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The Church of England is continually striving to improve its safeguarding practices. The 2020 report by IICSA on the Church highlighted failures in respect of child sexual abuse and, more broadly, the challenges facing the Church to get safeguarding right.

The Church's aspiration is that safeguarding is not experienced and approached as a matter of administrative compliance. Rather, it should be what the Church is - something that flows from its core beliefs and values, part of its DNA.

The Church has made important and positive strides over recent years. There is, however, still much to be done to keep children and vulnerable adults safe, and to promote their well-being. The Church is a complex collection of different bodies. Most of the safeguarding work is carried out locally within the 42 dioceses and cathedrals in England. This work is supported centrally by a National Safeguarding Team (NST).

What you'll be doing

The Church of England seeks a committed and collaborative Safeguarding Policy Officer to join the National Safeguarding Team. This role is central to developing, revising, and implementing national safeguarding policies that protect and support all members of the Church community.

Working closely with Safeguarding Policy and Development Leads, you'll ensure policies are grounded in academic research, aligned with legislation and canon law, and informed by survivor experiences and Church-wide learning.

In this role, you will:

• Co-manage the development and roll-out of safeguarding policies, codes of practice and guidance
• Collaborate with stakeholders, including survivors, bishops, Diocesan Safeguarding Officers, and Church bodies
• Ensure policy relevance across dioceses, parishes, cathedrals, religious communities, and theological institutions
• Lead the coordination and improvement of the safeguarding e-manual
• Engage with NCIs departments to embed safeguarding policy into wider initiatives
• Support the NST's learning and review cycle to refine policies over time
• Represent survivor perspectives within policy, training, and quality assurance activities
• Provide briefings and respond to safeguarding queries from Church bodies
• Take ownership of non-legislative content creation related to safeguarding

Key role requirements

• A basic DBS check will be required as part of our pre-employment checks.
• This is a hybrid role, and working arrangements can be discussed with the hiring manager.
• Please note: This is a fixed-term opportunity, and we are seeking to appoint three candidates across the following contracts:
  • 1 position: 2-year fixed-term contract
  • 2 positions: 15-month fixed-term contracts

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME)/Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under-represented groups. As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to recruiting disabled people. We offer interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

You will need to be/have:

To thrive in this role, you'll bring a unique blend of analytical skill, emotional intelligence, and commitment to safeguarding excellence. Below are the essential and desirable qualities we're looking for:

• A degree is not required for this role; however, the candidate will need to evidence at least 5 years of relevant experience in a similar field
• Strong written communication, able to tailor content for diverse audiences
• Skilled in analysing complex and conflicting information and distilling it into clear policy or guidance
• Confident working collaboratively across internal and external partnerships
• Able to lead and facilitate stakeholder groups to achieve outcomes
• Able to build trusted relationships with varied stakeholders, including survivors and Church colleagues
• Ability to communicate sensitively and effectively with individuals from all backgrounds, both written and verbal
• Experience in producing clear, effective policy and guidance for a range of audiences.
• Knowledge of national safeguarding legislation, statutory guidance and policy (e.g. Children Acts, Care Act, Working Together, criminal justice legislation), both current and historical, as relevant to non-recent abuse.

What we offer

• A salary of £48,557 per annum, plus age-related pension contributions between 8-15% of salary. We will also match any pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of your salary.
• 25 days annual leave (increasing to 30 days within 5 years) plus eight bank holidays and three additional days (pro-rated if working part-time).
• We welcome all flexible working arrangement requests. This is looked at in a case-by-case scenario, and if this fits within the department's needs. We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work-life balance.
• We offer many services and initiatives under our Family Friendly Programme, some of these include enhanced Maternity Leave initiative, Adoption Leave, Paternity Leave, & Shared Parental Leave. Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships.

• Access to Occupational Health and an Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to the Department of Education Restaurant and Westminster Abbey with a plus-one guest.
• Apply for eligibility for an Eyecare voucher.
• Opportunity to join the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies.

The National Church Institutions comprises a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation - a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.

We Include. You Belong.

Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

Living out our values in all that we do, we:

• Strive for Excellence
• Show Compassion
• Respect others
• Act with Integrity

Please note: You must have the right to work in the UK to be considered for the role.

External Interviews will take place on 15 & 16 September 2025.