5 Regional safeguarding advisor jobs

Policy has the power to change lives – do you have the engine to drive meaningful change forward?

Bring your policy expertise, political insight and energy to help MCR Pathways transform opportunities for young people across the UK.

We’re looking for a highly driven Senior UK Policy & Public Affairs Officer to help advance our mission to bridge the education, skills and opportunity gap through the transformative power of mentoring. You’ll monitor the political landscape, turn evidence and impact into compelling policy arguments, build influential relationships and identify opportunities to put mentoring at the heart of national and regional agendas.

From Westminster and Holyrood to local and combined authorities, you’ll help build the case for change, champion the Trusted Adult Guarantee and support MCR Pathways’ continued expansion across the UK.

The Role Experience

This is a hands-on policy and public affairs role that goes well beyond monitoring what’s happening in government. You’ll be immersed in the UK political and policy landscape, identifying opportunities to influence, developing policy briefings and submissions, mapping stakeholders and cultivating relationships with policymakers, parliamentarians, civil servants and strategic partners.

You’ll also be the operational engine behind senior leadership engagement. You’ll identify and progress opportunities, coordinate preparation, develop briefings, arrange meetings and drive follow-up – enabling our CEO, Development Director and other senior leaders to lead high-level engagement and representation with key policymakers and stakeholders.

Turn insight and lived experience into influence. Help make the power of mentoring a national priority.

What You’ll Bring:

• Policy & Public Affairs: Proven experience in policy, public affairs or parliamentary work, with a strong understanding of UK political systems and policy-making.

• Influencing & Relationships: The ability to map political landscapes, build strategic relationships and identify opportunities to influence policymakers and decision-makers.

• Evidence & Advocacy: Exceptional written and analytical skills, with the ability to turn complex evidence, impact data and operational experience into compelling policy arguments.

• Strategic & Operational Drive: A proactive approach, able to spot opportunities, coordinate activity and ensure high-quality preparation and follow-through for senior engagement.

• Collaboration & Purpose: A highly collaborative approach and genuine commitment to improving outcomes and opportunities for young people facing barriers to reaching their potential.

Safeguarding

MCR Pathways is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people, and we expect you to share this commitment. This post is subject to appropriate vetting, including a criminal record check and PVG / DBS Scheme membership.

About MCR Pathways

MCR Pathways is an award-winning mentoring programme delivered in schools, further education settings and communities. We connect young people with trusted adult volunteer mentors, providing consistent guidance to help build confidence, self-belief and ambition. Through this support, young people can overcome barriers and progress towards positive destinations such as further education, apprenticeships and employment.

This is an exciting opportunity to join Home-Start Kirklees at a time of growth and development. You’ll play a key role in shaping services that support local families, leading a passionate team and helping ensure children have the best possible start in life.  This lead role is fundamental to overseeing all operational delivery of services, managing projects, developing the workforce and partnership engagement.

Home-Start is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families through recruiting and training volunteers to provide family support. Our vision is that families will be safe, healthy and resilient and that children will have the best start in life.

We are currently recruiting for an Operations Lead

Location:  Huddersfield Town Centre Office. Partnership work across Kirklees required. Hybrid and flexible working pattern available.

Salary: NJC Scale SCP 29-32 (£39,862 - £42,839 pro rata). Starting salary SCP 29, increasing to SCP 30 after a successful probationary period.

Hours: 37 hours per week (negotiable part-time hours available).

Benefits: Generous annual leave allowance including Birthday leave with one week extra annual leave after 5 years’ service.  Well-being support (Employee Assistance Programme). Professional development and travel expenses paid. Free parking at town centre office location.

Family friendly policies.

This is an exciting opportunity to join Home-Start Kirklees at a time of growth and development.

You’ll play a key role in shaping services that support local families, leading a passionate team and helping ensure children have the best possible start in life.  This lead role is fundamental to overseeing all operational delivery of services, managing projects, developing the workforce and partnership engagement.

Essential requirements include:

• Good interpersonal, motivational and communication skills
• A passion for working in the voluntary sector and making a difference to families
• Excellent leadership and project management skills
• Experience of developing effective working partnerships with stakeholders

Please contact us for an application pack

The closing date for applications is 12 noon on Monday 14th September 2026

Interviews for this post will be held on Thursday 24th September 2026

Please do not send CVs.

 Any offer of employment will be subject to a satisfactory DBS check at enhanced level and barring service check and the receipt of appropriate references.

Home-Start Kirklees is committed to a policy of equality and diversity which respects the identity, rights and value of all individuals.  We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and all staff working with these groups are expected to share a commitment to this. You will be expected to report any concerns relating to the safeguarding of children and/or young people in accordance with agreed procedures. If your own conduct in relation to the safeguarding of children or young people gives cause for concern, Home-Start Kirklees child protection procedures will be followed, alongside implementation of the charity’s disciplinary procedure.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

IRC UK

IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its global headquarters in New York. Our team in the UK – approximately 220 colleagues – works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Since 2021, IRC UK has also provided integration services directly to refugees across the UK.

In Europe, the IRC currently operates in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Poland.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The People and Culture (P&C) Director works in a highly matrixed environment with staff from several functions across the global organisation. The postholder manages the HR team in IRC UK and is accountable for effective HR service delivery, HR compliance and continuous improvement within the scope of the People & Culture department, localising the IRC’s global people strategy. This position plays a pivotal role in fostering a positive, inclusive and high-performing workplace culture that aligns with IRC’s values, through exceptional communication skills.

The role jointly reports into the UK Executive Director and Regional Director, P&C Europe – with additional reporting accountabilities to the UK Board’s People and Culture Committee. Working within global frameworks set by Global People & Culture, the role localises the implementation of People & Culture priorities and drives UK-specific change initiatives within IRC UK’s culture and regulatory environment.

As a member of the UK Senior Management Team (SMT), the role is jointly accountable for the delivery of IRC UK’s Strategic Plan, and has responsibility for the effective delivery of P&C priorities. The Director has a keen focus on building leadership competencies and organisational effectiveness.

Success in this role requires the ability to build strong relationships, influence decisions, and navigate multiple stakeholder perspectives to deliver effective people solutions within a matrix environment where accountability is shared.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. P&C Leadership (Advisory, Implementation, and Partnering) (25%)

• As a member of the UK Senior Management Team, assume collective accountability for the effective delivery of IRC UK’s Strategic Plan.

• Serve as an advisor and thought partner to the Executive Director and fellow SMT members on the UK application of IRC’s Global P&C strategy, and lead on strengthening IRC UK’s kind, inclusive and high-performing organisational culture.

• Support talent dialogues, performance conversations, and career development planning for IRC UK staff, embedding a culture of continuous learning.

• Partner with peers on workforce planning — including managing workforce adjustments such as staff reductions or scale-up, and organisational design work — in partnership with senior management, the Regional Director P&C Europe, and Global P&C Partners, ensuring compliance with local and global policy while minimising risk and supporting affected staff.

• Translate data and metrics into actionable items in line with IRC UK’s strategy.

• Lead, supervise, and develop the UK P&C team, accountable for team quality and effectiveness and for building a skilled, motivated team ready to advance.

2. Manage HR Service Delivery and Core Operations (~40%)

• Manage end-to-end HR service delivery across the employee lifecycle; recruitment, onboarding, contracts, payroll coordination, benefits, performance and leave management, offboarding, and HR information systems, maintaining high-quality, context-specific P&C practices aligned with organisational standards.

• Provide leadership on UK employment law and regulation to the UK HR team, ensuring the HR team supports supervisors of UK staff in the management of their teams in a supportive and compliant way.

• Provide high quality HR partnership to the Refugee, Asylum and Integration (RAI) UK Director and team to support programme needs and donor requirements.

• Advise supervisors on appropriate disciplinary actions, coordinating with Global Employee Relations and Legal on complex or escalated disciplinary proceedings, to ensure fairness and compliance with employment law.

• Responsible for P&C reporting for the UK Board of Trustees and People & Culture Committee, and for the annual production of IRC UK's Gender Pay Gap and Ethnicity Pay Gap reports, in line with IRC's global P&C reporting standards and applicable UK statutory requirements.

• Support any organisational restructure requirements, including active management of any necessary staff consultation and resulting redundancy processes, by providing expert guidance to management and affected staff throughout the process.

• Track UK P&C objectives set by Global P&C and contribute HR input - organisational structure, position scoping, staffing analysis - to proposal design and grant review processes.

• Lead the delivery of regular staff engagement surveys, analysing data and proposing leadership actions in response.

3. Workplace Culture (~15%)

• Promote employee experience, engagement, and inclusion, and oversee the integration of IRC's Values (the ‘IRC Way’), People Manager Standards, and Employee Success Factors across the employee lifecycle.

• Implement safeguarding standards set by the global Safeguarding function across hiring and onboarding, and ensure the IRC Way and reporting channels are visible in all IRC UK locations.

• Serve as a local advocate for Employee Wellbeing, Employee Engagement, and Safeguarding priorities set by global functions, and role model safe, inclusive, and caring leadership standards.

• Operate and promote collaboration in a highly matrixed environment where several units intersect and work together to reach joint decisions.

• Accountable  for the effective delivery of specific P&C-owned elements of IRC UK's Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Strategy and Action Plan, as well as assuming joint accountability for the full GEDI Strategy and Action Plan as a key member of IRC UK SMT.

4. Trade Union Relationship (~20%)

• Working with the UK Executive Director, maintain the relationship with UK Trade Union (Unite) representatives, and negotiate and consult via the quarterly Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), driving progress on policy and annual salary review negotiations.

• Develop and manage union engagement and communication plans that support open, honest, and productive dialogue across the office.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• Direct reporting line to UK Executive Director; indirect reporting to Regional Director, P&C Europe

• UK Board and P&C Committee

• UK SMT, with particularly close collaboration with Director, Strategy and Delivery, Financial Controller, and RAI UK Director

PERSON SPECIFICATION

• CIPD qualified with significant HR leadership experience across the full P&C spectrum, including complex UK processes such as restructures, TUPE, and employee relations.**

• Strong interpersonal and analytical skills, with proven ability to operate effectively in a complex, global matrix organisation. Solution-oriented, positive, ‘can do’ attitude.

• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, with experience of advising and influencing senior leaders.**

• Experience of working with Trade Unions, including leading on consultations and negotiations.**

• People management experience.**

• High level of confidentiality, tact, service orientation, and intercultural communication skills.Ability to manage competing priorities and complex, multi-stakeholder projects independently, with willingness to take on significant responsibility.

About Woman's Trust

The charity was established in 1996 to meet the gap in specialist mental health services. Woman’s Trust is led by and for women and aims to ensure that women affected by domestic abuse can live a life free from further harm and abuse. Our approach is trauma-informed and person-centred, empowering survivors on their journey to recovery from the trauma. We are committed to a positive, inclusive and equitable environment for our staff, service users and volunteers.

Alongside delivering our existing 1-1 counselling, self-development workshops and therapeutic support groups for women who have experienced domestic abuse, we are focused on developing our innovative mental health services for young women and girls, delivering new peer-led support groups and providing therapeutic groups to children and their mothers. We are also committed to developing further awareness-raising workshops and training for professionals, building on our research and policy to improve systems nationally.

About the role

The Policy and Public Affairs Manager will establish and lead Woman’s Trust’s policy and public affairs function. She will grow the organisation’s influence with UK and London government, Parliament, NHS systems, commissioners and sector partners so that the voices and experiences of women and children affected by domestic abuse shape policy, commissioning and practice.

The postholder will develop and deliver an evidence-led influencing strategy; own a focused portfolio of policy priorities; build and manage senior stakeholder relationships; produce high-quality analysis, briefings and consultation responses; and provide timely political and public affairs advice to the CEO, Chair, trustees and senior colleagues.

Working across services, data, communications and fundraising, she will ensure Woman’s Trust’s external positions are grounded in frontline expertise, robust evidence and appropriately supported survivor involvement. She will identify opportunities for the organisation to influence debate and policy at the intersection of domestic abuse, women’s mental health, health inequalities and public services.

Hours: 35 hours per week. A four-day/0.8 FTE arrangement will be considered.

In return, we can offer:

• 25 days' holiday + 3 days at Christmas + Public holidays (pro rata for part-time working)
• Hybrid & flexible working - office based with minimum of 50% of working hours in Woman’s Trust London office, we also support mutually agreed flexible working arrangements
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Mandatory job-related training
• Individual staff professional development budget
• A caring, committed and highly collaborative environment
• Several social events/lunches per year
• Friendly, all women team

To find out more and apply with your CV, please visit our website via the apply button.  

Please note, CVs and cover letters should be sent in Word format.

Closing date: Monday, 7th September 2026.

First stage interviews: Friday, 11th September 2026.

Second stage interviews: Wednesday, 16th September 2026.

Please note, this post is open to female applicants only – Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1 applies.