Head of Safeguarding and Quality Practice

Permanent contract

35 hours per week

LOCATION: Flexible - Based within one of our offices country wide

SALARY: £62,736 in London, £59,927 outside London

We are really pleased to advertise this newly created post of Head of Safeguarding and Quality Practice position, which brings an exciting opportunity for a highly experienced and motivated Social Work professional to lead the safeguarding and quality practice agenda within The Children's Society.

The Children's Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 130 years. We run local services that support children when they are at their most vulnerable and in desperate need of help. We're there for children, every step of the way. We also have a strong community network, brilliant supporter base and over 100 shops.

This is a dual facing role with an organisational wide responsibility for the development and delivery of safeguarding across the organisation, with a particular focus on our service base and leading the quality agenda across The Children's Society service and programme portfolio.

The successful applicant will also have responsibility for The Children's Society's Ofsted registered Access to Records serviceproviding access to adoption and birth records to adults adopted from public care and adults placed by The Children's Societyfor adoption between 1936 and 2005.

The Head of Safeguarding and Quality Practice will be an ambassador of best practice and lead a team of specialist safeguarding and quality practice advisors to ensure that The Children's Society develops and maintains consistently high levels of service delivery and safeguarding across the organisation.

We are looking for an experienced HCPC registered Social Worker, with a social work qualification to join our dynamic, ambitious team.

A key part of this role will be your ability to work with a range of professionals from different backgrounds, not just those that work directly with children and young people. We are also seeking someone who will look outside the organisation to draw on good practice in the sector to ensure our safeguarding and quality standards remain high.

In order to be successful in this role, we would like you to have:

-Experience in managing complex safeguarding cases and providing advice on a range of different safeguarding issues (for children and vulnerable adults).

-Proven ability in developing new policies and ensuring that managers are trained and supported within these processes.

-Experience undertaking quality improvement and practice development work within a children's charity, including managing continuous improvement.

-Experience line managing a range of professionals with different backgrounds in different specialisms.

-Excellent communication skills, with an ability to engage our Board of Trustees and colleagues from across the organisation.

Please be aware that this post covers a national geography and has team members that are located remotely and therefore there will be a need to travel to multiple work locations across England. There will also be occasional anti-social hours arising from the need to complete activities outside of working hours or to meet competing demands of the role.

The Children's society has a strong commitment to your development as well as offering many benefits including; a generous holiday entitlement increasing with service, a contributory stakeholder pension, enhanced maternity and paternity pay and flexible working.

The Children's Society is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that we work with. As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services. This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Therefore, candidates applying for work in our CYP Directorate will be required to complete an “Employment history_template” document prior to interview. The fully completed document should be loaded by the candidate once an interview is secured.

The closing date for applications is midnight on 22nd of April.

Interviews will be held on the week commencing 4th of May.

We are seeking an experienced project coordinator for this exciting and varied role where you will be responsible for developing and delivering a programme of support services for adults born with a cleft lip and/or palate, working across the United Kingdom.

One in 700 people are born with a cleft lip and/or palate, a lifelong condition which impacts everyone differently. The Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) works to improve the lives of people born with a cleft. We do this by providing knowledge, practical support, a community and a voice to people affected by cleft.

This is a fixed term contract until March 2021. This role is a fantastic way for you to use and develop your project management and relationship management skills in a small but dynamic charity.

Using the evidence base developed by our Adult Services Researcher you will continue to deliver some of our successful and on-going programmes such as our Cleft Talk podcast and our annual Adults’ Conference. You will also work with the team to find new and innovative ways to engage with those adults who are hardest to reach.

You will be joining a small, friendly team who are deeply committed to supporting families and adults affected by cleft. Your role will be at the forefront of our work with adults ensuring that an underserved, sometimes vulnerable community receive the critical support that they need.

Closing Date: 30th March 2020

Any offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and for safeguarding purposes all applicants are required to complete an application form. No recruitment agencies please. 

SOFT UK is a small charity which supports families affected by the rare genetic conditions Trisomy 18 (Edwards’ syndrome) and Trisomy 13 (Patau’s syndrome).  We also work with the NHS and in a range of multi-agency partnerships to raise the profile of Trisomy conditions, increase awareness of SOFT UK and its work and to provide training for healthcare professionals.

We are currently looking for an experienced, talented Operations Manager to join our small, dedicated team. 

You will be a highly motivated and organised individual in what is a varied, busy, but rewarding post for the right person.

The post offers the flexibility of home working and flexible hours. The hours are 16hrs per week. 

The primary duties of this role will be to manage the day to day operations of the charity, working with Communications Officer and a team of volunteers and Trustees.Attention to detail will be key in this role, and the ideal candidate should have the following attributes:

ØPrevious experience of working in the charitable / voluntary sector and an understanding of supporting volunteers would be beneficial

ØA self-starter, used to working with minimal direction and oversight. Previous experience of home working would be useful

ØAn effective communicator, used to dealing with a range of people, including Trustees, volunteers and families, and experience in a range of communication methods including social media

ØUsed to delivering against deadlines and working under pressure, with a ‘can do’ attitude

We would encourage potential applicants to find out more via a telephone conversation with the Chair of Trustees.Please request on application. Information about Trisomy 13 & 18 and the work of SOFT UK can be found at our website 

Interviews for shortlisted candidates are expected to take place in May 2020 

Statement of Work (SoW)

Location:  Remote

Duration:  A maximum of 60 days over a maximum of seven months, in two phases

Reports To:Board of Trustees & CEO

About Relief International:

Relief International is a leading not for profit organisation working to relieve poverty, ensure the well-being, and advance the dignity of vulnerable communities. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach – which we call the RI Way – emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships, and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design, and implement the solutions that work best for them.

Relief International is legally an alliance between independently registered charitable organisations in the US, UK, and France. Relief International’s global support functions are combined as one management team, based across our head offices in these three countries. This geographical mix fosters collaboration and maximizes the resources we can deploy for the delivery of services in the countries where we operate.

Summary of the Consultancy

The organisation has grown rapidly from <$50 million in programme expenditure in 2014 to >$120 million in 2019. While growth has allowed RI to extend its services (mission) to millions of the most vulnerable communities in 16 countries, growth has also exerted extreme pressure on RI systems, structure, and resources. While RI management continues to be occupied with managing RI operations in a rapidly changing world, RI’s Board of Trustees (also referred to as Board of Directors) and the CEO are looking for a experienced independent contractor to (i) assess RI’s Finance Functions and their effectiveness in supporting Programme Management, and (ii) set and guide the implementation of a road-map for identified policy and process improvements. 

Major Deliverables

Phase 1 -- Analysis, Report, and Planning. 20 days over a maximum of six weeks

During this phase, the Financial Systems Optimisation Consultant will:

• Use appropriate qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and extensive knowledge of INGO Financial Management to analyze the Finance Function and the effectiveness of its support for the programme implementation function.
• Engage with leadership and with team members of the Finance, Programmes, and Awards Management departments.
• The scope of this engagement includes:
• Finance Department
  • Determine the department’s strengths and priority areas of improvement, including whether the department has the right structure, roles, and capability to support RI Operations, donors’ reporting needs, management decision making, Foreign Exchange risk management, treasury management, cash flow forecasting, and audit readiness.
  • Assess the Financial system (NetSuite) strengths, limitations, challenges, and level of implementation.
  • Review the department’s capabilities/limitations concerning the production of timely, accurate, and useful Budget Variance Analysis and ensuring appropriate monitoring and reporting of variances.
• Programme Management Interface
  • Assess the effectiveness of the interface between Finance and Programme Management functions to guide proposal writing, budgeting, and award management.
  • Review of Award Management Operating Model, including clarification of delegated authority, reporting lines, and accountability between country, regional and global personnel to ensure effective project expenditure control. 
• Produce an Executive Summary highlighting strengths and outlining any gaps or deficiencies within and between these two functions.
• Informed by the above analysis and brief report-out, engage with Trustees and CEO to agree on prioritization of needed improvements and development of a plan for the implementation of remedial actions including clear accountability, a time-frame, and allocation of resources.

Phase 2 - Implementation - Time and Duration TBD, but not to exceed five months.

Work collaboratively with the CEO and Senior Management Team to guide the Finance Function and relevant stakeholders in the implementation of the plan developed in Phase 1. Specific deliverables to include (but are not limited to):

• The capability to produce timely and accurate monthly management accounts and budget variance analysis, cash forecasting, treasury management, foreign exchange risk management, and audit readiness.
• Rationalized operating structure with appropriate interface and accountability between Financial and Programme Management functions.
• Closing interview with the Boards of Trustees and CEO.

Essential Experience and Skills:

• Direct experience working with or in large INGOs or not-for-profit/charity field at leadership, executive, or advisory roles
• Extensive Financial Management, grant, and award management experience. Strong understanding of Programme Management is a significant plus.
• Established track record of change management to promote financial integrity and organisational efficiency.
• Knowledge of and experience in working with major governmental donors (ex., USAID/OFDA, ECHO, DFID, UN agencies, etc.) and demonstrated know-how of donor expectations and requirements are significant pluses.
• Ability to work effectively at both strategic and operational levels.
• Excellent, research, analytical, and communication skills

Due to limited resources only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Note to external agencies, we will not be accepting applications from third parties

Relief International is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.

Relief International is committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of vulnerable adults and children as a priority. This is reflected in our pre-employment checks and requirement to verify and check the identity and references of all applicants.