Independent Victim Advocate Jobs in East Of England
We have an exciting and challenging opportunity for a Team leader to join the National Homicide Service (HS), covering the London and the South of England.
You will work from home or a local VS office if available, 37.5 hours per week.
Do you want to be part of a unique service providing the highest quality support to families bereaved by homicide and those who are eye-witness to homicide? Do you want to lead a supportive, passionate and committed team? If yes, then we'd love to hear from you….
What we offer:
At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:
- Flexible working options including hybrid working
- 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
- An extra day off for your birthday
- Pension with 5% employer contribution
- Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
- High Street, retail, holiday, entertainment & leisure discounts
- Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
- Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
- Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression
About the role:
You will lead and support a team of Homicide Family Caseworkers to meet VS and Homicide Service standards and contractual requirements. You will be able to demonstrate the excellent organisational skills essential to managing a demanding and diverse workload and will have experience of achieving key performance indicators, as set by the Operation managers and Deputy Head of Service.
We pride ourselves on providing exceptional trauma informed advocacy and support to all service users and you will have an understanding of the impact that trauma and bereavement can have on individuals. We support staff to keep them safe within their role and you will lead on the importance of personal and professional resilience and wellbeing for the team.
You will have excellent communication skills and will support the Operation Managers to maintain the highest standards of service delivery, across a widely geographically dispersed team. You will be prepared to travel across the geographical area including occasional overnight stays to ensure you can meet team members in person as well as online. A driving license and use of a car are both essential as well as access to public transport. You will be reimbursed for all travel costs.
You will also enjoy working closely with a range of stakeholders (including Police Family Liaison Officers and Senior Investigation Officers within the Major Crime teams) and will have experience in building constructive working relationships, focused on delivering the best service for vulnerable service users. You should be a confident presenter, and able to share the service and work we do to inform, educate and encourage notifications and referrals into the service.
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details.
About Us:
Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.
Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.
Victim Support strives to represent the diverse communities we serve and are passionate about creating an environment where all staff and volunteers feel respected and heard. Being a diverse organisation with an inclusive culture is integral to us being able to meet our aim of ensuring that anyone who is a victim of crime gets the support they need.
As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we particularly welcome applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. VS is also a Disability Confident Employer and we provide a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for candidates that are disabled and meet all essential criteria for a role.
If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we'll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.
How to apply:
To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website, and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.
Please give examples where appropriate, and show your aptitude for post. Please ensure you answer each shortlisting criteria including the need to drive and have your own mode of transport.
We looking forward to hearing from you.
Interview dates: 2nd May 2024 - by Zoom.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.
Victim Support are looking for an Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Practitioner to join the team in Staffordshire working 37.5 hours per week. This role is home based and will require regular travel across Lichfield, Tamworth and Burton Upon Trent.
Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you have experience of working with and advocating for victims of Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) - or would you like to work in this area?
If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…
What we offer:
At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:
- Flexible working options including hybrid working
- 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
- An extra day off for your birthday
- Pension with 5% employer contribution
- Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
- High Street, retail, holiday, entertainment & leisure discounts
- Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
- Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
- Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression
About the role:
You will be support victims of ASB, working with a multitude of partners across all local authority areas to ensure their expectations of services are clear and their personal needs are met. You will work with both adults and young people & work closely with partners. Ultimately, you will help them cope, recover and move forward from their experiences.
You will provide high quality support to all victims of Anti-Social Behaviour managing a caseload and offering support over the telephone and in person, including home visits. You will assess the victims needs and provide emotional support, advocacy and practical help.
You will also mentor and be responsible for volunteers who will assist you with your caseload and support lower risk victims.
You will work closely with the local Council(s) ASB team and environmental health department, police, housing and other agencies to achieve positive outcomes for victims, as well as a wide variety of people including people with additional vulnerabilities and repeat victims.
You will need to work well in a multi-agency environment, be dynamic, organised and flexible in how you work and support our clients.
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.
About Us:
Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.
Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.
Victim Support strives to represent the diverse communities we serve and are passionate about creating an environment where all staff and volunteers feel respected and heard. Being a diverse organisation with an inclusive culture is integral to us being able to meet our aim of ensuring that anyone who is a victim of crime gets the support they need.
As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we particularly welcome applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. VS is also a Disability Confident Employer and we provide a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for candidates that are disabled and meet all essential criteria for a role.
If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we'll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.
How to apply:
To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.
Main purpose of job: To lead and develop CARA, taking overall responsibility for the operational and financial management, generating income, working closely with the board of trustees to achieve CARA’s strategic and budgetary aims, whilst ensuring compliance with statutory, contractual, and regulatory requirements.
Start date: To be agreed with the appointed candidate (subject to Enhanced DBS Check and satisfactory references).
Salary: £55,000 - £60,000
Hours: Your hours of work are as required to perform the duties of your role, for a full-time employee this is normally 35 hours per week.
Contract: Permanent
Place of work: At least two days a week in the Colchester office, with some home working, regular travel across Essex and occasional travel in the East Region.
Holiday: 25 days per year pro-rata, plus additional closure days between Christmas and New Year.
To apply: Please complete the application form, which can be downloaded from our website, explaining how your skills and experience relate to the person specification.
Application deadline: 10am, Thursday 16th May 2024.
Interviews: Tuesday 4th June, in Colchester.
This post is restricted to women applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1.
Job Description
The post of Chief Executive Officer offers an exciting opportunity to steer CARA through the next stage of its development, providing leadership to the talented and committed CARA team. The role will involve building on the considerable growth and development that CARA has achieved over the last 10 years, securing funding to ensure it can continue to provide excellent specialist services to survivors of sexual violence and take steps towards CARA's vision of a world without sexual violence and child sexual abuse.
CARA’s CEO is responsible for leading and developing CARA, taking overall responsibility for the operational and financial management, generating income, working closely with the board of trustees to achieve CARA’s strategic and budgetary aims, whilst ensuring compliance with statutory, contractual, and regulatory requirements.
The main responsibilities of the CEO are:
Strategic leadership
·Work with the Board of Trustees and the Head of Operations, and consult with staff, survivors, and others, to develop and define a clear, strong vision and direction for the future of the organisation.
·Lead on and be responsible for the creation, ongoing development and implementation of the organisation’s strategic, business and annual plans.
·Foster, model and promote an inclusive, feminist, anti-racist organisational culture that reflects CARA’s ethos and values.
·Be accountable to the Board of Trustees for the overall financial health of the organisation.
Good governance
·Report and present to the Board of Trustees on the organisation’s progress against its budgets, plans, any risks, challenges and changes, and all information relevant and necessary to the effective discharge of the Board’s duties, including strategic decision-making.
·Develop and share proposals with the Board for the implementation of its objectives and the ongoing development of the organisation.
·Support the Board of Trustees in its ongoing process of self-assessment, development and improving its diversity and representation.
·Ensure the charity meets its constitutional, regulatory and legal obligations.
Business development
·Develop and implement an income generation strategy that ensures the organisation’s sustainability and enables its sustainable growth.
·Work in partnership with the Head of Operations to develop and implement the organisational structures needed for effective delivery of CARA’s objectives and sustainable growth.
·Generate new and various funding and income opportunities through networking, developing partnerships.
- To research and identify new funding and commissioning opportunities and complete bids and applications on an ongoing basis.
·Increase the unrestricted income of the charity, including developing, proposing and implementing new and innovative approaches to its income generation activities, including working closely with the CEO of Icena.
·Be responsible for maintaining and developing strong, long-term relationships with a diverse range funders and donors, both existing and new.
Representation
- To act as lead representative for CARA in the Synergy Essex Rape Crisis Partnership, developing strong working relationships with the other partners and negotiating CARA’s role, responsibilities and the financial allocations it receives from the partnership.
- To keep up-to-date with current developments affecting victims and survivors of sexual violence and ensure that CARA responds appropriately to these developments.
- To be the chief spokeswoman for CARA, responding to media and other enquiries as appropriate and playing a pro-active role in bringing relevant issues to the attention of the public, issuing press releases and initiating debate, as appropriate.
- Build, support and oversee strong relationships with individuals and organisations across the voluntary, public and private sectors, and in local and national government.
- To contribute to Rape Crisis England and Wales campaigns and other campaigns, as appropriate.
- To remain informed of national and regional Rape Crisis perspectives, drawing on Rape Crisis England and Wales expertise and resources as appropriate.
Organisational management
·Ensure policies and processes that support good communication, staff health and well-being, and safe and effective delivery of work are in place and adhered to throughout the organisation.
·Take overall responsibility for the staff team, its management and performance.
·Capture the organisation’s work through robust monitoring and evaluation, and ensure CARA’s impact and any learning is shared throughout the team and with the Board, survivors, funders and other partners as appropriate.
·Oversee and ensure robust financial management processes for the charity.
Other
·To oversee safeguarding at CARA, working with the Designated Safeguarding Leads to ensure effective policies and procedures are in place and communicated to staff, trustees, sessional counsellors and volunteers, and that CARA follows best safeguarding practice.
·To adhere to all CARA’s organisational policies and procedures.
·To be administratively self-servicing, and to share responsibility for a range of day-to-day tasks with the Head of Operations and other team members.
·To undertake other related activities as required by Board of Trustees.
This list is indicative only, not exhaustive. It is intended to reflect a range of duties the post-holder will be expected to perform but additional duties commensurate with the role may be required. The job description will be reviewed from time to time and may change in light of experience and changing circumstances, in consultation with the post-holder.
About CARA
CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse) works with victims and survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse, providing independent, specialist support and promoting and representing their rights and needs.
CARA's vision is of a world without sexual violence and child sexual abuse. As a step towards this vision, we do all we can to create a culture where victims and survivors are believed, supported and treated with fairness and respect.
CARA is a registered charity working with adults, young people and children from across mid and north Essex. We have a head office in Colchester and outreach premises in Braintree, Chelmsford, Clacton-on-Sea, Great Dunmow and Harwich. We also provide remote services.
CARA currently employs 39 full and part-time staff and has an annual income of approximately £1.6 million.
CARA's Aims
1. To provide high quality, specialist support to victims and survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse.
2. To increase awareness and understanding of sexual violence and child sexual abuse and the impact they have on victims and survivors, challenging myths and misconceptions.
3. To promote and represent the rights and needs of victims and survivors, including advocating for a fairer criminal justice system.
CARA's Values
Feminism. Respect. Empowerment. Equality
CARA is a women-led organisation and we work from an intersectional feminist perspective. We actively seek to ensure equality of women as a service provider and as an employer.
The core values of respect, empowerment and equality underpin everything we do.
CARA's commitment to diversity and inclusion
CARA seeks to be an inclusive organisation that actively encourages, supports and values diversity amongst both our service-users and our workers. We wish to create a culture in which discrimination, in all its forms, is recognised and addressed. CARA is committed to anti-racism and are currently developing an Anti-racism Policy. Through this work, we will be aiming to dismantle barriers within CARA to ensure we do not continue to perpetuate institutional racism and can create a truly inclusive environment for our service-users and our workers.
You can read more about CARA’s commitment to diversity and inclusion here.
We encourage and welcome applications from candidates from Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse backgrounds.
About Synergy Essex
CARA is part of Synergy Essex – the Essex Rape and Sexual Abuse Partnership. We work with SERICC Rape and Sexual Abuse Specialist Service and Southend-on-Sea Rape Crisis (SOS Rape Crisis) to deliver the contract for the Office for the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Essex for services for victims and survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse across Essex, Southend and Thurrock. Synergy Essex also shares a number of other projects, funded by the Ministry of Justice, Essex County Council and the National Lottery Community Fund.
Our current PFCC contract ends in March 2025. Synergy Essex intends to submit a bid for the new contract, which is expected to be put out to tender in the summer of 2024.
About Icena
CARA is a founding stakeholder of Icena - a social enterprise offering training and consultancy to eradicate sexual discrimination and violence. The creation of Icena forms part of CARA’s sustainability strategy: Once Icena is generating sufficient profit, a share of this profit will be used to support CARA’s work.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Deputy Service Director
We are looking for a Deputy Services Director to support a cluster of Area Managers across England and Wales.
This role is home based, with regular travel across the regions.
Position: 5494 Deputy Service Director
Location: Home Based
Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week (Flexibility is possible, but likely to be required to meet core hours across Monday to Friday)
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £62,522.13 per annum
Closing Date: First stage interviews will take place, via Zoom, in the week beginning 30th of April.
The Role
This role is home-based, regular travel and some unsocial hours will be necessary. As a Deputy Service Director, you will:
- Support the Services Director to manage services across England and Wales
- Represent the charity externally, promoting a positive image of the organisation
- Identify and promote opportunities to grow and develop the services in order to improve reach and impact
- Monitor, develop and advance the approach to excellence, ensuring teams work to the highest quality standards
- Take the lead in developing the skills and expertise of the Operations Managers and further advancing excellent standard of casework
- Lead on income generation in allocated areas
- Promote advocacy for service users, ensuring that they are involved in the development of services and their needs are heard and understood
About You
To be successful in this role, you will need:
- An excellent understanding of the impact of crime and the experience of the criminal justice system on victims and witnesses
- A proven track record of successfully delivering services with significant contract values
- Exceptional leadership skills, ensuring individuals and teams feel nurtured and supported in order to achieve high levels of performance, commitment and collaboration
- Demonstrable experience operating effectively within a complex organisation at both operational and strategic level
- Previous experience of developing and maintaining successful partnerships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
- A genuine openness to feedback and willingness to proactively learn from others
In Return…
Work for an organisation who believes in attracting and retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards and benefits package including:
- 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
- An extra day off for your birthday
- Pension with 5% employer contribution
- Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity and paternity payments
- High Street, retail, holiday, entertainment and leisure discounts
- Access to our financial wellbeing hub and salary deducted finance
- Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support
- Ongoing training and support with opportunities for career development and progression
About the Organisation
This independent charity provides a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. Working towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System, everyone at the charity is driven by the Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events.
The organisation is committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.
Applicants are welcome from all communities and monitor the diversity of applicants to analyse if they are representative of the communities it serves in terms of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, age and socio-economic status. As part of the commitment to the Race at Work Charter applicants are particularly welcome from BAME communities
You may have experience in areas such as Service Director, Director of Service, Deputy Service Director, Deputy Director of Service, Head of Service, Deputy Head of Service, Service, Criminal Justice, Victim Support, Community.
Please note this role is being advertised by NFP People on behalf of our client.
We are a dedicated Domestic Abuse Charity supporting Women exposed to gender-based violence and exploitation, and their children to be safe and have access to appropriate interventions and support in order to live free from fear and harm.
If you are passionate about supporting women and working in a charity that has core values of diversity and inclusion, collaboration, advocacy and innovation then we have an exciting opportunity for you to join us as a Support Office working in our Refuges. We work with trauma informed practice and use client led support plans to ensure that the women in our Refuges are supported in a personalised way.
We are passionate about working in the community with other agencies and organisations to ensure that women using our services have excellent, appropriate and holistic support.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.