The Role

Richmond and Wandsworth Community Safety Service have a vacancy in the role of Community Safety Officer (CSO) for Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) starting as soon as possible. 

This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to use their knowledge and experience, and to develop their leadership skills within a new dynamic Safer Stronger Communities Team. 

The candidate will report directly to the Vulnerabilities Manager, Miranda Hibbert. 

The role will play a significant part in the development of Community Safety Service and its approach to Violence Against Women and Girls. 

Key responsibilities will be

Post-holder will be responsible building strong relationships with statutory and voluntary sector organisations, communities and individuals to collectively address VAWG within the community through awareness raising, training, communications etc.

• To be the strategic lead for sustaining Wandsworth White Ribbon accreditation and driving the activity contained within the WR action plan.
• To progress the Wandsworth VAWG community forum, that brings together community groups, places of education, and NGO’s to work together to tackle VAWG
• Work to deliver priorities and actions in the Community Safety Plan.
• To lead on the safety of women at night work as part of the GLA’s chartership.
• To implement the actions set out in the VAWG Action Plan

Key requirements

• Detailed understanding of VAWG
• Understanding of community engagement & involvement
• Track record of partnership working to deliver on shared objectives
• An ability to prioritise demands
• Excellent communication skills
• Educated to degree level

NB: This role will require some work out of office hours as engagement with the community is essential to tackling VAWG in the community.  As per the Council’s flexible working scheme, any hours outside of working hours can be taken in lieu.

The Team

Community Safety is an exciting environment to work within, working across council departments, statutory partners and community organisations.

Providing an agile working environment, the role provides an opportunity to influence policy and ensure service delivery for the community.

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, we care more about how you work and what you achieve, rather than where you work on any given day. The difference you can make to our local communities is what really matters most to us, service delivery must always come first. We have carefully considered agile ways of working to provide the best experience for residents, stakeholders and our staff. Our agile working strategy actively supports and encourages a dynamic work environment and daily working experience. Agile working helps put the needs of our staff at the centre of everything we do, so if specific flexible working arrangements helps you with this, feel free to let us know.

Your wellbeing and the flexible way in which you can work is and will remain a key priority for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. We want you to thrive and feel empowered in your work!

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

Closing Date:  Sunday 29^th January 2023

Shortlisting Date: W/C 30^th January 2023

Interview Date: W/C 13^th February 2023   

The recruitment process will include two parts.

Part 1: A 10-minute presentation with 5 minutes for follow up questions

Part 2: A 40-minute interview           

For an informal conversation please contact Miranda Hibbert – Vulnerabilities Manager please contact Miranda.hibbert@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Useful Information:

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams, including those from the BAME community.       

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information:

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils