387 Mental health jobs

Safeguarding Lead

4 month fixed term contract, 3 days per week (Mon – Weds)

£60,599 - £63,857pa

Hybrid · London 1 day a week in our London Office

Job Description

Please note this is a hybrid role based on the successful candidate working at least two days a week in our London office. Remote contracts would not be considered for this role. 

Comic Relief reserves the right to close the role early if a large number of applications are received.

Purpose of job: 

The Safeguarding Lead will be a subject matter expert at Comic Relief and promote best practice in safeguarding practices, being the primary contact for all safeguarding matters and working closely with all teams across the organisation.

Support provided to the organisation will include advising on our grants to funded partners, how we work with our corporate partners and how we maintain safe story telling in our content and appeal films. 

A crucial part of the role is ensuring that all relevant policies, procedures and guidance are fit for purpose and embedded positively throughout the organisation. You will work alongside Comic Relief’s Assurance team offering cross team support and collaboration, including supporting each other’s workloads (especially during leave periods) and ensuring Comic Relief’s activities are appropriately risk assessed and mitigated.

Key responsibilities:  

Governance

Develop and deliver safeguarding related policies, procedures, systems, guidance and training to mitigate and implement controls.

Provide expert advice and guidance on safeguarding matters.

Manage organisational safeguarding policies, procedures and training to ensure they are up-to-date and fit for purpose.

Custodian of good decision making within safeguarding; making recommendations to Director of Legal & Assurance and/or other stakeholders for escalation where appropriate.

Contribute at Board, Committees and other meetings, on safeguarding matters and liaise with regulators, government and other third parties as required.

Funded partners

Provide support to Comic Relief’s funded partners where safeguarding capacity and capability needs are identified during the assessment process.

Effectively manage safeguarding incidents and conduct case management.

Storytelling, content and fundraising

Provide safeguarding advice to Comic Relief’s Stories and Appeals teams, to ensure that content is gathered in line with best practice for safe storytelling and that risks to contributors are minimised.

Review content for compliance with safe storytelling best practice.

Provide safeguarding advice on fundraising initiatives, to ensure harm to fundraisers is minimised.

Assurance 

Carry out safeguarding monitoring, ensuring compliance with internal policies and procedures and to identify ways to improve effectiveness and efficiencies in working practices.

Investigate any safeguarding concerns raised which are connected with Comic Relief’s work.

Positively engage with colleagues to promote safeguarding best practice, enhance understanding and skill, manage risks and implement improvements.

Risk management

Work with the Executive Leadership Team and Director Leadership Team to ensure safeguarding risks from Comic Relief’s activities are appropriately assessed, mitigated and recorded.

Person specification 

Essential criteria 

· Significant experience of managing safeguarding activities across a business to ensure that regulations, policies and procedures are being complied with.

· Strong experience of designing and implementing effective safeguarding strategies, policies, processes and training.

· Proven successful case management skills and experience and confident decision maker.

· Technical and practical knowledge and experience on children and adults at risk safeguarding.

· A good understanding of the regulatory safeguarding reporting requirements for charities. 

· Proven experience of effective relationship building and using exceptional communication skills to achieve outcomes.

Desirable criteria 

· Knowledge of the international charity landscape and experience of supporting organisations in different countries with putting safeguarding principles into local context.

· General child or vulnerable adult protection programming expertise, or exposure to child protection initiatives.

· Skilled in designing, facilitating and evaluating training in different cultural and organisational contexts.

· Good at building relationships and proactively identifying opportunities for networking with other agencies such as international NGOs, Government ministries and local authorities.

· Experience in safeguarding on various media platforms including broadcasting, social media etc.

· A proven ability to devise and implement safeguarding solutions across a range of organisational functions e.g. human resources, fundraising, media and communications.

· Experience with embedding safeguarding measures in grant making initiatives and providing technical advice and support to grantees.

· Understanding of localisation initiatives and how this may apply to Safeguarding in a global context.

 Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Comic Relief we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Why work at Comic Relief 

There are lots of good reasons to join us at Comic Relief. You can read more about ouremployee benefits, such as our commitment to flexible and hybrid working. We ask staff to come to the office twice a week, normally on agreed team days, so that we can do all those things that are difficult to do online. Our office is based in Whitechapel, London, There are lots of opportunities to develop your skills and experience at Comic Relief, including opportunities to become a Mental Health First Aider or to participate in our Employee Network Groups that focus on making Comic Relief a more inclusive place to work 

Perks and benefits

· Flexible working hours

· Work from home option

· Life Insurance

· Wellness programs

· Employee Assistance Programme

· Additional parental leave

· Enhanced maternity and paternity leave

· Paid emergency leave

· Sabbatical Opportunities

· Professional development

· Paid volunteer days

· Salary sacrifice

· Team social events

· Extracurricular clubs

· Cycle to work scheme

· Free fruit

· Free soft drinks

Disability Confident employer 

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we take positive action by providing first-round interviews to candidates who have a registered disability, provided they meet the minimum criteria for the role, as demonstrated on their CV or application scores. We ask that candidates that wish to be considered for this scheme email us via our website. Please do not email CV's/cover letters.

To apply please visit our website via the link.

Closing: 12:00pm, 23rd Nov 2026 GMT

Equal opportunity

We recognise diversity and inclusion are a source of strength in achieving our mission. We therefore welcome everyone, trusting what makes us different brings creativity, styles and experiences to help us collectively do our best work. That’s regardless of your gender, race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and cultural identity. We especially welcome those from under-represented groups in modern grant-making and fundraising. We are on a journey, but if you join our team you will be part of a community that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where we want you to: Be valued for being yourself Do your best work, and be supported to break down barriers so you can succeed Be heard, respected, and treated as an equal, whatever your level, experience or background Be part of a team that is committed to making this happen – with our colleagues, partners, and contributors.