Volunteer officer jobs in westminster, greater london

Independent Age is the national charity focused on improving the lives of people facing financial hardship in later life. We believe no one should face financial hardship in later life. 

Our Helpline and expert advisers offer free, practical support to older people without enough money to live on. Through our grants programme, we support hundreds of local organisations working with older people across the UK.  

We use the knowledge and insight gained from our support services and partnerships to highlight the issues experienced by older people in poverty and campaign for change.

We would love to find individuals from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds to join us on this journey.

Responsibilities and Person Specification:

As Policy Officer you'll use your expertise to influence change on key areas, including housing, household costs and income. You'll investigate complex policy areas and translate these into engaging and accessible content for reports and briefings to build a compelling evidence base to directly impact national policy. You will conduct vital qualitative and quantitative research, ensuring our policy positions are robust and informed by real-life experiences, speaking directly to older people in financial hardship. You will also have opportunities to work with a range of external stakeholders to develop and advocate for our key policy calls. 

You will have experience of conducting research and producing high-quality written analysis, with excellent written and verbal skills to effectively tailor information for different audiences. You will be able to apply your existing understanding of public policy, policymaking processes and advocacy to create positive change. You'll need experience of building strong working relationships with diverse internal and external stakeholders. Above all, you will have a genuine passion for our cause!

For full details on the role and requirements, please review the job description and person specification. If your experience doesn’t align perfectly with all of the criteria in the person specification but you do meet most of them and are excited about the role, we encourage you to apply anyway. 

This is a full-time role, 35 hours per week, which you can choose to work over five days or a 9-day fortnight. We also are open to this role being worked on a part-time basis on a minimum of 28 hours per week. It is a fixed term contract for up to 12 months. 

What it’s like to work at Independent Age:

We celebrate diversity at Independent Age and champion the differences that make each of us unique. We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We aim to attract and retain a wide range of talent and create an environment where everyone can feel safe, protected, welcome and included.

We offer great benefits including 28 days annual leave plus public holidays, a generous pension scheme with life assurance, and fantastic learning and development opportunities. We also offer a number of enhanced leave provisions and benefits.

We know that a good work life balance helps us perform at our best and supports wellbeing. Flexible working hours and hybrid working is standard for all (those contracted to work in the office usually attend 1 day per week). But if you need a different form of flexibility, we are always happy to talk flexible working. 

You can find out more about what it’s like to work at Independent Age by visiting our Careers page. 

Application Process:

To apply, please visit our website and submit a CV and a Supporting Statement, detailing how your skills and experience meet the criteria within the Person Specification (please do not hesitate to contact us if you have specific requirements and need support to apply in an alternative format).

To support our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion our hiring managers use anonymous shortlisting. Therefore, please do not include your name, photo, or information to indicate your gender or age in your CV and supporting statement. Please do not omit dates of employment. Please ensure the title of any uploads does not contain your name. 

Independent Age is committed to safeguarding and follows Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding those we work with. We therefore ask that you supply your full work history with explanations for any gaps in the application documents you submit and, if offered the post, we will require two employment references including your current or most recent employer. A Basic DBS will be required for this role.

Closing Date: Sunday 16th November 11:59pm

Planned Interview Dates: Wednesday 26th – Thursday 27th November

The Benefits Service within SEL Mind is a well-established offer of support to clients who need to access welfare benefits they are entitled to receive.

The service currently operates across Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich, delivered in partnership with local NHS. It includes dedicated welfare benefits advisors who provide casework support, and a cross-area team of volunteers who assist with form filling and assessments for health and disability benefits.

We are looking for a Welfare Benefits Specialist in Bromley to support clients to access the benefits they are entitled to. We are looking for someone with significant experience of working within welfare benefits in either a paid or voluntary capacity. Ideally, this will include providing representation at appeals and giving advice on complex entitlement issues. A strong understanding of the needs of people with mental health problems is also essential to this role.

This role will involve:

• Advising clients on benefit entitlements
• Challenging benefit decisions and representing clients at appeals
• Working with colleagues in SEL Mind and Oxleas NHS Trust to make sure clients receive integrated support from our services
• Supporting the work of volunteers

Successful applicants will be expected to undergo an Enhanced Level Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Closing date: Sunday 16th November (11.59pm)

Likely interview date: Week beginning 1st December

We encourage early applications as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications.

Job Title: People and Data Reward Officer

Location: Homeworking with a requirement to occasionally work at Head Office (Vauxhall, London)
Salary: £34,093.64 per annum (Inclusive of £3,000 London Weighting, which may not be applicable depending on your home location and any agreed permanent homeworking arrangement)
Contract type: Fixed Term Contract (12 months) 

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Are you passionate about making a difference through data and people focused initiatives? Refuge is looking for a People Data and Reward Officer to join our People and Culture team.

In this varied role, you’ll report to the People Data and Reward Manager and play a key part in ensuring the smooth and accurate delivery of our monthly payroll, annual pay awards, and employee benefits. You’ll also contribute to the ongoing development and upgrading of our HR systems, alongside providing quality and timely data.

In this role, you will be delivering a responsive range of effective, compliant and customer focused people services that contribute to an inclusive culture, enabling colleagues to sustain high levels of performance and helps Refuge to achieve its Strategic Objectives, and be a great place to work.

You will also be delivering accurate and timely processing of the monthly payroll including the implementation of the annual pay award and employee benefits. The post holder will also be responsible for supporting broader team activities associated with the development of the HR system and pay and reward strategies.

Job Closing Date: 09:00am 25 November 2025

Interview Date: 5 December 2025

We are seeking a  committed and creative Outreach and Communications Officer who will be responsible for sharing our knowledge and expertise as widely as possible.

About The Role

The Unity Project (TUP) supports people who are facing poverty and homelessness because their immigration status allows them ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF).  We believe NRPF should not exist and we are working to end it. Until then, we seek to minimise its impact by supporting people to make the ‘change of conditions’ (CoC) application to access public funds. However, as the number of people living under NRPF continues to grow, we know we will never be able to meet the need for CoCs. Ensuring that our knowledge and experience is shared - with advisors, support services, community groups and individuals who could make applications themselves - is vital. Raising awareness of our work also supports our income diversification strategy by building corporate partnerships and individual donations.

In this role, you will be leading The Unity Project’s outreach and communications work in order to increase awareness of the Change of Conditions process and the support The Unity Project can offer to individuals and organisations.  Your first priorities will include mapping CoC provision across the country; working with the Director to design and implement a communications strategy to engage applicants, advice organisations, corporate partners and donors; and creating a suite of CoC resources to share online. As you develop in the role, you will deliver outreach and information sessions online and in the community. We hope that over time you will have the opportunity to grow, take on new responsibilities and help to shape how we do outreach and communications as we evolve.

About The Unity Project

Who we are

The Unity Project is a small charity that supports people with ‘Change of Conditions’ (CoC) applications required for access to public funds.

Why we exist

We want everyone living in the UK to have equal access to the welfare system. We exist to challenge the 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) policy in order to end it and, until then, minimise its impact.

Our values

We aim to be:

• Representative of and accountable to people who are navigating or have navigated the systems we want to change.
• Sustainable, so we can continue our work as long as it is needed.
• Trauma informed, recognising the impact of prior traumatic experiences and promoting an organisational culture which is safe, transparent, collaborative and responds empathically to each individual’s needs.
• Rooted in community, as we believe that strength comes from relationships of solidarity and mutual support.
• Equitable to all who give their time to the project.
• Tenacious, innovative, reflective and adaptable in our casework.

Our benefits

• Salary - £37,800 pro rata
• Flexibility - We all work together in person on Tuesdays. Beyond that we can be flexible about how you meet your hours.
• Annual leave - 35 days inclusive of bank holidays, plus a regular Christmas closure period (subject to board approval)
• Pension - 5% employee contribution, 8% employer contribution
• Clinical supervision - All staff have access to monthly clinical supervision
• Wellbeing - All staff have a personal wellbeing budget to spend as they need 
• Professional development - We organise regular all-staff training sessions to address needs identified by the team, and every staff member has an individual training budget for their own professional development. We aim to support all staff to grow and shape their roles in line with their career aspirations.
• Immigration support - On a case by case basis, we may be able to offer legal assistance with the immigration applications necessary to sustain this employment in compliance with UK immigration law.
• Working environment - We are a small and friendly team of staff and volunteers. We believe that effective opposition to the hostile environment is rooted in our relationships with each other and our community.

Reporting to the Senior Supporter Care Manager, you will deliver excellent customer care to supporters and potential supporters of Operation Smile UK. As an integral part of the Supporter Care team, you will successfully support the Individual Giving programme and wider fundraising activities, providing support to ever-increasing income and supporter stewardship for the delivery of increasing levels of unrestricted income for Operation Smile UK.

Key Responsibilities

• Be the first point of contact for existing supporters and new supporters who respond to our fundraising activities by phone, email, letter or in person, letter, or email delivering outstanding supporter care
• Liaise with supporters in timely communication via email, phone, and mail, with excellent customer care
• Prioritise answering incoming phone calls and escalate any difficult situations/complaints to the Senior Supporter Care Manager
• Support processing incoming phone and postal donations
• Assist with banking and processing incoming/outgoing post
• Be responsible for thanking our supporters, including by letter, email and phone, dispatch of information and fundraising materials
• Enter and maintain accurate records on our Database
• Maintain and assist with all types of donation processing, administration and Database record amendments/records being kept up to date. This will include Gift Aid status and contact consent requests
• Assist with cancelling and amending all types of regular gifts and sending out appropriate letters
• Manage the removal process and consent process
• Assist with sending out problem payment letters
• Following up cancelled regular payments as part of the winback process
• Assist with handling material requests and recording actions on the Database
• Assist with any third-party agency supporter care requests
• Maintain sensitive information and records with appropriate confidentiality
• Play an active role in developing the supporter journey at Operation Smile UK, working with the Senior Supporter Care Manager and colleagues across Fundraising & Communications.
• Perform any other reasonable duties as requested by the Senior Supporter Care Manager

Please refer to the job description for a comprehensive list of tasks, responsibilities, and the required person specification.

Recruitment

We are actively interviewing for this role on a rolling basis as suitable applicants apply. If you're interested in this role, it is advisable to apply as soon as possible.

Disability Confident Committed Employer

We're a Disability Confident Committed employer, so we guarantee an interview to any disabled applicant who meets the minimum requirements for the job.

At Operation Smile UK, we value individuals based on their performance and potential. We're dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that supports everyone's needs. We're happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the application and employment process, and we particularly welcome applications from diverse backgrounds.

If you need this document in a different format, require any adjustments, or need help with your application, please contact us (further details contained within the job description).

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Operation Smile UK knows fundraising could better reflect the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the people the charity sector supports. If you don’t meet every requirement but believe your transferable skills align with the role, we encourage you to contact us for a conversation. 

We want our team to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, offering equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We celebrate diversity and encourage you to bring your authentic self to Operation Smile UK. We are committed to supporting all applicants and ensuring a fair hiring process. All appointments will be made solely on merit, and we are happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. 

Our work is needed now more than ever before. This is why we have embarked on an exciting new strategy to make tackling low numeracy an urgent, national issue. However, we will only achieve significant and lasting change by engaging other organisations to support and fund our work.

The Corporate Volunteering Manager plays a central role in this by managing our successful and impactful Corporate Volunteering Programme. Each year through this programme, we train hundreds of volunteers from our corporate partners to visit primary schools and share examples of how maths has helped them as adults, both in their careers and personal lives.

This crucial work helps change us to the inter-generational narrative about numeracy in the UK. Maths is not just something you ‘have to do at school’, but is a valuable skill that helps us get on at work, and manage our time and our money. The programme has been running for three years now, and this year’s activity looks set to have meaningful impact on at least 17,000 children across the UK.

You will be responsible for ensuring that volunteers are adequately trained, for recruiting appropriate schools for them to visit, and all the admin and reporting that supports the programme.

We are looking for someone who can ‘own the programme’, is committed to improving our processes and the efficiency of delivery, with strong line management skills, and a commitment to the professional development for the Corporate Volunteering Programmes Assistant.

National Numeracy is based in Brighton, East Sussex, but we are offering significant remote/hybrid and flexible working with this role. If you are not office based, then the expectation is that you will be in Brighton at least occasionally when the work requires it. The role may include occasional travel to London and beyond.

We are looking for a creative, driven, compassionate, Communications Lead to develop, lead, and implement an integrated communications strategy that supports our ambition to double the number of adults learning to read with Read Easy UK by the end of our current strategy.

As a strong communications generalist, with strategic and operational expertise, the Communications Lead will work closely with employees, volunteers and other key stakeholders to strengthen the charity’s national brand and position. This role covers all aspects of communications including media relations, digital communications, brand communications, stakeholder and internal communications.

The post holder will shape and deliver communications activity that inspires, informs, and engages our key audiences, including volunteers, potential Readers, funders, the media, and partners across the UK.

The successful candidate will be strategic and agile and will enjoy shaping strategy alongside delivering communications activity. This is a standalone role, leading and delivering internal and external communications for the organisation in collaboration with other key partners.

Location: Fully Remote/Home-based with very occasional travel to regional groups as required and for up to 3 team meetings per annum (currently held in Birmingham).

Reports to: Read Easy UK CEO.

Line Management: Volunteers and freelancers, and potential for future employees.

Start date: January 2026 (or sooner).

Salary & Benefits 

• Salary: Up to £15,200 - £22,800 depending on hours (Up to £38k FTE).
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and Christmas closing and 2 days volunteering leave – pro-rata for part time roles.
• Company sick pay to financially support you when you are unwell (above statutory upon completion of probationary period). 
• Support when extending your family – company parental and adoption pay (above statutory after 12 months service) 

• Access to RewardHub – which gives retail discounts and has a ‘Wellbeing Centre’ with tools, tips, recipes, workout videos and guides which will help you to reach your own wellbeing goals.

• Training and Development opportunities and resources – we are developing plans in this area to enhance employee experience and opportunity

• A collaborative, creative and inspiring working environment full of committed and passionate employees and inspirational volunteers 

We strive to ensure our recruitment practices are fair, open, easy to access and as inclusive as possible. We aim to recruit a team which broadly reflect the local communities which we serve; to work with and learn from each other to continually improve the service we deliver to our Readers. Our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Group is actively promoting and advancing diversity and inclusion, ensuring a culture where everyone can be themselves and thrive. We welcome you to apply and be your authentic self.

When applying for a job with us, if an applicant has a disability covered by the definition outlined within the Equality Act 2010 and can show that they meet the ‘essential criteria’ described in the person specification for the role being applied for, they are guaranteed an interview for the job for which they are applying through our Disability Confident scheme.

If you need any support with your application or have any questions in advance of an application, please do contact us. 

Please download the applicant pack for full job description and person specification and for details on how to apply.

The closing date to apply for this opportunity is Sunday 30 Nov 2025 (11.59PM).

Should you be shortlisted, the first round of interviews will take place online on Tuesday 2nd December 2025.

We anticipate a second round of interviews on the afternoon of Wednesday 10th December 2025.

CAAS is an amazing organisation, supporting ADHD and autistic individuals, their families, and the community around them.  We are in a great position, with stable funding, an experienced team of around 40 staff, and a new strategy that is inspiring and impactful.  We are looking for a kind and effective leader to join us as our next CEO, and keep CAAS thriving into the future. 

As CEO, you will have the confidence and the expertise to deliver on our vision of changing perceptions to reduce stigma and break down barriers, bringing strategic leadership experience, a high level of organisational ability, self-motivation and self-discipline. You will have a passion for extending our reach and will demonstrate experience in delivering strategy, leading effective teams and building relationships within our community. 

To apply, you need to submit a completed application form alongside a supporting statement of no more than 2 sides of A4, detailing how you meet the requirements of the role.  Deadline to apply is by 10am on Monday 17th November, but feel free to reach out to our current CEO, Kay D'Cruz, for an informal chat about the role if you'd like to find out more.

More details about the job and additional information about the person specification can be found in the job description and in our recruitment pack, but in summary the key responsibilities of the role are:

Strategic Leadership: Deliver CAAS’s strategy, fulfil our legal obligations, evaluate and improve performance, report on progress, ensure CAAS remains well positioned for the future

Operational Leadership: Ensure robust systems, processes and policies, assess and manage organisational risk, build sustainable delivery mechanisms, oversee effective digital, communications and fundraising activity, maintain our case for support and tender for and manage contracts

People & Culture: Foster positive working cultures, promote staff wellbeing, ensure staff are focussed on delivering CAAS mission, drive staff development

External Relationships: Influence and advocate for change, act as lead ambassador for CAAS with funders, professionals and other stakeholders

 We are looking for candidates who:

• Have a passion for, and commitment to, our work
• Have a track record of effective working at a senior leadership level, building supportive external relationships and driving positive internal cultures, based on compassion and a drive for excellence
• Are action-orientated, adaptable and flexible in the pursuit of impact
• Can juggle multiple and competing demands, and thrive in a busy, varied environment
• Enjoy ensuring robust governance and compliance
• Have strong written and verbal communication skills; are a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal skills
• Are warm, inclusive and approachable, an actively listener and neuro-affirmative

Further information is available on our website. 

Chief Executive Officer – St Luke’s Community Centre

Location: London EC1V (on-site presence required)

Salary: Between £95,000 - £105,000 per annum

Contract: Permanent, full-time (37.5 hours per week)

Are you ready to guide St Luke’s Community Centre - south Islington’s 500-year-old community hub - into its next era of intergenerational community impact?

About St Luke’s

St Luke’s Community Centre traces its roots back over 500 years, stewarding ancient parish endowments to relieve poverty in our defined area of benefit. In 1982 we opened our purpose-built home on Central Street. In 2019 we transformed from an over-55s’ welfare organisation into a vibrant, intergenerational hub. Our programme of over 100 weekly activities has grown year-on-year, and we’ve become the first organisation in Islington to achieve the trusted standard benchmark. Our already strong reputation was bolstered by our team’s incredible response to the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic, during which we never closed, but pivoted to preparing daily meals, running befriending calls and welfare checks, and welcoming the community back in as soon as it was safe to do so. Today, we are the beating heart of the community.

As our next CEO, you will:

• Shape Strategy & Impact: Lead development and delivery of our three-year rolling strategy, balancing service excellence with financial sustainability.
• Governance & Finance: Oversee robust governance frameworks and financial controls, stewarding our £20 million investment portfolio, trading income and grant programmes.
• Operational Leadership: Inspire and support a diverse team of 44 staff and hundreds of volunteers, embedding a culture of continuous improvement, inclusion and professionalism.
• Income Generation: Unlock new revenue streams - maximising room hire, cookery-school capacity, digital/social enterprises and corporate fundraising partnerships.
• Community & Partnerships: Forge and deepen relationships with local authorities, corporate sponsors, umbrella bodies and community groups.
• Brand & Profile: Be the public face of St Luke’s, elevating communications, safeguarding our reputation and ensuring our values of inclusion, equality, friendship, wellbeing and support shine through.

Who you are

• A seasoned senior leader (CEO or equivalent), ideally within the charity, membership or community-services sectors.
• Demonstrable expertise in strategic planning, P&L management and complex stakeholder governance.
• A persuasive communicator and boardroom presenter with the gravitas to inspire trustees, staff, volunteers and funders.
• Entrepreneurial and innovative, able to identify revenue opportunities and drive their delivery.
• Hands-on and approachable - a visible presence on the shop floor as well as the board table.
• (Desirable) Experience of trading-arm management, social-enterprise models or corporate fundraising.

Why St Luke’s?

• Lead a historic, 500-year-old charity with a modern purpose-built centre at its heart.
• Salary between £95,000 - £105,000 plus generous employee benefits (Benenden health membership, pension, season-ticket loans, cycle-to-work, subsidised lunches).
• Shape a charity whose community-shop, wellbeing hub, cookery school, employment hub, lunch club and gardening projects touch hundreds of lives each week.
• Join a committed Board, supportive Chair and passionate team determined to grow St Luke’s impact in challenging times.

Please see the attached Recruitment Brief with details on how to apply.

Closing date for applications: 9am, Monday 10th November 2025

As leading charity recruitment specialists and a certified B Corp, Harris Hill is committed to high and ever-improving standards of equitable and inclusive recruitment. We actively welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexuality and other protected characteristics.

This is an exciting brand-new position within our growing Public Fundraising team supporting on our Individual Giving, Community Fundraising and Sports & Challenges programme. NB. We do not expect you to have experience in all three areas (Individual Giving, Community Fundraising and Sports & Challenges).

This role will contribute to the delivery of our Public Fundraising activity, helping to maximise income and create a great supporter experience for both new and existing supporters.

You’ll project manage fundraising activities and supporter journeys from start to finish, delivering them on time and in line with annual plans and budget. You will analyse and evaluate activity so that we can inform future plans and support the annual planning of the team’s activity.

You’ll have strong relationship-building skills and the ability to communicate effectively with our supporters across a range of channels, including mail, e-mail, telephone and face-to-face. You will also be able to work collaboratively with the Communications, Corporate, and Digital Engagement teams on a variety of projects.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone looking to progress in their fundraising career or wanting to bring their experience and transferable skills into the charity sector.

Please apply directly via CharityJob including an up-to-date CV and a personalised cover letter (of no more than two A4 pages) detailing your suitability for the role as per the job description and person specification.

Vacancy Reference: BfN2026/45

Job Title: Finance Officer

Salary: £15.73 per hour

Number of Posts: 1

Type of Contract: Permanent

Start Date: ASAP Start

Hours of Work: 28 per week

Working Pattern: Can be flexible, Must work Monday and Thursday

Work Location: Remote

Responsible to: Finance Manager

Closing Date: Shortlisting will take place as applications are submitted with official closing date being 11/11/2025.

Proposed Interview Date: 12/11/2025 and 14/11/2025

Job Information: We are seeking a detail oriented and dedicated bookkeeper to join our finance team. The ideal candidate will have a solid background in bookkeeping, excellent organisational skills and a passion for making a difference in the community. In this role you will be responsible for maintaining accurate financial records, processing transactions and preparing financial reports. If you are looking to apply your financial expertise in a meaningful way , we invite you to join us in making a positive impact

This is a fixed term maternity cover role (anticipating approx. 9 months) supporting ASAP’s duty representation scheme at the Asylum Support Tribunal (AST) – one of our three key strands of work.

Working within our duty scheme team, you will assist our Acting Duty Scheme Co-ordinator and Duty Scheme Support Officer with key operational tasks, ensuring that the scheme is offering a quality service to appellants and referrers and that our duty scheme advocates (volunteer solicitors and barristers) are supported to provide high quality legal representation and advice.

After induction and training, you will give one-off guidance and support to people within the asylum support system who self-refer to ASAP, and to referring advice agencies, about the asylum support appeals process. You will also assist with decisions about which cases we represent. As with all team members, you will feed into our wider work on training, asylum support policy and strategic litigation – primarily by ensuring that colleagues are kept up to date with issues arising out of appeals at the Tribunal.

We’re looking for someone passionate about helping people seeking asylum in the UK access justice. You should be well-organised, a good team player, and have a solid understanding of the asylum support system—ideally from directly advising people who use it. In this role, you’ll develop your legal knowledge and skills by: observing hearings, reading appeal documents and legal decisions, attending training sessions and team meetings.

You’ll be joining a small, friendly, and supportive team that works closely together.

Safety and Assurance Officer

Location: Homebased, based in the Southern Area

Contract: Full time, permanent

Salary: £32,000 gross per annum

Closing Date: 21 November 2025

Are you a Safety Specialist looking for a new opportunity?

The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is the leading maritime charity for youth development and lifelong learning. We are a vibrant and growing charity inspiring young people to achieve their potential through challenge and nautical adventure and also enabling seafarers and maritime professionals to realise their potential through learning and career development. Working with our employees, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a strong vision and five-year Future Ready strategy to meet the growing demand for what we provide, both for young people, seafarers and maritime professionals – and the thousands who aspire to be the sea cadets and marine professionals of the future. It is also about equipping them to achieve their potential and thrive in a rapidly changing world, while growing our charity to benefit even more people – including those from under-represented or marginalised groups.

We are currently looking for a Safety and Assurance Officer to join our team.

About the role

The Safety & Assurance Officer (SAO) is an employee of the MSSC and a member of the MSSC National Safety Assurance Team (NSAT). This is a home-based role, with a primary focus on the Southern area, predominantly the South-East. The SAO will report to the Head of Safety, Health, and Environment.

The SAO will work closely with other SAOs and will be functionally accountable to:

The Head of Inshore Boating for inshore boat assurance
The Staff Royal Marines Officer for weapons and ammunition safety and security assurance

The role requires regular travel within the area of responsibility and, on occasion within the UK. It will involve evening and some weekend work to fulfil the role’s responsibilities.

Requirements

Qualifications: Good general education and NEBOSH (or equivalent), with completion required during probation if not already held.
Safety & Environmental Management: Experience implementing safety and environmental management systems, conducting risk assessments, and working within formal assurance frameworks.
Incident Management: Experience managing, investigating, and reporting incidents.
Training & Support: Ability to deliver training, guidance, and support to non-specialist staff or volunteers on safety, health, environmental, and assurance matters.
Workload & Volunteer Management: Proven ability to manage a busy workload and effectively support and manage volunteers.

Responsibilities

Join the Marine Society & Sea Cadets as a Safety and Assurance Officer, ensuring the highest standards of safety, health, environment (SHE), and operational compliance across our units and facilities.
You’ll lead assurance inspections, maintain compliance with legislation and organisational regulations, and support the safe management of weapons, armouries, and inshore boating activities. Working closely with other members of the National Safety and Assurance Team (NSAT) and Area teams, you’ll oversee safety at events, camps, and competitions, conduct audits, and monitor incident reporting.
This role plays a vital part in upholding the safety and welfare of our cadets and volunteers through proactive assurance, training, and continuous improvement.

For further information, please download theIf you are interested in this role, please apply now!

Benefits

25 days annual leave per annum, increasing with length of service
Hybrid working for many roles
Volunteering Leave
Life assurance (4x salary)
Private medical insurance
Generous pension (employer contribution up to 10%)
Cycle to work scheme
Access to the Marine Society Digital Library
Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling
Employee development: We are investing in our employees' development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.

Additional Information

MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer.

We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC’s values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre-employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire. 

All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo pre-employment checks including a criminal record check.

Salary: Officer, Band C Level 1, £33,290- £35,289 per annum equivalent (depending on experience and skill level)

Contract length:               0.6FTE (3 days per week) for 3 years from January 2026  

Location: Thames21 Head Office, Central London and at other Thames21 offices in London, as required                                                 and throughout the River Roding Catchment.

Responsible to: Thames21 Engagement Programme Manager

About Thames21

Thames21 is an environmental charity that works across London and the Thames Basin to deliver high-impact, nature-based solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis by restoring rivers, while also connecting communities to their local green-blue spaces and inspiring long-term stewardship of them. 

Purpose of the job

We are seeking a skilled engagement officer to deliver an innovative programme of community-led river engagement activities in and surrounding the River Roding as part of a project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, ‘The Roding Rises’. This role will engage with groups from the urban and rural reaches of the river Roding catchment to co-design activities that support the delivery of The Roding Rises activity plan and encourage participants along an engagement pathway from awareness to participation and independent action. This role offers the post holder the opportunity to make a difference in diverse areas of London, with varying challenges and a range of ambitions.

The key skill for this role is being able to connect with and bring people together. The project relies on creating strong networks of grassroots organisations, community leaders and representatives from the public and private sectors, including councillors and politicians.

The key value for this role is curiosity. Being interested in people, able to ask questions, listen, and encourage them to get involved in whatever way they are able, will help you succeed.

You’ll thrive in this role if you can identify the strengths and assets of communities and individuals and create opportunities for them to flourish. By working together with local people in diverse communities beside waterways, you will establish a new and positive ongoing relationship between Londoners and their blue spaces.

A typical day is likely to involve keeping on track with what’s happening across the Roding catchment, meeting with key partners, being alert to upcoming network meetings, or delivering community events or activities. You might be working from home, or out of our offices in Bow or Guildhall, or be out and about with a community group or local organisation, co-producing an engagement event.

You might be posting on social media or updating the web page. You may be working on strategic, long-term plans to share the learnings from the project. You’ll be thinking both big and small on any given day!

Diversity

We primarily serve a London community, and we would love our organisation to better reflect the diversity of this great city. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Being a diverse and inclusive organisation is very important to us. We actively encourage applications from candidates of diverse cultures, perspectives and lived experiences. This role is primarily about community engagement. For that reason, while an interest in environmental issues is essential, experience of working in the environmental sector is not required.

Main duties and responsibilities

1. Work with The Roding Rises Project Team, local community organisations and representatives to co-produce and deliver an inclusive and culturally relevant programme of 21 events and activities over the three-year life of the project as part of the River Connections programme of events within The Roding Rises activity plan.

2. Work with The Roding Rises Project Manager to oversee the successful delivery of the externally contracted River Testimonies and Roding Arts and Walking Festival and community co-development aspects of the Roding Masterplan.

3. Support community groups and partners with community-focused applications to the Roding grants scheme

4. In partnership with colleagues, conduct inclusive outreach activities that will engage a wide diversity of people with a range of backgrounds and life experiences, from both rural and urban areas in our core locations.

5. Build a catchment-wide community network, uploading details to Thames21’s CRM system in line with GDPR.

6. Collect and record qualitative and quantitative data on events and activities run, including written and verbal feedback from partners and participants, photos and numbers of attendees, keeping to GDPR requirements. Evaluate this information to develop the methods for engagement and inform future activities.

7. Carry out the administrative duties to run events, including conducting risk assessments and method statements, managing event registrations, liaising with local councils and community groups and maintaining and managing event equipment.  

1. Work with the Thames21 Training Officer to establish a group of volunteers who are trained in Thames21’s modules to maintain and monitor local sites. Includes supporting existing volunteers and assisting with building their capacity so groups become autonomous.
2. Represent Thames21 and The Roding Rises at relevant local forums and proactively recruit volunteers through in-person engagement events.
3. Maintain clear records of progress, ensure all administration and statistical information is kept up to date,
4. Work with Thames21’s Communications Team to promote the project, celebrate its achievements and learnings; ensure key milestones are recognised, funders are acknowledged, and volunteer opportunities are publicised.
5. Attend Thames21 Team Meetings and liaise with other Thames21 staff.

This job description cannot cover every issue or task that may arise at various times within the post, and the post-holder will be expected to carry out other reasonable duties from time to time that are broadly consistent with other Thames21 activities and those outlined in this document.

For more information and how to apply, please see the attached job description.