Programme Lead, Online Safety

Are you passionate about online safety? Do you want to drive real change and make a positive impact so people can engage and navigate the online environment safety and maximise its potential for good?  If so, join Samaritans and lead our Online Excellence Programme in the UK’s leading suicide prevention charity.

• Salary: £48,000 to 50,500 per annum
• FTC 12 months maternity cover
• Full-time role (35 hours per week) with flexible working.
• Hybrid working: Linked to our Ewell (Surrey) office with home working and the option to work from our London office in EC3R
• In office working -  we'd love to see you in person at one of our offices at least twice a month.
• We are passionate about flexible working, talk to us about your preferences​

The Team

Our small but expert team works alongside people with lived experience, the tech industry, government and regulators as well as academics and practitioners to maximise the potential of positive content in the online environment and minimise the risk of harmful suicide and self-harm content.   

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Why Samaritans?​

Make a real difference in the lives of those affected by suicide, all whilst working in a supportive and inclusive environment. As the Programme Lead for Online Safety, you'll play a pivotal role in leading our efforts as the leading authority on suicide and self harm content in the UK and Ireland.

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Your Role​

You'll lead a dedicated team focused on shaping policies, influencing decision-makers, and driving advocacy campaigns. Your key responsibilities include:

• Providing exceptional leadership and support to your team, fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture.
• Leading and maintaining relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, to influence practice across the sector and facilitate effective collaboration.
• Overseeing the development and promotion of Samaritans’ portfolio of online safety products, including Industry Guidance and user guidance
• Ensuring people with lived experience are at the heart of the programme, including through user engagement panels.  

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Full outline of the role in the Job description here.

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What You'll Bring:​

We're looking for a strategic thinker with a track record of success in a fast paced, evolving environment with:

• Proven experience in taking a strategic approach, focused on outcomes.
• Experience working with a range of specialists and managing stakeholder relationships
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences effectively.
• Strong project management abilities, coupled with the ability to work with an evolving evidence base.
• The ability to understand current mental health and suicide prevention issues and research, and even better if you have a good understanding of the online environment
• Experience working with people with lived experience.

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What’s in it for you – our benefits​

So, you want to work for us? Good choice. We like it here too. We offer competitive salaries, flexible and hybrid working to suit your needs, family-friendly policies, 28 days annual leave inclusive of wellbeing days and a matched pension contribution up to 5%. You’ll have a structured induction and ongoing projects, secondments & learning opportunities. We also have colleague-led affinity groups made up of people with shared identities.

Your health and wellbeing is our priority. We have a staff community of Mental Health First Aiders, a Health Cash Plan and an Employee Assistance Programme. You’ll have free subscriptions to Headspace (your personal guide to mindfulness, sleep, focus, movement, and more) & Perkbox (an employee benefits platform with online exercise classes). That’s not all. We listen to your ideas and have staff forum and social committee networks.

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Hybrid and flexible working​

We are a flexible organisation, and we embrace hybrid working – a mix of connecting in person and remotely. We’re aware that the world is changing, and we all want and need different things from our work and home lives. So, if you need to walk the dog, go to the gym, or have commitments outside of work, we’re open to talking through flexible working options that work for you and us.

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Being Inclusive​

We recognise the enormous benefits and the social justice imperatives of ensuring diversity at every level of our organisation. Samaritans is wholly committed to inclusion and diversity and to building a culture and environment where everyone is appreciated for the unique person they are. To ensure Samaritans is representative of those we support and who support us, we particularly welcome applications from Disabled, BAME and LGBTQ+ candidates, as these people are under-represented at Samaritans.

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Application​

If this sounds like the opportunity for you, apply. You’ll be asked to upload your CV and answer three application questions. Applications close at 9 am on 30th September. Video interviews likely to be on 7th October.

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If you're ready to lead impactful change and contribute to our mission that fewer people die by suicide, apply today.