Job Description

The English Schools' FA is seeking an experienced leader and practitioner to act as Safeguarding manager and DSO to join its small team of staff working flexibly to support a national Association. The successful candidate will have a good, current understanding of safeguarding practice as it applies to young people and will have practical experience of working/volunteering with children in this context. An understanding of school sport and/or the FA's Safeguarding 365 standard would be an advantage.

If you are passionate about providing safe opportunities for children to play football, and have a track record of positive influence, then the role offers flexible working, pension provision and 31 days' leave in an environment which strives for high levels of staff satisfaction.

Primary purpose of role:

To manage the ESFA's safeguarding work in line with legislation, FA safeguarding policy, procedure, regulation and guidance

Job role:

To oversee, track and ensuring ongoing compliance with all areas of The FA's Safeguarding 365 Standard for County FAs measures, policies and procedures and collate and submit all evidence for assessment. To operationally lead the implementation and delivery of safeguarding within the ESFA, being accountable for relevant areas of The FA's Safeguarding 365 Standard. To support the Senior Leadership Team and take a dynamic and strategic approach to safeguarding delivery within the ESFA, raising awareness and providing organisational support and direction to colleagues and Members To work with the Chief Executive Officer to provide the Board with regular reports on safeguarding activity within the ESFA. To work with The FA Safeguarding Case Management Team (FA SCMT) to refer child abuse and adults at risk concerns to The FA, acting in line with the relevant FA safeguarding policy, regulations and guidance. To record all safeguarding concerns on the prevailing FA safeguarding system and ensure all data is securely retained in accordance with FA regulations, policies and data protection legislation. To manage all safeguarding poor practice concerns and complaints referred to the ESFA

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with a focus on timeliness and outcomes and line with FA policy, regulations and guidance. To provide training, support and guidance to the ESFA and its Members on how to manage safeguarding complaints and concerns effectively, with a focus on timeliness and outcomes and in line with FA policy, regulations and guidance. To use IT systems to monitor safeguarding compliance across the schools' football volunteer network to manage risk and assist in strategic planning. To utilise insight and data to inform all compliance activity and take appropriate activity to address non-compliance. To ensure the ESFA is compliant with safeguarding legislation e.g. Data Protection/GDPR 2018, Children's Act, Protection of Freedoms Act (Criminal Record Checks), the Government's prevailing 'Working Together' guidance. Prevailing 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' guidance and any other legislation or statutory guidance that may be introduced. To identify, develop and maintain strong relationships with key safeguarding stakeholders. To strategically manage effective Association Safeguarding Officer networks; liaising with the Local Authority Designated Officers, Local Safeguarding Partnerships, Local Safeguarding Adult Boards, Children's and Adults' Social Care Services, Police Child Protection Teams and support Association Welfare Officers to be compliant with safeguarding legislation, FA safeguarding policy, best-practice guidance and education programmes. To manage a diverse workload being able to prioritise work according to risk and timeframes, providing regular updates to the line manager on progress against the work programme, targets and business plan priorities. To maintain strong links with key FA staff and attend national FA safeguarding events and CPD courses to ensure knowledge and skills are maintained and updated. To work with colleagues to address poor behaviour and raise standards in schools' football, promoting fun and safe football environments and creating a culture that lives and celebrates safer working practice across the ESFA's activity and schools' football. To co-ordinate safeguarding support visits, parental engagements and Association health checks with Members to ensure they are compliant with the records they have submitted to the ESFA and to check on the culture and safeguarding practice. To co-ordinate and deliver or source CPD events for Association Safeguarding Officers. To ensure that any individual helping with any ESFA or ESFA Member event involving children is suitably DBS-checked, trained and understand their responsibilities at the event. To work with colleagues to embed safeguarding and equality throughout the ESFA and the schools' football network. To provide the highest level of customer excellence to support volunteers across all FA Technology systems. To line manage National Safeguarding Manager Execute tasks as required in order to meet the ESFA's changing priorities.
To support the Safeguarding Operations Group to deliver its responsibilities

To take responsibility for operational health and safety checks at ESFA headquarters

To fulfil the financial responsibilities of the role as prescribed in the Financial Regulations

To participate in training, development and appraisal processes necessary to fulfil the role

To support the ESFA Council to fulfil its responsibilities

To act with high standards of professionalism, business integrity and personal conduct at all times

To act as an ambassador for the ESFA in the conduct of all business;

To comply with the requirements of the staff handbook;

To use best endeavours to support others in the achievement of their objectives;

To conduct any other duties as may reasonably be required by the employer.

Application information

The ESFA is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all communities. The ESFA is committed to safeguarding children and adults at risk. Due to the nature of this role. The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check through The FA DBS process. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. Checks on online presence may be made as part of the application process.

Applications should be submitted in the form of a CV highlighting the way in which you meet the role description, and a covering letter of no more than 2 sides of A4, outlining how you meet the person specification. We would welcome completion of our equality monitoring form, from which candidate data is anonymised and amalgamated with other EDI data to enable monitoring of our equality policy. This data will be removed from your application prior to shortlisting. Applications must be submitted to the CEO at andrea.chilton@schoolsfa.com, no later than 29 June 2025. Successful candidates will be contacted during w/c 30 June and interviews are expected to take place on 7th July.

Full JD and EDI form can be downloaded from the ESFA website here: https://schoolsfootball.org/about-us/join-in/vacancies/

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: 28,000.00-32,000.00 per year

Benefits:

Company pension Free parking On-site parking Work from home
Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 29/06/2025