Policy jobs in southend on sea, essex
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Job TitleHead of Communications
LocationHome based (Home working with regular meetings in London)
Salary£45,000 - £55,000
HoursFull Time, permanent
Reports to Chief Policy Officer
About Parentkind
As one of the largest federated charities in the UK, with arguably greater reach into the lives of families and educational settings than any other non-Government organisation, Parentkind is on a bold and urgent mission: to support, champion, and empower parents to be partners in their children’s education and wellbeing.
Although best known for our support of almost 24,000 Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), Parent Councils, and Schools, helping them build strong school communities whilst they raise approaching £140 million each year to enhance children’s education, our work stretches far beyond the school gates. Parentkind is building a powerful movement that recognises parental engagement not as a nicety, but a necessity.
Supporting parents beyond the school gate
In recent years, families have faced a series of compounding challenges: the cost-of-living crisis, rising child poverty, and deepening educational inequality. These pressures have left many parents struggling to meet basic needs—let alone feel confident engaging in their child’s learning journey. Parentkind has responded to this moment with compassion, agility and purpose, through a series of transformative campaigns, resources, and partnerships.
Our No Cold Child initiative with FatFace stepped in to address a stark statistic: over 150,000 children in the UK do not own a winter coat due to poverty. Through our trusted relationships with schools we distributed 10,000 warm, high-quality coats worth £600,000 to the children who needed them most. Winning the Business Charity Awards ‘Fashion & Retail’ Award, and shortlisted for two further awards, the campaign has been praised not just for providing warmth, but for restoring dignity, inclusion, and school readiness to thousands of children.
The All Dressed Up campaign—developed with World Book Day and Rubies Masquerade—confronted the often-overlooked issue of financial exclusion on key celebration days. More than 100,000 free dressing up costumes worth £1.34 million were delivered to children from low-income families. By enabling participation in events like World Book Day, we helped spark imagination, joy, and belonging for children who might otherwise feel left out—boosting self-esteem and supporting a positive connection to learning.Furthermore, helping attract children into school on a day which often sees struggling parents keep their children at home.
Alongside these national campaigns, Parentkind supports families year-round through a growing suite of programmes designed to inform, prepare and empower parents. Our Be School Ready programme offers crucial guidance and confidence to parents preparing their children for the leap into primary education. With a mix of practical advice, developmental tips, and reassurance, through the distribution of 150,000 copies of Be School Ready and an online campaign, it supports families at one of the most formative moments in their child’s life.
We also deliver a wide-ranging series of live expert webinars and parent-friendly resources, covering topics such as managing anxiety, supporting special educational needs, navigating school transitions, and building home-school partnerships. These resources, developed in consultation with experts and rooted in lived parent experience, equip families to feel informed and empowered, no matter what challenges arise.
Our direct support of schools
Our collaboration with Asda on Cashpot for Schools is another example of unlocking support at scale. This innovative community-led funding model allowed shoppers to nominate and fund their local schools simply through everyday spending. This campaign has generated £5.78 million for schools during the past twelve months, supporting everything from basic classroom supplies to vital extracurricular programmes and pupil wellbeing initiatives. Also shortlisted for a Business Charity Award, it is already a model for community-driven philanthropy.
In April, we launched our Parent-Friendly Schools Accreditation Programme, designed to formally recognise schools that go above and beyond in fostering positive, inclusive relationships with parents. The accreditation celebrates schools that actively listen to parent voices, make engagement easy and accessible, and embed family partnership in their culture. It is a practical and inspiring tool to drive long-term change in the sector and offers a roadmap for schools wanting to strengthen their community.
Our focus on Policy & Research
Our work is grounded in evidence. Since 2023, we have conducted the UK’s largest annual parent survey: the National Parent Survey. With approaching 6,000 participants providing 130,000 bits of data to provide invaluable insights into the struggles, concerns, hopes and fears of parents. The findings are fed directly into government consultations and have already informed national debates on school funding, attendance, mental health support, SEND provision, and curriculum reform.
In each of the past two years the number of policymakers, educators, parents and researchers accessing the National Parent Survey exceeded seven thousand, and the survey featured in more than two hundred media outlets each year.Excitingly, the Times & Sunday Times are partnering with Parentkind to raise the profile even further in September 2025 and the survey will be launched at a lighthouse event featuring the Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson), the Ofsted Chief Inspector of Schools (Sir Martyn Oliver), the CEO of Mumsnet (Justine Roberts), the Children’s Commissioner (Dame Rachel De Souza), and our own Chief Executive (Jason Elsom).
In addition to the National Parent Survey, Parentkind undertakes representative polling of parents throughout the year on a variety of important topics, which increasingly find exposure in the media and policy discussion.
Parentkind provides the secretariat for the Westminster APPG for Parents and the Stormont APG for Parental Participation in Education. Two very successful parliamentary groups bringing together policymakers and a variety of stakeholders to consider the challenges faced by parents and act as a voice for them through a variety of policymakers.
Our Media Engagement
Since becoming recognised as the UK’s largest parent charity, with likely more groups and frontline volunteers than the Scouts or Girlguiding, Parentkind has gained increasing prominence in the media.Beyond the reach of the National Parent Survey and our regular polling, Parentkind receives frequent requests for quotes of reflection and input by media in relation to their journalism and from Government and non-Government entities in support of policy announcements.
Beyond this, the Parentkind community of volunteers and PTAs share local or regional media announcements of their own.Whether or not it celebrating the completion of large projects they have invested countless hours and thousands of pounds into realising, or the community event they have worked into the night to deliver for their school communities.
It will be your role to take this much further, gaining increasing exposure for the work of Parentkind, its community, and parents more broadly.
If you believe, like we do, that when parents matter, children succeed, we’d love to hear from you.
The role will involve:
· Promoting our parent polling data and work across social media platforms with eye catching content.
· Providing comment on topical issues for social media so that we are part of the conversation.
· Build the right relationships to dramatically increase the number of of media organisations seeking input and thought leadership from Parentkind.
· Build relationships with broadcast media so we get asked to appear on broadcast media more often. There’s a chance for you to be a talking head too.
· Help to draft parent polls and reports with a focus on compelling questions that will hit the front page. We need a brilliant writer, able to turn facts and figures into engaging narratives with bold headlines and strong messages that catch the eye. Boring writers need not apply…
· Draft eye catching press releases with bold headlines and a compelling narrative to promote the work we do across the charity. You’ll also place the press releases with national journalists leading to high profile coverage.
· Support the authoring of articles, op-eds and blog posts by members of the Executive Leadership Team.
· Be responsible for media monitoring, measuring our media hits, and reporting on coverage and interesting themes for the Executive Leadership.
Your mission is to massively increase our online, in print and social media presence to make us the highest profile parent charity in the UK. We don’t need you to be an education expert, we need someone to get us on the front page.
We have a huge amount of data on what parents think and we need you to get it seen. This is a great job for someone who wants to grab hold of a “comms” function and make it their own.
Parentkind is a UK wide charity, you will be expected to support our work in other parts of the UK where necessary.
For 'Person Specification' please see the job description
UK-based applications only will be considered.
The role is responsible for ensuring the charity operates within a robust governance framework and complies with all relevant statutory, regulatory, and internal requirements. This role requires the ability to operate, and pivot, between subject matter expert, strategic partner, advisor and team member - with hands-on delivery, supporting the Board of Trustees, senior leadership, and staff to embed a culture of good governance, risk awareness, and ethical practice across the charity.
The role line manages a small team (including two administrative assistants), and oversees the use of external experts to provide advice.
If you would like further information about this role, please contact Julie Brennan via the email address listed
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
We are looking for a motivated and experienced HR professional to deliver high-quality HR operations at CIEH. This is a broad and rewarding role - you’ll look after CIEH’s HR function, as well as modernising our systems and processes and acting as a key partner to teams across the organisation, helping to build a positive and high-performing workplace culture.
This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is excited by the opportunity to make improvements and have a significant impact. If this is you, and you have strong generalist HR experience, a good understanding of UK employment law and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively then we would love to hear from you.
Please ensure that you submit a cover letter, and that this demonstrates how you meet the person specification for the role.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Job Title: Policy and Influencing Manager
Organisation: Kids
Location: Remote (with travel to London up to once a week for meetings)
Salary: £33,000–£35,000
Contract: Full-time or 4 days/week (Flexible working available)
Make change happen – for every child.
At Kids, we believe every child should have the opportunity to thrive – regardless of disability or circumstance. As our Policy and Influencing Manager, you’ll play a vital role in making this a reality. You’ll help shape policies that amplify the voices and experiences of disabled children and young people, turning insight into influence and ideas into action.
This is a unique opportunity to lead bold, evidence-based policy work that reflects the lived experiences of the families we support. Working closely with colleagues across the organisation and sector, you’ll inform decision-makers, respond to developments in the SEND landscape, and ensure that young people’s voices are at the heart of the change we seek.
We’re looking for a passionate and proactive policy professional who’s ready to help build something powerful – and lasting – at a critical time for SEND reform in the UK.
What you'll do
Policy & Influencing
- Develop accessible and compelling policy briefings, consultation responses, reports, speeches, and presentations for a range of stakeholders, including MPs, government officials, and sector partners.
- Translate complex ideas into clear, persuasive communications that support positive change.
- Collaborate with our Youth Voice Manager to ensure our policy positions reflect the real experiences of the young people and families we support.
- Help deliver and monitor our policy and influencing strategy in collaboration with the Head of Policy, Voice and Influencing.
Research & Evidence
- Carry out high-quality research and analysis from both internal and external sources.
- Centre the experiences and insights of disabled children, young people, and their families in policy solutions
- Monitor policy developments across the SEND landscape and lead on timely, evidence-led responses.
- Track progress against our influencing goals and ensure our actions remain targeted and impactful.
Engagement & Relationship Building
- Build strong relationships with decision-makers across government and the public sector.
- Support the Head of Policy, Voice and Influencing to plan and deliver our strategic external engagement plan in order to focus and drive our wider influencing work
- Represent Kids at meetings and events, including engaging MPs, civil servants, and other key influencers.
- Work closely with internal teams and front-line colleagues to ensure our influencing work is grounded in practice and informed by those delivering services.
Collaboration & Strategic Partnerships
- Work alongside the Head of Policy, Voice and Influencing and Youth Voice Manager to deliver our external engagement strategy including deputising at meetings when required.
- Support collaboration across teams to bring in parent, carer, and young person voices.
- Contribute to external coalitions and alliances – attending meetings, aligning with others’ work, and championing Kids' policy priorities.
What you'll bring
Essential Skills & Experience
- Proven experience in a policy role and demonstrable experience of using policy and evidence to influence outcomes– ideally within the disability sector.
- Strong understanding of the SEND system and related policies and legislation (through lived or professional experience).
- Excellent writing skills – able to craft persuasive policy briefings, consultation responses, and reports with clarity and purpose.
- Confident communicator, able to engage a range of audiences in person and in writing.
- Strong research and analytical skills – able to sift through evidence and develop insight-driven policy recommendations.
- Ability to build and manage relationships with senior stakeholders and external partners.
- Highly organised, adaptable, and comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
- Passionate about inclusion, equity, and social justice – with a strong motivation to elevate the voices of disabled children and young people.
Why work at Kids?
We’re a mission-driven organisation, building a fairer world where all children have the opportunity to flourish. You’ll join a growing team in a pivotal role, helping to shape the future of policy and advocacy at Kids.
We’re committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and we welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We’re especially keen to hear from people with lived experience of disability or SEND, either personally or within your family or community.
Ready to create change that counts?
Apply now and help us influence a better, more inclusive future for disabled children and young people.
Note: We may close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. Please apply promptly
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Closing Date: 12th August 2025
Interview Date: 21st August 2025
About the opportunity
Dementia is the biggest health and care challenge of our time – can you help us solve it?
Our Policy Officers play a key role in deciding and driving forward Alzheimer’s Society’s positions on the major policy issues affecting people living with dementia today. They are at the heart of what Alzheimer’s Society thinks and are instrumental to our organisational messaging.
In this role, you’ll be horizon scanning the external environment, considering evidence, and engaging with stakeholders across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to inform our policy development and influencing work nationally and locally. You’ll help shape recommendations that we take right to the top decision-makers and respond to a rapidly evolving policy space.
We need a confident communicator and collaborator, a critical thinker, and ultimately a brilliant policy mind to deliver on our ambitious integrated plans for diagnosis, care and treatment (with a particular focus on diagnosis).
It’s an exciting – and crucial - time in dementia policy, with major national plans being developed across the three nations in which we work. That means this role offers the potential to achieve real change on behalf of people living with dementia.
What you’ll focus on:
- Horizon scanning and responding to key policy developments in the health and care space.
- Collaborating across our Evidence, Policy and Influencing teams to deliver on our integrated plan and drive forward our policy priorities of diagnosis, care and treatment.
- Engage with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to inform the development of evidence-based policy positions on the major issues affecting people living with dementia today.
About Us
The National Landscapes Association represents and supports the UK’s National Landscapes (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) – places where we want nature and people to flourish together. These living, protected landscapes are vital to the UK’s nature recovery, climate resilience, sustainable farming and wellbeing.
We work collaboratively and inclusively to ensure these treasured places are protected, restored, and accessible to all. Our policy work is central to this mission – and we’re looking for a proficient and motivated individual to help shape and drive it forward.
About the Role
As Policy & Advocacy Officer, you’ll be a core member of our dynamic policy team, helping to influence positive change at the heart of environmental, planning, and community policy in the UK. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who thrives on creating and communicating impactful policy positions, can build strategic relationships, and wants to make a real difference.
You’ll work across a broad range of issues – including agriculture and land management, planning and sustainable development, wellbeing and recreation and access and engagement – supporting National Landscape teams to engage effectively in national debates and policy processes.
Key Responsibilities
- Policy research & analysis: monitor emerging policy trends, conduct research and analysis, and develop robust evidence-based positions across key topics.
- Strategic advocacy: Help design and deliver targeted advocacy strategies; draft position papers, consultation responses and policy briefs.
- Stakeholder engagement: Build and maintain trusted relationships with government officials, partner organisations and local teams.
- Communication & outreach: Translate complex issues into clear, compelling messages for internal and external audiences, contribute to communication strategies and represent the organisation at external meetings.
- Monitoring & evaluation: Track policy impact and advocacy initiative progress, providing updates and insight to the Head of Policy & Advocacy.
See the role description for more information.
Why Join Us?
At the National Landscapes Association, you’ll be part of a passionate and forward-thinking team making a meaningful impact. You’ll gain exposure to a wide range of high-profile policy issues, work alongside experts across the UK, and help shape the future of our most valued landscapes.
Lead and champion activity, working with National Landscapes, to protect and restore the UK's most outstanding landscapes.




The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The Degrees Initiative is a UK-based NGO that builds the capacity of developing countries to evaluate solar radiation modification (SRM), a controversial proposal for reducing some impacts of climate change by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. Degrees is neutral on whether SRM should ever be used, but we believe that developing countries should be empowered to conduct their own research and to play a central role in SRM discussions.
Degrees’ programmatic work is centred on capacity-building through research grants and North–South and South–South collaboration schemes, outreach activities, and cross-cutting community building. As part of this, Degrees runs workshops in the Global South that bring new voices into the SRM conversation, and our research funds support scientists and other experts in developing countries as they research what SRM could mean for their regions and become part of a global research community.
The Policy Engagement Assistant role offers a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to help scale up the organisation’s work, building on the successes of the last decade, and to help the most climate-vulnerable countries make up their own minds about SRM.
Joining a growing team, the Policy Engagement Assistant will support the Policy Engagement and Programmes teams through the provision of administrative services to ensure the efficient organisation of, execution of, and participation in events. Secondarily, the Assistant will provide general administrative support to the Policy Engagement team.
The Policy Engagement Assistant will work under the supervision of the Policy Engagement Director, while supporting the Policy Engagement Managers and the Programmes team. Responsibilities will include:
- Arranging travel, lodging and other travel logistics for Degrees staff, funded scientists, policymakers, and other external participants;
- Arranging meeting facilities;
- Facilitating requests for visas and other travel authorisations;
- Serving as a point of contact for external event participants’ queries about travel and events;
- Ensuring proper distribution of information documents and meeting minutes in a timely manner;
- Drafting general and formal correspondence; reviewing and formatting documents and slides according to style;
- Organising and maintaining the policy engagement team’s shared mailbox and filing system;
- Scheduling staff and other meetings;
- Supporting processes for this new team, including aspects of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL);
- Maintaining the list of external policy engagement contacts;
- Any other related activity in support of the Policy Engagement team.
Putting developing countries at the centre of the SRM conversation





The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
We’re looking for a Policy and Public Affairs Manager with a proven ability to manage relationships with key stakeholders at a national level and a deep understanding of the education policy landscape. This is a great opportunity to join an ambitious team redefining public service delivery through tech innovation and strong partnerships.
Oak is the publicly-funded provider of free, high-quality digital curriculum and teaching resources for schools. We are a pioneering organsation, fully remote and mission-driven, working to support teachers and improve pupils’ access to quality education. Oak offers high levels of flexibility, autonomy and purpose.
Our culture has been independently recognised through:
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Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)
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Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact
About the Role
Oak's success is built on a wide range of partnerships across the education and wider public sector. This is a fantastic opportunity for a policy and public affairs professional to manage key relationships and develop Oak's policy role.
What You’ll Be Doing
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Manage relationships and inputs with important stakeholders across the education, political and commercial sectors. Act as the lead policy liaison between Oak and the Department for Education
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Work with partners and the Department for Education to develop, agree and fulfil Oak’s policy role and remit within the curriculum, education, AI and edtech landscape.
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Write speeches, presentations, briefings and public papers to communicate Oak’s role and impact, and support Oak’s proactive and reactive media work. You will also represent Oak at public events and in meetings with key figures interested in our work.
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Ensure the continuous improvement of Oak’s external monitoring, stakeholder engagement and policy work.
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Deputise for the Head of External Relations and take on other general responsibilities as required.
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Regular travel to London for in-person meetings and events, including some overnight stays
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As a member of the Oak Team, you will contribute to the wider success and culture of the organisation as well as support and model our five values: create the right environment, be a great colleague, own your role but work for the team, make things happen and keep getting better.
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Work in cross-functional and product-oriented squads with colleagues from across the organisation, as required.
What We’re Looking For
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4+ years holding responsibility for the development of policy and stakeholder relations.
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Extensive knowledge of the education landscape and policy agenda plus developments in AI and edtech.
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A skilled communicator, able to analyse, distil and convey complex information succinctly and build positive relationships with external stakeholders.
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Organised and detail-oriented.
Our Benefits
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25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)
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Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year
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11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution)
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A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off
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Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred
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Twice-yearly in-person offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun
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A culture that genuinely supports flexibility, autonomy, and trust
Inclusion and Belonging
We believe diverse teams build better products. We warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented in the tech and education sectors.
We use the Applied recruitment platform to help reduce bias in our hiring process.
Key Info
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Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here
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Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time
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Closing date: 23:59 on 31 August 2025
If this sounds like the kind of role and team where you would thrive, we'd love to hear from you.
Next steps
You’ll answer some questions related to your day-to-day job. After the advert closes, your answers will go through our sift process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised, and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers (real humans).
If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you to the next stage.
We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process we'll share how well you performed.
We are aiming to start interviews in early September 2025.
We are experiencing really good responses to our job adverts. This may lead us to close the role early, so if you are considering applying then please get your application in early to avoid missing out.
We are an equal opportunities employer.
We are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the friendly, dynamic, multi-disciplinary team at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) as our new Policy and Communications Assistant. This is an important role within the CSA Centre, central to our ambition to raise awareness of the true scale and nature of sexual abuse and to drive evidence-informed improvements in policy and practice.
About the role:The CSA Centre aims to reduce the impact of child sexual abuse through improved prevention and better response, and our work in influencing and shaping policy and communications at local, regional and national level is key to that mission.
As our Policy and Communications Assistant, you will play an important role in supporting the CSA Centre's policy and communications activity over the immediate and longer term, helping our evidence, learning and resources to have the widest possible reach and impact at both local and national level.
We are looking for a motivated person keen to learn and to build their skills and experience in a policy and communication role. This is an extremely diverse job, supporting all aspects of the CSA Centre's busy and impactful policy and communications functions, from assisting in the production and design of digital content for our website, social media channels and newsletter, to helping us respond to emerging trends in policy and practice. It would be a great opportunity for someone looking to broaden their experience and expertise across a wide range of different workstreams - no two days are the same in this role!
As Policy and Communications Assistant at the CSA Centre you will play a key role in tackling child sexual abuse, alongside the work of our colleagues across practice, research, policy, communications and training. This is important work - the CSA Centre conservatively estimates that one in ten children will experience some form of child sexual abuse before age of 16, and our ambitious programme seeks to improve the knowledge, skills and confidence of professionals (social workers, teachers, social workers, nurses etc.) in identifying and responding to child sexual abuse. We have already made great progress, but there is much more to be done – and we need your help to do it!
This role is currently funded until 31 March 2026, in line with the current grant funding arrangements for the CSA Centre. This will be reviewed in late 2025, as future funding for the CSA Centre from 2026/27 onwards is clarified.
Although this contract has a permanent status, please be aware that this post is subject to funding currently until March 2026 and therefore should this funding not be extended further, you may be subject to a redundancy consultation or a TUPE arrangement. This contract is due to expire on 31.03.26.
About us
We are the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre). Our aim is to reduce the impact of child sexual abuse through improved prevention and better response. To tackle child sexual abuse we must better understand its causes, scope, scale and impact.
First established in 2017, we are a multi-disciplinary team that is funded by the Home Office, hosted by Barnardo's and we work closely with key partners from academic institutions, local authorities, health, education, police and the voluntary sector. We're proudly independent and our team will challenge any barriers, assumptions, taboos and ways of working that prevent us from increasing our understanding and improving our approach to child sexual abuse.
We bring about change by:
- Collating and analysing existing research, policy, practice and the real experiences of those affected, and filling the gaps we identify with new research, insights and analysis;
- Using that evidence and insight to challenge and improve existing policy and practice, develop new approaches and increase everyone's knowledge and confidence to more effectively tackle the issue.
This role is home-based with regular travel required, usually to London.
The CSA Centre acknowledges that tackling child sexual abuse can feel challenging but is incredibly rewarding and positive when actively making change. Our open working environment ensures that there is support for all employees, across the team and with access to a therapist, if needed. Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of this further.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification and Job Description.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
The Methodist Church is committed to ensuring its churches are safe spaces for all. We work hard to ensure compliance with legal requirements, develop good practice, provide effective training and give professional advice on individual cases. We have an exciting opportunity to join our new safeguarding regional team operating in the north east region and take this forward supporting Methodist churches and work. The post holder will join a team of safeguarding officers who will carry specific responsibility for individual cases, undertake risk assessments, lead training and advise churches. The post will be aligned with specific Methodist districts and provide support to colleagues across the regional area requiring regular travel.
Hours of work: 24 hrs per week. (salary will be prorated to the hours worked)
The successful candidate will hold a relevant professional qualification, experience in child and/or adult protection or significant demonstrable relevant work experience.
Our Culture, Values and Benefits
Thank you for considering joining our inclusive and welcoming team that strives for excellence and values employee wellbeing.
We value and support all those who join our team through a positive work-life balance augmented by generous annual leave (plus an extra 3 days over Christmas/New Year), TOIL, flexi-leave and an on-site Wellbeing Adviser service. We offer a generous occupational pension scheme with pensions matched up to 8%.
The Methodist Church is an inclusive and supportive employer. We are actively committed to encouraging applications from people of all backgrounds. We welcome applications from people of Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic groups.
If you require reasonable adjustments to made at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact HR team.
Closing date: 28 August 2025
Interviews will take place on (in person): 10th September 2025
N.B. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible
The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God's love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission.

Public Affairs Manager (Fixed term contract)
Salary: £34,237pa
Your purpose
This is a critical role in the Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs Department. As Public Affairs Manager, you will support the Head of Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs to make oracy education ordinary, co-ordinating and project managing and delivering public affairs work as well as leading public relations work that increases our profile with policy makers. In doing so, you will play an integral role in ensuring all children, regardless of their background, find their voice for success in school and in life.
Your responsibilities
This is a senior role in the Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs Department, as part of the wider Learning, Impact and Influence Directorate
Public Affairs (80%)
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Drive forward Voice 21’s public affairs strategy, building key relationships, understanding and momentum that develops Voice 21’s influence with Government and non-parliamentary policy makers, ensuring that we have a meaningful role in shaping an oracy entitlement for every child, and appropriate mechanisms for its implementation
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Deliver Public Affairs business as usual work, for example; organising school visits, leading political and parliamentary monitoring, stakeholder mapping and horizon-scanning and organising events in parliament and at party conferences
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Work with policy makers on local, regional and national level to influence those responsible for the delivery of education at primary and secondary level
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Engage and manage stakeholders and other key people across and beyond the organisation who work with the Learning, Impact and Influence directorate to leverage relationships in pursuit of our organisational strategy and mission
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Lead on Voice 21’s role as secretariat to the Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)
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Produce/co-produce consultation responses, blogs, internal and external briefings, parliamentary questions and other related communications in line with our content strategy
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Act as an internal expert consultant on public affairs, decision makers and implementation of our agenda
Public Relations (20%)
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Deliver public relations activity to raise our profile and support our brand, including through awards, events and speaking engagements
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Spotting reactive communications opportunities in line with the public affairs strategy
Your progression
Within 1 month, you’ll have:
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Started building strong working relationships with the team, warm policy makers and sector partners
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Created a database of influential head teachers
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Helped refine our policy asks in key areas into easy-to-communicate goals
Within 3 months, you’ll have:
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Used analysis and polling to build reports on key advocate groups who can help spread our messages
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Launched our Oracy APPG
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Refined our monitoring and reactive opportunity spotting systems
From 6 months onwards, we expect for you to be:
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Have worked with our research team to develop a literature review of oracy education policy at local and national level
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Migrated our contract tracking to Salesforce and expanded it to capture relationships help at local and national levels
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Having developed a public profile among education policy makers
This job is for you if you…
Have experience in these areas
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Creating tangible policy impact through public affairs activity
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Building and nurturing relationships with policy makers at national, regional and local levels
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Creating public affairs strategies with clear objectives and KPIs
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Delivering eye-catching PR work such as award entries, speaking events and receptions
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Using research to create strong and compelling narratives
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Communicating externally about policy positions
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Ability to form excellent working relationships, internally & externally with sector colleagues
You may also have experience in these areas
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Relevant experience in and a strong understanding of the education sector
Reporting lines
Reporting to: Head of Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs
Managing: None
Where you’ll work: Remote, with travel to our London office and elsewhere for meetings. Occasional overnight stays may be required depending on where you are based.
Contract: 12 months
Application details
To apply:
Closing date: 25th August 2025
Interview date:
First round interview: 3rd - 5th September
Second round interview: Week commencing 8th September
Start date: ASAP
Questions: Head of Communications, Campaigns and Public Affairs, Elizabeth Somerville;
Valuing every voice
Voice 21 believes that every voice should be heard and valued. We are committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and do not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.
We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Voice 21.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
About Us
SOSRC (SOS Rape Crisis) works with survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse, providing independent, specialist support and promoting and representing their rights and needs. SOSRC provides service across Southend, Castle Point and Rochford. SOSRC is a registered charity working with adults of all genders, young people and children.
We are part of Synergy Essex, a partnership of three Rape Crisis Centres (SOSRC, SERICC and CARA), funded by the Office for the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex to provide a countywide ISVA service.
The Opportunity
We are seeking a dedicated Adult and Young Person Sexual Violence Therapist (sessional) to join our multi-disciplinary team. In this role, you will provide specialist counselling support to adults and young people who have experienced rape, sexual violence, or sexual abuse. You will uphold professionalism and deliver trauma-informed, empowering therapeutic support.
Key Responsibilities
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Deliver counselling and emotional support services from a Feminist perspective, upholding the Rape Crisis ethos and values.
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Provide one-to-one counselling, maintaining a caseload of 10-25 clients per week (minimum 10).
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Conduct assessments and complete regular risk assessments using the SAS (Safety and Support) Form.
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Maintain accurate and confidential records in line with SOSRC policies and GDPR.
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Keep up to date with relevant legislation, policies, and best practices.
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Work flexible hours, including some evenings, and across various locations in Southend, Castle Point, and Rochford as needed.
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Participate in training and contribute to the wider counselling team within The Synergy Essex Partnership.
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Adhere fully to all organisational policies and safeguarding procedures.
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Report to the Clinical Manager or CEO and undertake other related duties as required.
About You
Essential Skills and Experience
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Diploma in Counselling or equivalent, with a minimum of 400 counselling hours.
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Experience working therapeutically with adults and young people.
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Experience of supporting people with mental health issues and psychological or behavioural problems.
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A strong understanding of feminism and gender-based violence.
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Knowledge of safeguarding policies and procedures for children and vulnerable adults.
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Ability and willingness to work remotely, as a lone worker, and across multiple locations.
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Flexible availability including some evening work.
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Proven ability to manage your own workload, prioritise effectively, and work independently.
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Commitment to maintaining confidentiality and accurate record-keeping.
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Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
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Proficient in Microsoft Office and database management.
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A professional, flexible, and non-judgemental approach.
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Commitment to SOSRC’s ethos and mission.
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Membership of BACP or UKCP.
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Full UK Driving License.
Desirable
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Experience working specifically in the field of sexual violence.
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Experience liaising with multiple agencies.
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Experience conducting client assessments.
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Experience with crisis intervention.
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Experience facilitating support groups and providing telephone or video support.
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An understanding of social injustice and discrimination with a commitment to countering these.
Additional Information
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Salary: Paid sessional hours at £30 per hour.
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Hours: Caseload of 10-25 clients per week (minimum 10).
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Place of work: Flexible between SOSRC office in Southend and outreach across Southend, Castle Point, and Rochford.
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This post is restricted to women applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1.
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Start date: Inductions possible from August 2025
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Application deadline: 19th August 2025
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Interview dates: TBC
Join Us
If you are passionate about supporting survivors of sexual violence and committed to making a positive impact through empowering therapeutic work, we would love to hear from you. Join SOSRC and be part of a dedicated team making a real difference in our community.
Please refer to the job description and person specification attached to this post for full details.
Supporting survivors of sexual violence with specialist, trauma-informed care, advocacy, and empowerment across Southend and South East Essex.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Remote position with some preference for Freetown Sierra Leone, Cape Town South Africa or Nairobi Kenya
SCOPE OF WORK
1. Grantmaking Due Diligence & Onboarding
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Coordinate the collection, review, and secure storage of due diligence documentation from prospective grantees.
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Assist with risk screening checks and internal reviews in alignment with Purposeful’s grantmaking policies.
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Prepare grantee onboarding documentation, including grant agreements and orientation materials.
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Track submission of required onboarding documents (e.g., bank forms, MoUs, safeguarding policies).
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Monitor and keep track of the grants due for payment.
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Respond to grantee and applicant inquiries and proactively update them on the status of their grant awards.
2. Grant Compliance & Documentation
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Monitor compliance status of all active grants, flagging outstanding requirements and follow-up needs.
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Ensure that compliance-related deadlines (e.g. reporting dates, grant conditions) are met and documented.
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Maintain clean, well-organised, and accessible digital grant files, using existing tools or systems (e.g., Google Drive, Netsuite, Salesforce, etc.) to ease retrieval and generation of reports.
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Support internal checks to ensure that funds are disbursed in line with compliance protocols and funding agreements.
3. Finance Coordination
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Liaise with the finance team to prepare and verify payment documents, banking instructions, and payment schedules.
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Support alignment between grant budgets and payment disbursements.
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Track the movement of funds across grants, ensuring appropriate documentation is in place for each transaction.
4. Donor & Internal Reporting
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Assist in preparing compliance-related sections of donor reports and internal grantmaking summaries.
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Track reporting obligations by donor or partner, and ensure all documentation is collected and filed on time, including any relevant country-specific compliance requirements.
5. Audit & Policy Support
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Prepare documentation for internal and external audits, including sampling, document summaries, and data extractions.
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Assist in developing and maintaining internal tools (templates, checklists, trackers) related to grant compliance.
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Contribute to ongoing improvements in Purposeful’s compliance systems, bringing in lessons learned and audit feedback, and emerging regulatory or legal considerations relevant to our work.
"Remaking the world with and for girls"
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Join Our Team as a Trusts and Foundations Manager
Location:
Remote working with some travel to SeeAbility homes.
Salary:
£48,000 per annum plus benefits
Hours:
Full time, 37.5 hours per week
Contract:
Permanent
SeeAbility is seeking a Trusts and Foundations Fundraising Manager to join our Innovation and Social Impact team. Could this be you?
We have a rich history as pioneering charity working alongside, and for, people with learning disabilities, autism, and sight loss to make inclusion a reality. Over the last 5 years, fundraising from Trusts and Foundations has enabled our charity to have big impact on the lives of people we support by creating opportunities to develop digital skills, secure employment, benefit from better eye care and speak out against social injustices.
Your role will play an equally important part in our latest strategy. Your talent will enable SeeAbility to launch new and inclusive programmes, co-produced by people with lived experience and in partnership with funders, so that we can continue our vital work of building inclusive communities where everyone can live as equal citizens.
If you’re excited by this role and are looking to take your next step with a successful, supportive, and friendly fundraising team – we’d love to hear from you today.
Your role
To lead on trust fundraising at SeeAbility and to grow and diversify trust and foundation income in line with SeeAbility’s aspirations.
Your responsibilities
- Lead on the development and delivery of a trusts strategy, overseeing the whole trusts portfolio, to generate agreed annual targets for SeeAbility.
- Be the charity’s expert in trust fundraising, adopting a data-driven approach, keeping abreast of sector developments and making the business case for change where appropriate.
- Develop and enhance relationships with existing trusts, delivering first-class stewardship, making appropriate and timely applications to secure agreed annual budget and ensuring that all reporting is completed in line with guidelines.
- Focus on new business and lead on creative, inspiring and professional proposals to trust and statutory funders that operate within the charity’s values and ethical policy.
- Manage, support and mentor the Trusts Fundraiser to secure funds from trusts and statutory sources of income. To lead any further expansion of the trust team in the future if the opportunity arises.
- Implement the systems, tools and procedures to proactively identify new funders that align with SeeAbility’s strategy and ethical policy.
- Work across the organisation to generate new and innovative ways to package up SeeAbility’s work to secure funding.
- To be responsible for setting, monitoring and reporting on income and expenditure budgets and key performance indicators
- To be responsible for developing and delivering the annual work plan for trusts fundraising
- Engage staff across the organisation in trust fundraising to support proposal development, reporting and stewardship and to grow the fundraising culture.
- Ensure all trust records are kept up-do-date on the database.
- Work closely with fundraising colleagues to cultivate a supportive and collaborative fundraising team.
**Please check the Job description for extensive details
**Please kindly upload a cover letter along with your CV for us to consider your application
Our Benefits
Why work for us?
Your development and appreciation
- Annual excellence awards
- Long service awards every 5 years and recognition
- Development Discussions: Opportunity to discuss your progress and your future
- Leadership development academy for the next steps in your career
Your work-life balance
- 33 days holiday (incl. bank holidays), increasing to 41 days with long service (1 extra day for each year of service)
- Life events: Time off when you need it most
- 2 weeks Organisational Sick Pay after 6 months service, increasing to 12 weeks over your first 3 years
- Enhanced Family-Friendly Pay
- Paid Fertility Leave
- Carers Leave available
- Flexible Working: We are up for anything that works for your team and the wider organisation
Your money goes further
- £500 monthly bonus scheme for two lucky colleagues
- Enhanced overtime rates for working bank holidays and weekends
- Eligible for Blue Light Card discounts
- Discounts and cashback at hundreds of shops, restaurants and activities
- Access to Tickets for Good
- Pay reviews and commitment to pay competitive rates
- Employer contributory pension scheme: Support and tools to help you make the right decisions about your future
- Refer a friend and receive £600
- Paid DBS and renewals
- Season ticket loans
- Advance Pay scheme using Wagestream when you need it the most
Your wellbeing counts
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Life assurance of 2x annual salary
- Free 24/7 employee assistance programme for advice and support
- Free eye test
- Discounted Gym Membership
- Dedicated in house Wellbeing Coach for your team
Safer Recruitment
SeeAbility is committed to safe and fair recruitment practices, safeguarding and protecting those who we support. It is a condition of employment that perspective employees will be subject to the following:
- A criminal background check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (where appropriate).
- Documentary evidence to confirm your identity, current address, and the right to work in the UK.
- Health Declaration to ensure that you are medically suitable for the role you have been offered.
- References will be obtained to ensure satisfactory evidence of conduct in current or previous employment concerned with the provision of services relating to (a) health or social care, or (b) children or vulnerable adults.
These checks will be carried out and completed prior offering a date to start employment at SeeAbility’ s expense.
Diversity
SeeAbility is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from individuals of all identities, including those from underrepresented groups and those who have a disability or neurodivergent condition.
We believe a diverse workforce drives innovation, creativity, and success. Everyone’s unique experiences and views are appreciated, and their opinion valued. We are happy to offer any reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process or the role itself to ensure a fair and equitable experience for all candidates.
In exceptional circumstances, the exempt from the Equality Act 2010 (Schedule 9, Part 1) which provides for the application of a genuine occupational requirement.
Our mission is to champion and deliver ambitious support and preventative services alongside people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss,

Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
About Us
SOS Rape Crisis (SOSRC) is an independent specialist sexual violence charity providing support for adults (regardless of gender), young people and children who have experienced sexual violence and/or child sexual abuse, in Southend, Castle Point and Rochford.
We are part of Synergy Essex, a partnership of three Rape Crisis Centres (SOSRC, SERICC and CARA), funded by the Office for the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex to provide a countywide ISVA service.
The Opportunity
This is an opportunity to join a dedicated team providing vital support to survivors of sexual violence and abuse. As a Navigator Project Worker, you will be the first point of contact for individuals accessing Southend-on-Sea Rape Crisis services. You will offer compassionate, trauma-informed, and needs led support, helping survivors feel heard and understood from the outset. Through careful assessment and informed referrals, you’ll play a key role in connecting survivors with the most appropriate services.
Key Responsibilities
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Provide a professional and empathic first point of contact for survivors of sexual violence and/or abuse.
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Offer one-off emotional and practical support, and provide information, signposting and onward referrals.
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Complete initial assessments to identify their needs and most appropriate next steps.
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Keep accurate, timely and confidential records on the case management system.
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Work in partnership with SOSRC colleagues including the Counselling and ISVA Teams.
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Attend team meetings, one-to-ones, clinical supervision, line management and other meetings as required.
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Maintain confidentiality and adhere to data protection legislation and guidelines.
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Contribute to monitoring and evaluation and meet administrative requirements.
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Work in accordance with all SOSRC policies and procedures.
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Attend regular training and maintain a good working knowledge of sexual violence and its impact.
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Promote a trauma-informed and survivor-centred approach in all aspects of the role.
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Actively contribute to the delivery of a safe, effective and high-quality service.
About You
Essential Skills and Experience:
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Experience of delivering support and/or information to vulnerable people.
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Experience of working in a voluntary organisation, public sector or health and social care setting.
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Experience of maintaining accurate and confidential records.
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Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding and risk management.
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Excellent communication skills.
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Understanding of trauma-informed practice.
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Ability to work on own initiative.
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Proficiency in IT including Microsoft Office and online systems.
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Commitment to working within an anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive framework.
Desirable:
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Experience of working with people affected by sexual violence or other forms of trauma.
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Experience of working in partnership with other services.
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Experience of monitoring and evaluation.
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Understanding of sexual violence and its impact.
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Knowledge of the criminal justice system and statutory services.
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Driving licence and access to a vehicle.
Additional Information
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Salary: £28,624 per annum (pro-rata)
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Hours: 30 hours per week
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Contract: Fixed term
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Start Date: August 2025
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Location: Southend-based, with travel across Mid, South and West Essex
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Leave: 28 days annual leave plus additional gift days over the Christmas period
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Charity No: 1194207
Join Us
SOSRC is committed to ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion within the organisation and we actively encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities.
If you meet even some of the criteria, we would strongly encourage you to apply. We value the skills and experiences you may bring and welcome applicants from underrepresented groups and those with lived experience.
Please refer to the job description and person specification attached to this post for full details.
Supporting survivors of sexual violence with specialist, trauma-informed care, advocacy, and empowerment across Southend and South East Essex.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.