction or acceptance of guilt.

Personal Attributes:

• A proven ability to engage with and build relationships with a range of stakeholders.
• Ability to demonstrate a sound commitment to safeguarding.
• A commitment to anti-discriminatory practice.
• The willingness to abide by and submit work to the quality assurance process for Independent Risk Assessments.

Qualifications & Training:

• Relevant degree or professional qualification, including but not limited to: Social Worker, Police Officer, Probation Officer, Forensic Psychologist, Forensic and Clinical Psychologist
• Evidence of continued professional development throughout career.
• Be a current practitioner: evidenced by writing risk assessments within the last two years.

Circumstances:

•   Not currently employed by the Church of England.
•   Ability to travel as required in order to complete a satisfactory risk assessment.

Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Requirements:

Desirable

Knowledge/Skills/Competencies:

• Knowledge and understanding of the Church of England and the context in which it operates.
• Understand the role of clergy within this.

Experience:

• Experience of working in a multi-agency setting.
• Experience in undertaking other forms of risk assessments, such as breach of trust offences and financial abuse.
• Experience in utilising risk assessment tools such as: ARMS, OASys, TRM2000, DASH.
• Have experience in both the statutory and non-statutory sectors.

Qualifications & Training:

• Qualified in the use of recognised risk assessment tools such as, but not limited to ARMS and Thornton Risk Matrix 2000.

About Us

We in the National Church Institutions support the mission and ministries of the Church all over England. We work with parishes, dioceses (regional offices), schools, other ministries and our partners at a national and international level.

Excellence, Respect, Integrity

We follow these three values in everything we do, whether we are of Christian faith, another faith or no faith. To learn more about working for National Church Institutions and our benefits, please click here

As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.

As a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, we welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to ensuring that everyone, job applicants, customers and other people with whom we deal, are treated fairly and not subject to discrimination.  We will do whatever is necessary to provide genuine equality of opportunity. We continuously review our policies and processes to support our aim to create a workforce as diverse as the nation the Church of England serves..

​