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.
We have an exciting opportunity for an External Trainer to join the Learning and Development team working from home, 30 hours a week on a 12-month fixed term contract.
Do you want to make a difference every day? Do you want to contribute to change & improvement for those who need it?
Do you have resilience & adaptability? Can you work effectively with a focus on customer service and care?
If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…
What we offer:
At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:
- Flexible working options including hybrid working
- 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
- An extra day off for your birthday & options to buy or sell annual leave
- Pension with 5% employer contribution
- Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
- High Street, retail, holiday, gym, entertainment & leisure discounts
- Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
- Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
- Access to EDI networks and colleague cafes
- Cycle to work scheme & season ticket loans
- Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression
About the role:
This is a home based role that will include travel across England and Wales when delivering training. You will be working within a specific project that delivers learning externally to other organisations outside of VS. Your primary goal will be to design and deliver high quality learning interventions based on what our customers need.
As an External Trainer you will:
- Manage, coordinate and deliver professional, engaging and interactive training sessions to external clients using a range of facilitation methods, ensuring delivery aligns with agreed training objectives, materials and quality standards.
- Lead on the design and development of bespoke learning content to meet client needs and support strategic goals.
- Build strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, developing and maintaining close relationships with external clients.
- Responsible for managing delegates, dealing with any issues that arise throughout the learning session. Ensure that all nationally directed learning is delivered in line with the approved materials and standards.
- Lead on the continuous improvement of training, using assessments and feedback to make recommendations for amendments. Review and update training content regularly to ensure relevance and effectiveness.
You will need:
- Experience of delivering training programmes using a variety of different methods e.g. face to face, virtual and one to one, managing delegates and issues that may arise
- Experience of designing and delivering training for adult learners, ideally within a commercial or client-facing environment
- Experience of delivering soft skills training and experiential learning activities
- Ability to develop a range of learning and development solutions that meet client priorities
- Experience of planning courses and evaluating outcomes
- A driving licence as this role does require frequent travel across England and Wales
About Us:
Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.
Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.
Victim Support strives to represent the diverse communities we serve and are passionate about creating an environment where all staff and volunteers feel respected and heard. Being a diverse organisation with an inclusive culture is integral to us being able to meet our aim of ensuring that anyone who is a victim of crime gets the support they need.
As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we particularly welcome applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. VS is also a Disability Confident Employer and we provide a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for candidates that are disabled and meet all essential criteria for a role.
If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we'll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.
How to apply:
To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.
If you have already registered & started an application, then we will contact you to advise of the amended closing date wherever possible.