6 Senior independent domestic violence advocate jobs

Housing IDVA - Maternity Cover 6 months 

(£31,537 per annum, 6 month contract - Possible Extension)

Her Centre is a hyper-local women’s charity, providing services to women and girls in Greenwich. We support women and children affected by domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and relationship trauma.

We provide Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) to support women and children by providing emotional support, support to flee abuse and a safety plan. Our services also include free legal support with a family lawyer, a welfare advice hub, training programmes for both women and organisations, and a range of empowerment courses such as ESOL classes, counselling, peer support groups and more to help women build skills, confidence, and independence.

We are seeking a dedicated Housing IDVA to provide maternity cover for 6 months - we offer a 4 day working week as standard full time to promote wellbeing for all of our staff

Role

To provide individual support to women experiencing domestic abuse who present to the Royal Borough Greenwich Housing Team with housing issues or who are at risk of homelessness due to domestic abuse. The Housing IDVA provides specialist support for women with complex housing needs through risk assessments, individual advice sessions, advocacy in court and with other statutory services, and by working directly with the Royal Borough of Greenwich Housing Inclusion Team and Tenancy Services. (The post holder will be colocated between the council offices and Her Centre main office.)

Responsibilities

 1. To provide advice and advocacy for women experiencing domestic abuse by offering crisis intervention, information and support for those who have directly presented to the Housing with housing needs or are at risk of homelessness due to domestic or sexual abuse or violence or any other recognised intimate violence against women and girls.

2. To devise emergency safety plans for survivors, liaising with social services, the Housing Inclusion and Support Team, and refuges to secure emergency housing if needed. To act as point of contact for Housing and work collaboratively with partners to ensure safety of survivors and their children

3. To provide targeted support where women have mental health, substance misuse, complex needs or face other challenges. Where needed, refer to appropriate support services if the survivor has support needs or requires a specialist service, e.g. male survivor to Respect or GALOP, frail older people to Adult Social Services.

4. To carry out risk assessments of women for referrals to MARAC where applicable

5. To develop effective links and partnerships with police and the courts and provide information, advice and support to survivors going through the legal process, explaining the effectiveness of criminal and civil sanctions available.

6. To attend MARAC to represent the needs of survivors, including joint work with the council and other housing bodies to resolve issues about re-housing, the woman’s safety, and legal actions.

7. To comply with safeguarding requirements relating to children and vulnerable adults and explain the safeguarding requirements to the survivor.

8. Maintain and update accurate written and computer records of all cases and share a summary of this information with managers, ensuring that data protection (GDPR) regulations are followed, (within the organisation as well as when communicating with partner organisations).

9. To maintain contact with the survivor at regular (timely) intervals to provide support and ensure her safety, including updates of the risk assessment and safety plan.

10. To respond within the bounds of confidentiality (GDPR), to requests from other agencies for consultations or facilitate direct contact between agencies and service users.

11. To participate in multi-agency workings parties and focus groups, when requested to do so by the Director or your manager.

12. To provide advice and training at a range of locations as requested for both professionals and the public, including being the main point of contact for Housing staff when upskilling or advice is required by the team

13. To keep up to date on research, policy development and other literature relevant to the project. Attend relevant conferences and seminars on behalf of the project.

14. To attend team meetings, relevant meetings with trustees and to be part of Her Centre outreach marketing plan

15. To attend training as identified with your manager and in liaison with the Housing Inclusion & Support Service.

16. To take on other tasks as appropriate as requested by managers or the Trustees

Benefits of working at Her Centre

- A lovely team!

- 4 day working week (full time)

- 1 personal "wellbeing hour" a week

- Work from home 1 day a month

- 2 team-building days out a year

- Training and progression opportunities

- 3% pension contribution

Please note: Due to the intensive and sensitive nature of the support involved, this post is open to women only, as permitted under Section 7(2)(e) of the Sex Discrimination Act.

Closing Date for applications is 20th September 2026 at 5pm, with interviews on the 23rd of September 2026.

To provide high-quality and comprehensive advice, information, practical and advocacy support relating to domestic and other forms of gender-based violence perpetrated against Black and minoritised women and children. To provide efficient and high-quality administrative support in managing the Central Pot, a key fund that supports women with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) and other exceptional needs. This includes overseeing the Central Pot inbox, assessing and approving applications, maintaining financial and case management records, and contributing to monitoring and reporting requirements.

To assist with educational, developmental, policy and campaigning work arising from advice and casework.

To promote the aims and objectives of SBS as a specialist organisation for Black and minoritised women and children.

Why work with Southall Black Sisters?

Southall Black Sisters is committed to providing a supportive working environment, where team members feel valued, empowered and safe. To that end, we provide an excellent package of employee benefits including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement 
• Hybrid working 
• Enhanced pension contribution
• Enhanced sick pay
• Subsidised public transport season ticket
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme, including access to confidential support from MBACP therapists 
• Clinical supervision with an MBACP therapist to explore issues arising from casework
• A focus on continued learning and development through accredited training delivered by experts in their field
• Organisation-wide away days
• Career development pathways and support
• The opportunity to learn and grow within an organisation renowned for inspiring political activism and campaigning successes
• Employer eye care scheme

To Apply

Submit a completed application form along with the optional equal opportunities monitoring form by the application deadline. Please do not send us your CV as this will not be considered.

Please note, incomplete applications will not be considered.

Terms and Conditions

Job title: Advocate South London Women’s Hubs

Reports to: Programme Manager – South London Women’s Hubs

Direct reports: N/A 

Start date: TBC – subject to successful MOJ vetting

Salary: £31,173 per annum (inclusive of £3,990 Southeast weighting) 

Working hours: Full time – 35 hours per week 

Contract: Fixed Term until 31 March 2027 (with the possibility of extension, subject to funding)

Location: Across South London 
 

Job Purpose

To deliver high-quality, trauma-informed, independent advocacy for women in communities and in prisons, which focuses on early intervention, and holistic provision as part of a ‘whole system’ multi-agency response that looks to address the root causes of women’s offending. 

The primary purpose of this role is to provide in-depth, ongoing support to a caseload of women across the South London boroughs. 
 

Key Responsibility Areas

1. Provide high-quality, trauma-responsive advocacy and emotional and practical support to women in contact with, or at risk of being in contact with the criminal justice system

2. Development and maintenance of professional relations in prison and the community 

3. Ensure clear, timely and effective communication and record keeping 

4. Proactively seek to develop your personal and professional practice, and contribute to wider organisational development

5. Contribute to building a feminist leadership culture and positive working environment for Women in Prison 

Please download recruitment pack for the full job description

Note: This post is exempt under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1, and is open to female applicants only, due to the nature of the role. Subject to an enhanced DBS check.

The Head of Youth Programmes sits in our Senior Leadership Team and holds overall operational responsibility for our frontline youth programmes across three pillars: Prevention, Intervention and Healing. The postholder leads and line manages the delivery team, and carries DSL responsibility for the organisation.

You'll lead delivery, expansion and impact evaluation across all three pillars, line manage the Education Lead, IDVA Team and Creative Projects leads, and work closely with the CEO to consolidate our delivery models. You'll hold responsibility as our Designated Safeguarding Lead, manage operational budgets, and build multi-agency partnerships across Barnet and neighbouring boroughs.

It's an opportunity to bring fresh energy and strategic leadership to a small, values-driven charity that trusts its team to do meaningful, creative work with the young people we support.

Essential criteria

• Experience as an IDVA, ISVA or in a comparable frontline advocacy role supporting young women and girls affected by domestic abuse, sexual violence or other forms of harm.
• A strong understanding of VAWG, domestic abuse and youth harm, grounded in survivor-centred and harm-prevention approaches.
• Experience of overseeing and responding to complex safeguarding through multi-agency working.
• At least Level 3 safeguarding training. Designated Safeguarding Lead training is desirable, or a willingness to complete this within an agreed timeframe.

We have highlighted the essentials above. The rest of the person specification, in the attached recruitment pack, is a guide to what we are looking for in a strong candidate, rather than a checklist. Your experience may not meet all of it, but if you have the essential experience we would encourage you to apply. We are just as interested in transferable experience as in a conventional career path.

Benefits

• Regular clinical supervision with an external practitioner 
• Health Assured Employee Assistance Programme, including a 24/7 helpline, counselling and a wellbeing app
• Free on-site parking in Colindale and funded travel between delivery sites

Details

£38,000 to £40,000 pro rata. 28 hours per week (four day working week). Permanent. Barnet, London / Hybrid.

Closing date: Thursday 15th October 2026. Interviews: w/c Monday 26th October 2026.

This is a unique and exciting opportunity for an experienced safeguarding professional to join GARAS, a leading immigration charity in Gloucestershire, and help shape the future of safeguarding practice across the organisation.

The successful candidate will hold both strategic and operational responsibility for safeguarding, leading on the management of safeguarding concerns and cases while developing GARAS's safeguarding framework, policies, procedures, training and quality assurance. 

You will work closely with other members of the Senior Team, reporting regularly to trustees, and will act as the lead point of contact for staff and volunteer safety, mental health and trauma-related crisis management, while building key partnerships across the county to reduce risk.

This is an immensely rewarding role, working in a dynamic charity built on an ethos of care and inclusivity. We are looking for an exceptional individual, committed to going the extra mile and bringing expertise, confidence and compassion to safeguarding leadership within our organisation.

Due to the nature of the work, the role will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check.