Safeguarding Advisor
Location: UK Flexible, Homeworking or Hybrid working from a local office
Hours : 21 hours per week, core hours are 8am to 6pm flexible. This is a 7 day service staffed to 9pm so evening and weekend on-calls are required on a rota basis. (Hours discussed at interview)
Contract type: Permanent
Salary : £35,000 per annum pro rata (£21,000 at 21hrs per week)
We are recruiting a Safeguarding Advisor to work as a key part of our Safeguarding Team to further enhance and support the wider organisation.
Could you help expand our safeguarding framework and culture to staff and volunteers across the UK and abroad? Are you confident in responding and addressing adult and child safeguarding concerns? Can you provide assurance that safeguarding concerns are being dealt with appropriately at all levels?
Purpose of the role
The Safeguarding Advisor will support British Red Cross staff and volunteers across the UK; providing support and guidance on safeguarding concerns relating particularly to adults at risk of abuse with knowledge of children’s safeguarding also required. They work will alongside other Safeguarding Advisors and report into the Safeguarding Manager.
The Safeguarding Advice Team will provide standardised, high quality guidance and support to all of our people, and senior management, as required, including out of hours, to ensure that all safeguarding concerns are: responded to effectively; recorded accurately; and, actions arising from these concerns, including statutory notifications, are completed in a timely and appropriate manner.
Key Responsibilities
Specialist Advice and Quality Assurance
- Provides specialist safeguarding advice and support to staff and volunteers.
- First line support to advise on complex adult at risk and child safeguarding matters to preserve life and prevent significant harm or abuse
- Ability to work independently within processes and statutory guidelines whilst interpreting and adapting to suit a variety of situations
capable of negotiating with variety of statutory bodies to ensure appropriate escalation of matters of abuse and harm
- Ensures that safeguarding concerns are recorded, reviewed, escalated if required, and closed
- Management of all safeguarding reports in the Datix incident reporting management system to an excellent and auditable quality that can be relied upon to evidence good practice, and exceptional organisational risk management (including in litigation if required)
- Identify and manage complex safeguarding and serious incidents, including supporting with investigations and making external professional escalations to statutory bodies
- Provides out of hours support on a rota system
- Partake in weekly case management discussions and bi-monthly clinical supervision to share good practice, and identify and share learning
- Conduct semi-regular service visits to ensure advice consistent with service needs and build safeguarding culture
- Maintains up-to-date knowledge of common safeguarding topics (e.g. suicidal ideation, child abuse) in order to operate as an individual contributor, delivering quality advice
Support
- Provide guidance, support and mentoring to other safeguarding colleagues across all services
- Offer initial psychosocial and peer support to distressed reporters, those who have dealt with distressing safeguarding incidents and those who are inexperienced in responding to safeguarding concerns
- Respond to requests to deliver bespoke training to teams and explain organisational safeguarding processes to diverse directorates
Development / Continuous improvement
- Plays a role in ensuring that everybody in the organisation understands BRC’s approach to safeguarding and knows what to do if they have a concern.
- Represents British Red Cross in multi-agency meetings and external statutory round tables (MARAC, MAPPA, Child Protection conferences etc.)
- Collaborates with colleagues across professional services and internal services to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and good customer experience.
- Supports the Safeguarding Development Advisers with reviews of training, organisational guidance and internal safeguarding resources.
- Establish and maintain organisational relationships across BRC directorates and functions.
- Liaise with police, senior healthcare staff and adult and children’s social care representatives to ensure the best outcomes for individuals accessing BRC services.
- Complete regular peer reviews and case audits to maintain consistency and ensure continuous improvement and learning.
- Contribute to service level audits / deep dives to support and share learning and the embedding of a safeguarding culture
- Communicate the purpose and service delivered by the Safeguarding Assurance Team across the British Red Cross to encourage increased levels of reporting
- Maintain and share up to date knowledge of safeguarding legislation in UK and in devolved nations
- Develop knowledge base around international safeguarding
About the Team
Safeguarding sits within Professional Services as part of the Internal Services directorate. Professional Services leads on advice, standards and compliance across the BRC, including Health & Safety, Legal, Quality, Internal Audit and Safeguarding.
Please note that this role requires the post holder to be DBS checked.
If you're currently a British Red Cross employee, please inform your manager prior to applying for this position. This isn't policy but considered best practice.
Closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday the 5th of March 2023 with interviews to follow.
Please note that early application is encouraged, as we’ll be reviewing applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert in advance of the advertised closing date.
As well as basic salary and bonus we offer a wide range of staff benefits; these include:
- 36 days holiday (including Bank Holidays) per annum
- Option to buy an extra 5 days annual leave
- Up to 6% contributory pension
- Flexible working policy
A little bit more about us
The British Red Cross help anyone, anywhere in the UK; get the support they need if crisis strikes. From hiring a wheelchair or dealing with loneliness, to adjusting to life in a new country - we're there when you need us.
Our organisation was born out of a desire to bring help without discrimination. Impartiality and neutrality have been central values for the Red Cross since we started.
At the British Red Cross, we are looking for the best people to help us provide support to millions of people affected by crisis. 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.
Diversity is something we celebrate and we want you to be able to bring your authentic-self to the Red Cross. We want you to feel that you are in an inclusive environment, and a great position to help us spread the power of kindness.
In the British Red Cross we will not tolerate any form of misconduct, including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse. We have a code of conduct in place, and are committed to creating a culture of integrity in the organisation where misconduct is not tolerated, situations of abuse are quickly investigated and perpetrators are dealt with effectively.
If you are appointed to a role within BRC you will be subject to the organisation's Code of Conduct, a copy of which you can find on our website.
As part of its recruitment and selection process the British Red Cross undertakes DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checking of all individuals who regularly work with or have access to children and vulnerable adults.
If driving is an essential requirement of the role, appropriate driver checks will be completed in line with current policy.
The British Red Cross, incorporated by Royal Charter 1908, is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SC037738).
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Connecting human kindness with human crisis