Honing a safe place. Lending a helping hand. Making a difference. 

Safeguarding Advisor

£37,000 - £42,000 per annum + benefits

Reports to: Safeguarding Senior Manager

Directorate: Chief Operating Office

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office).

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship. 

Closing date: 24 August 2024, 23:55

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: Two competency-based interviews with a task included (the first stage will be virtual and the second stage will be onsite at Stratford)

Interview date: From the week commencing 26 August 2024

How do I apply? We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

The Chief Operating Office leads on engaging and inspiring Cancer Research UK’s people by delivering operational transformation and an employee experience that enables us to be an inclusive and agile organisation. We aim to become the hub for operational management ensuring we govern, prioritise, and are effective and efficient in all we do. Our Safeguarding team play a key role in this mission by collaborating across the organisation to provide our people with the support, guidance and knowledge needed to fulfil our safeguarding responsibilities and ensure our staff, our volunteers, and members of the public coming into contact with the charity get the help and protection they need while preventing abuse and harm.

As a Safeguarding Advisor, you will be responsible for two key areas: stakeholder engagement and managing safeguarding cases which will involve being the day-to-day contact for safeguarding concerns, processes, and practices across Cancer Research UK. Your stakeholder engagement will involve collaborating across the organisation to understand what is happening across the charity, promote safeguarding practices and processes, and create and deliver safeguarding training, communications, and reporting. You’ll also support in driving the delivery of our Safeguarding Strategy across the charity.

In this role, no day will be the same as you will be supporting safeguarding activities across our network of 600 shops, 500 events, 4,000 paid staff, 30,000 volunteers, and 90 research institutions. Therefore, this is an opportunity for you to have a real, wide-ranging, and human impact in shaping the way Cancer Research UK protects our people. If you are a Safeguarding professional with strong stakeholder engagement and training skills, we would love for you to join our mission.

What will I be doing?

• Being the day-to-day contact for safeguarding concerns, processes, and practices across Cancer Research UK.

• Proactively collaborating and engaging with stakeholders across the organisation to promote understanding of safeguarding practices and processes, and the inclusion of safeguarding considerations in all activities.   

• Engaging with stakeholders to understand what is happening across the organisation.

• Creating and delivering safeguarding training, communications, and reporting across the organisation.

• Contributing to the development and implementation of our Safeguarding Strategy and operating framework to ensure safeguarding activities deliver a practical and embedded safeguarding framework.  

• Owning and managing activities allocated to you from the annual Safeguarding Operating Plan. This will involve:

  • Providing day-to-day case management

  • Considering new and existing safeguarding risks while supporting the effective management of safeguarding risks.  

  • Carrying out supplier due diligence

  • Maintaining and delivering training

  • Managing reporting systems and processes

• Identifying, making recommendations, and embedding improvements to our safeguarding practices.

• Providing expert advice and guidance for safeguarding case management ensuring appropriate resolution (this includes cases relating to our staff, our volunteers, and members of the public coming into contact with Cancer Research UK).  

What are you looking for?

• Safeguarding background with experience managing a volume of adult safeguarding cases.

• Has delivered training sessions and supported in creating training materials (this does not need to be in a safeguarding environment e.g., compliance, L&D, social services, public sector etc).

• Has built collaborative and engaging stakeholder relationships.

• Excellent interpersonal, influencing, communication, and negotiating skills with a proven ability to work with people at all levels.

• Knowledge of current UK legal and regulatory safeguarding requirements and good practice.

• Demonstrable ability to work independently, use practical decision-making processes, and escalate when appropriate.

• Strong planning and prioritisation skills with a proven ability to manage multiple workstreams while meeting deadlines and delivering quality outputs and outcomes.  

• Solutions-driven with the ability to problem solve and identify and make process improvements.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination  

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism   

Human: Act to have a positive impact on people  

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

Additional information

If you want to know more about this role, here is a full job description. Please note this is a generalist profile used for internal & external purposes meaning we don’t expect candidates to meet all the criteria included (we will be shortlisting based on the essential criteria advertised).

For more information about working with us please visit our website or contact us at [email protected].  

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact [email protected] or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.