Head of Policy & Survivor Services
Location: Requirement to attend London office weekly
Salary: £57,000 per year (plus Inner London Weighting of £3,483.94, if eligible)
Length of contract: Permanent
Hours per week: 37
Closing date: We reserve the right to adapt the advert at any time per organisational circumstances and to close this vacancy early for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Interviews: Interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis
Who are Women’s Aid?
Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. We are a federation of just under 180 organisations which provide over 300 local lifesaving services to women and children across England. For 50 years we have campaigned on behalf of our members and survivors to shape policy and practice, and to raise awareness of domestic abuse.
Our support services, which include our Live Chat, the Survivors’ Forum, the No Woman Turned Away Project, the Survivor’s Handbook, Love Respect (our dedicated website for young people), the national Women’s Aid Directory and our advocacy projects, help thousands of women and children every year.
Purpose of the Head of Policy & Survivor Services role:
The Head of Policy & Survivor Services will lead and manage two aligned teams – Policy and Survivor Services. This will include ensuring the Policy team drives a VAWG sector-focused agenda underpinned by current, evidence-based research that strengthens and supports Women’s Aid’s strategic direction, and ensuring a clear, strategic programme of work to deliver local influencing to the benefit of members and to generate income. They will also be responsible for overseeing the delivery of a Survivor Services function that provides assessment of survivor-facing services, direct support and advice to survivors, and the alignment of opportunities to gain insight through survivor voice.
Key duties and responsibilities of the Head of Policy & Survivor Services:
- To support the integration and strategic connection between the Policy and Survivor Services teams, and others across the organisation, ensuring a clear focus on income generation and quality.
- To lead on and champion the role of Policy and Practice in providing an evidence-based challenge to wider societal awareness and perceptions about domestic abuse, giving survivor and member voice primacy.
- To work closely with the Head of Membership, Research & Evaluation to engage Member Organisations in key policy initiatives that support their resilience and sustainability and champion the role of Domestic Abuse specialist services.
- To ensure that Policy activities are grounded in what is learnt from survivor voice.
- To represent the organisation at key events and opportunities to influence and shape public policy, ensuring that WAFE remains a relevant and influential voice in the drive to improve the visibility and protection of survivor need.
- To support the Safeguarding Lead to undertake her cross organisational duties and responsibilities, reporting directly to the Safeguarding and Standards Committee.
- To attend the Safeguarding Working Group on behalf of the Policy function and support the Survivor Services Manager in their role as Deputy Safeguarding lead.
- To build, lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing team, fostering a collaborative and innovative culture
What we are looking for in our Head of Policy & Survivor Services:
- Experience of working across the process of policy change in the UK governmental system
- Experience of giving evidence at select committee or equivalent level / and or in court setting.
- Experience of managing a multi-disciplinary team or project to successful conclusion.
- Experience of using research and evaluation techniques and material to inform and evaluate outcomes and impact.
- Fully computer literate
- Interest in, knowledge of, and commitment to the VAWG sector.
- Has undertaken or is willing to undertake Safeguarding training to an intermediate level.
NB:
- Women only need apply under schedule 9 (Part 1) of the Equality Act 2010
- If you have been shortlisted for interview, you will be informed by email.
- All posts, including remote posts, must be based in the UK.
- Women’s Aid is committed to quality, equality, and valuing diversity. Applications are particularly welcome from Black and minoritised women.
- Please read our Single Sex Statement on the Women’s Aid Website