The Church of England
Director of Safeguarding
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Role Profile
As set out in the Canons and Regulations of the Church of England, the Director of Safeguarding (as the designated Diocesan Safeguarding Officer) has responsibility in the Diocese for the professional leadership and management of matters relating to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. The Director of Safeguarding provides single, professional line management for all specialist safeguarding resources across the Diocese. They are directly accountable for the safeguarding strategy of the DBF, Cathedral and parishes and compliance with the national Church of England Safeguarding Principles, Policies and Practice Guidance. They work with the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel(DSAP) and its Independent Chair, who provide independent scrutiny of practice and outcomes, oversee the Diocesan safeguarding strategy, and connect the Diocesan Safeguarding Team (DST) to partner agencies in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. The Director of Safeguarding leads and champions our commitment to pursuing the highest standards of safeguarding across the Diocese, bringing significant experience as a professional safeguarding practitioner at a strategic level, and owning a key role in all our diocesan organisation-wide senior leadership structures and decision making. They embed a trauma informed culture where safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and where the voices of survivors can be heard and continue to shape our safeguarding practice.
Main Activities and Responsibilities
As Director of Safeguarding
- Champion our commitment to ensure our churches are safer places through the ongoing development and implementation of our Safeguarding strategy, whilst modelling the highest professional standards and leading by example.
- Ensure all safeguarding advice provided is robust, clear, concise and aligned with the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Standards and underpinned by leading risk management practice.
- Lead and line manage with compassion, professionalism and a solution focus the Diocesan Safeguarding Team, bringing a coaching and mentoring style that will nurture personal and professional development to enable colleagues to flourish and reach their true potential.
- Collaborate effectively with senior colleagues as a member Jubilee House Leadership Team, and as part of the Bishop’s Core Team, to bring safeguarding expertise and insights into our strategic planning and implementation.
- Oversee and provide clear leadership on complex safeguarding cases.
- Support organisational growth and change, working collaboratively to embed external audit learnings with a mindset of continuous improvement and innovation in Safeguarding across the Diocese.
- Oversee the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Cathedral, shaping policies and practice, and providing supervision and oversight to the CSO.
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As Diocesan Safeguarding Officer
Responsibilities
The DSO has operational lead authority within the Diocese for the following responsibilities, arranged according to the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Standards:
National Standard 1: Culture, leadership and capacity
- Church Bodies Have Safe And Healthy Cultures, Effective Leadership, Resourcing And Scrutiny Arrangements Necessary To Deliver High-quality Safeguarding Practices And Outcomes. The DSO Will Lead The Diocese’s Work On This Standard By
- Working with the Diocesan Bishop, senior clergy, the Diocesan Chief Executive, and other key staff to support, develop and improve the safeguarding practice and culture across the Diocese.
- Cooperating with and supporting the work of the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel (DSAP) as required.
- Reporting regularly to DSAP and the trustee bodies of SNDBF and the Cathedral, through written reports and verbally.
- Managing the Diocesan response to quality assurance and audit processes.
- Ensuring that appropriate learning and reflective practice takes place across the Diocese from casework, including as required by the Safeguarding Practice Reviews Code of Practice, commissioning or requesting reviews.
National Standard 2: Prevention
- Church Bodies Have In Place a Planned Range Of Measures Which Together Are Effective In Preventing Abuse In Their Context. The DSO Will Lead The Diocese’s Work On This Standard By
- Implementing, or coordinating the implementation of, Safeguarding Code of Practice and House of Bishops Safeguarding Guidance across the whole diocese.
- Giving advice, support, direction and challenge on safeguarding matters, as required, to the Diocesan Bishop, other church officers and church bodies within the diocese.
- Providing, or co-ordinating the provision of, safeguarding training across the Diocese, as required by the Church of England’s Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework.
- Understanding and increasing the provisions and support to Parish Safeguarding Officers (PSOs) to ensure that they are supported, informed and equipped to safeguard effectively at Parish level.
National Standard 3: Recognising, assessing and managing risk
- Risk Assessments, Safety Plans And Associated Processes Are Of a High Quality And Result In Positive Outcomes. The Assessment And Management Of Risk Is Underpinned By Effective Partnership Working. The DSO Will Lead The Diocese’s Work On This Standard By
- Leading and coordinating all aspects of safeguarding casework within the Diocese, ensuring that work is completed as required by Safeguarding Codes of Practice (including Managing Allegations), House of Bishop’s Safeguarding Guidance, and all other relevant statutory guidance and legal responsibilities.
- Undertaking senior clergy Risk Assessments.
- Understanding and assessing the risk at the Cathedral.
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National Standard 4: Victims and survivors
- Victims And Survivors Experience The Timeliness And Quality Of Church Bodies’ Responses To Disclosures, And Their Subsequent Support, As Positively Meeting Their Needs, Including Their Search For Justice And Helping Their Healing Process. The DSO Will Lead The Diocese’s Work On This Standard By
- Coordinating the Diocese’s response to those reporting abuse.
- Leading the ongoing implementation of the House of Bishop’s Policy, Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse.
- Formation and implementation of a Survivor care strategy for the Diocese.
- Ensuring that at all stages trauma informed practice in adhered to and ensuring that the DST are skilled in a trauma informed approach.
National Standard 5: Learning, supervision and support
- All Those Engaged In Safeguarding-related Activity In Church Bodies Receive The Type And Level Of Learning, Professional Development, Support And Supervision Necessary To Respond To Safeguarding Situations, Victims And Survivors, And Respondents, Effectively. The DSO Will Lead The Diocese’s Work On This Standard By
- Working collaboratively with the National Safeguarding Team and other Church of England Safeguarding Officers and attending national safeguarding events and activities as required.
- Engaging in professional supervision and quality assurance provided by the Regional Safeguarding Lead, and in continual professional development, including ensuring that the requirements of the National Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework for Diocesan Safeguarding Officers are met.
- Engage in East Midlands Regional Activities, working in partnership to raise practice standards.
- Provide professional supervision to their team members, providing support, giving advice and direction and quality assuring their work.
Key Relationship
It is essential that the DSO builds and maintains excellent working relationships with:
- Diocesan Safeguarding Team members
- The Diocesan Bishop and their Core Team
- Senior staff of the Diocese
- The Dean and designated Chapter Safeguarding Lead
- DSAP and its Independent Chair
- Bishop’s Council and Southwell Cathedral Chapter (as trustee bodies)
- Those in licensed and authorised ministry in parishes and other contexts
- Deanery and Parish Safeguarding Officers
- Relevant officers in the various statutory safeguarding authorities
- The National Safeguarding Team (NST)
- The Regional Safeguarding Lead
- Cathedral Senior Leadership Team
PERSON SPECIFICATION - see attached job pack.
Interviews 13 Nov (stage 1) and 16 Nov (stage 2).
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