SEO Safeguarding

Do you want to help strengthen safeguarding across Defence? This is an excellent opportunity to join the Defence Safeguarding Team in an SEO role, contributing to policy development, governance, assurance and improvement activity for safeguarding children and adults at risk across Defence.

Safeguarding in Defence is unlike safeguarding in any other organisation. The team provides advisory, policy and assurance support across a broad range of safeguarding areas, including matters affecting overseas commands in environments where statutory safeguarding arrangements may be limited or absent. You will support the development and delivery of effective arrangements to prevent harm, respond to concerns, identify risk and contribute to continuous improvement.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

The SO1 Safeguarding will be a focal point for a wide range of safeguarding issues and will support the development of Defence safeguarding arrangements, good practice, policy and training.

Key tasks include:

• Providing safeguarding advice and support to Defence personnel and overseas safeguarding partnerships.
• Assessing complex situations and sensitive information and support robust risk assessment and decision making in line with relevant Defence policy and guidance.
• Maintain a system to document risks and concerns raised, ensuring that appropriate follow up is conducted.
• Work with colleagues in the Safeguarding Team to strengthen the implementation of safeguarding policy and procedures and to build the skills of Defence personnel and partners in managing concerns.
• Undertake assurance visits and reviews of individual cases to ensure quality and safety of practice.
• Improve the quality of safeguarding across Defence through the implementation of lessons identified from case reviews and thematic audits.
• Support and contribute to the development of monitoring criteria and systems, which will enable evaluation of safeguarding across Defence.
• Represent the Safeguarding Team at Defence working groups and forums.
• Take the lead for a specialist area for the Safeguarding Team as requested, e.g. Domestic Abuse, under 18 Service Personnel, Training, Prevent.
• Be fully conversant with, and maintain an awareness of, safeguarding legislation, guidance and policy both within England and the devolved administrations.
• Liaise with a wide range of agencies and organisations, interpreting legislation, guidance and policy and ensuring best safeguarding practice.
• Contribute to policy development.
• Be current in relation to themes and trends in safeguarding, able to provide information, advice and guidance on a wide range of safeguarding related topics.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of awareness raising/training programmes as required.
• Promote effective networking at local, national and international levels.
• Engage in the formal programme of assurance activity which may include planned international and domestic travel

Open to UK nationals only.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability in no more than 750 words providing evidence of how you meet these criteria.

At sift, Candidates will be assessed against their CV, Statement of suitability and the following Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating & Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

At interview, Candidates will be assessed against the following Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating & Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

As part of the selection process, candidates will be required to deliver a 10-minute presentation on a safeguarding topic, which will be provided in advance. The presentation will be assessed alongside the interview and will provide an opportunity for candidates to demonstrate their safeguarding knowledge, analytical skills, communication style, and ability to convey complex issues to a professional audience. Further details, including the presentation topic and format, will be provided to shortlisted candidates in advance of the interview.

Further information:

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.