Post Introduction

ABOUT THE ROLE

The purpose of the Regional Safeguarding Lead - North West role is to support safeguarding practice in dioceses and cathedrals across the Church of England. 

As a Regional Safeguarding Lead, you will support the development of best safeguarding practices in one of eight regional clusters of Diocesan Boards of Finance (DBFs) and cathedrals. Providing professional supervision and quality assurance to Safeguarding Officers, you will support the implementation of the National Safeguarding Standards to encourage consistency of practice. You will also support Church bodies to respond to the findings of the Independent Safeguarding Audit Programme. 

You will facilitate the sharing of best practices and resources, group supervision, and the commissioning of joint initiatives between Church bodies. Working closely with senior managers, senior clergy and other stakeholders, you will ensure Church-wide consistency in approach.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Providing 1:1 professional supervision to Safeguarding Officers in dioceses and cathedrals, informed by the 4x4x4 integrated/restorative model of supervision (Morrisson & Wonnacott).
• Providing advice and guidance on individual cases and safeguarding-related situations.
• Using tools and frameworks to examine practices and processes ensuring the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Standards are being consistently met or worked towards.
• Leading regional networks of safeguarding professionals from dioceses and cathedrals, and facilitating joint working, sharing of resources and other mutual support arrangements.
• Establishing effective relationships with key stakeholders within dioceses and cathedrals, in particular, their senior leadership teams.

ABOUT YOU 

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve across the whole country. Therefore, while of course, we welcome all applications from all interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME)/Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under-represented groups.  

You will have experience of working at a strategic level, at least at the middle manager level, influencing decision-making and implementation. You’ll have a case worker lead responsibility in cases involving the protection and safeguarding of children and/or vulnerable adults, and up-to-date knowledge of research and evidence-based practice models relevant to safeguarding.

You will also need: 

• A professional qualification or equivalent experience relevant to safeguarding.

• The ability to apply safeguarding theory and good practice models in a way that delivers positive outcomes for children and/or vulnerable adults.
• Experience in leading organisation change and development, including cultural change, that results in improved outcomes for relevant stakeholders.

Please note that if you are successful, you will be required to undertake an Enhanced DBS check.

For further information on the role and person specification, please see the attached job description.

WHAT WE OFFER 

Your Salary

• A salary of £39,711.60 (FTE £66,186) plus age-related pension contributions between 8-15% of salary. We will also match any pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of your salary.

Your Benefits:

• 30 days annual leave plus eight bank holidays and three additional days (pro-rated if working part-time).
• We welcome all flexible working arrangements requests with locations with an expectation of just 1-2 days per week in the Church House office/base office location. This is looked at in a case-by-case scenario and if this fits within the department’s needs. We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work-life balance.
• We offer many services and initiatives under our Family Friendly Programme, some of these include enhanced Maternity Leave initiative, Adoption leave, Paternity Leave, & Shared Parental Leave. Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships
• Access to the Department of Education Restaurant and Westminster Abby with a plus-one guest.
• Apply for eligibility for an Eyecare voucher.
• Opportunity to the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL CHURCH INSTITUTIONS

The National Church Institutions is a hybrid working organisation comprising a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation - a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.

We Include. You Belong.

Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims 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.

Living out our values in all that we do, we:

• Strive for Excellence
• Show Compassion
• Respect others
• Collaborate
• Act with Integrity

We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward. The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values.  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. 

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

The application deadline is 09 October 2024.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact: iicsa1and8@churchofengland.org