Safeguarding Development Officer

Working at the RFU means being part of the ‘bigger picture’ at England Rugby: to be rooted in our purpose, which is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union & develop the sport for future generations. If our purpose resonates with you, and you recognise the value that sport can bring to people’s lives, we’d love to work with you. An opportunity has arisen for seven Safeguarding Development Officers to join our Legal & Governance and Rugby Development Teams on a permanent basis.

Job Title : Safeguarding Development Officers
Department : Legal and Governance / Rugby Development
Reports to : Dual reporting: Safeguarding Team (Primary) and Rugby Development Regional Teams (Secondary)
Direct report(s) : None
Salary : c.£35,000 per annum
Job Level : Implement
Location : Homebased, covering one of 7 regions (London & South East, South Central, East Midlands, West Midlands, North East, North West). The South West region is reserved for internal colleagues.
Travel Requirements : Extensive, within regions. Occasional travel to Allianz Stadium
Employment Type : Permanent
Working Hours : Full time - 35 hours per week. Frequent evening and weekend working is essential, but flexible working will be supported. There is a particular focus on Sundays within the rugby season to support the community game.

Application Information:

• Please submit an anonymised CV (i.e. remove personal details). Please also submit a cover letter telling us how your experience aligns with this role.
• Vacancy closing date: Sunday 10th May at 5pm.
• Early applications are encouraged as this vacancy may close early due to high interest.

To help us get to know your unique experience and voice, we kindly ask that you complete your application without the use of AI‑generated content. This ensures we can fairly and accurately understand your skills, perspective, and suitability for the role. 

The Role:

The RFU has recently launched Plan 2030: ‘More Than A Game’, which is our strategy to grow rugby across England for the next five years. Our strategy contains four big goals that support and connect to one another - Play, Perform, Follow and Fund. In ‘Play’ we’re aiming to have an additional 50,000 registered players and have more people playing rugby for longer.

One of the ways we are planning to unlock this growth is through a transformation in how the RFU delivers community rugby by creating seven Regional Growth Partnership Boards tasked with driving participation, building partnerships, and unlocking funding opportunities within their region.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is committed to safeguarding and promoting our statutory and regulatory responsibilities in the sport. Everyone involved in rugby union is entitled to feel safe and protected from any form of abuse and neglect, and have the right to take part in sport in a safe, positive and enjoyable environment.

The RFU is seeking seven passionate and skilled safeguarding professionals to join our Safeguarding Team as Safeguarding Development Officers. This is a new and exciting opportunity to play a key role in strengthening safeguarding assurance across our rugby communities and be part of a significant step forward in the RFU’s safeguarding approach.

Safeguarding Development Officers will help shape the safeguarding framework, drive meaningful change, and support safer rugby environments. Post holders will work closely with regional rugby delivery teams, internal and external stakeholders, and safeguarding volunteers across clubs, constituent bodies, and referee societies. The role focuses on visiting and undertaking audits with clubs and organisations to inform developmental action planning, providing clear guidance to embed safeguarding compliance and best practice locally. You will also contribute to a range of national and local safeguarding projects.

The seven regions and their respective counties/constituent bodies are listed below:

• North East: Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham, and Yorkshire
• North West: Lancashire and Cheshire
• West Midlands: North Midlands (Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Greater Birmingham), Staffordshire, and Warwickshire
• East: Eastern Counties (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire), East Midlands (Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, and parts of Cambridgeshire), Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire,
• Derbyshire, and Leicestershire
• South Central: Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Hertfordshire
• London & South East: Essex, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, and Middlesex
• South West: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire 

An Enhanced DBS check is required for this role.

The Team:

The RFU Safeguarding Team currently has eight full time members of staff who have a dedicated safeguarding role. The Head of Safeguarding is supported by a Safeguarding Case Manager, four Safeguarding Case Officers, a Safeguarding Compliance Officer and a Safeguarding Development Manager.

The Team is supported by large network of safeguarding volunteers, within Constituent Bodies (CB), referee societies, member clubs and organisations. A key part of the role will be building strong relationships with these volunteers, working closely with Rugby Development Teams, offering advice and guidance where needed.

Some key responsibilities include:

Quality Assurance and Audit Programmes

• Driving safeguarding development and improvement at the regional level through the RFU’s audit programme
• Complete robust and collaborative safeguarding reports for clubs and organisations, sharing good practice, action plans and monitoring where necessary
• Share regular regional insights with the national RFU Safeguarding Team to inform safeguarding advice and practice

Training Delivery

• To assist in the design and development of safeguarding training, learning materials and education resources relevant to rugby
• To deliver whole club/organisation and individual bespoke training and presentations to improve safeguarding knowledge and practice

Support for Rugby

• Building strong relationships with Constituent Body Safeguarding Managers and external partners, including Active Partnership Sport Welfare Officers to ensure that member clubs receive the highest possible standards of support
• To support the work of Constituent Body Safeguarding Managers (including referee societies) and Club Safeguarding Officers, contributing to their networking and training
• To work with deployers/employers of staff/volunteers/coaches/match officials to develop a robust safeguarding culture, ensuring that the voice of children is central
• To assist clubs in implementing Codes of Conduct which promote the welfare of all
• Providing support to Discipline colleagues where necessary
• Work with the national RFU Safeguarding Team and clubs following safeguarding incidents to embed learning and improve practice.

General

• Actively collaborate with colleagues to contribute to the development and delivery of the current strategic, business and operational plans.
• Act as an ambassador for, and promote the best interests of the RFU, including the promotion of our culture and core values.
• Undertake other duties as may be required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of the organisation.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

The skills and attributes outlined in this description are not exhaustive and we welcome candidates who can bring different relevant experiences to the role.

Essential:

• Substantial experience in safeguarding, either through a professional role or within a sporting environment
• Experience of safeguarding development, which may include conducting audits, report writing, and managing action plans
• Delivery of training and education to a variety of audiences
• A comprehensive knowledge of relevant safeguarding legislation, alongside a commitment to continued professional development
• Sound understanding of safer recruitment and the Disclosure and Barring Service
• The ability to work on several projects at once, prioritising and communicating priorities
• Proven ability to build and maintain positive relationships with volunteers/stakeholders
• Ability to work independently and with high levels of autonomy
• Effective communicator able to confidently deliver clear written and verbal messages
• Strong collaboration, influencing and partner management skills with the ability to challenge constructively
• Valid UK driving licence
• Committed to embodying the ethos our culture by using our three core values – Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other – to guide your day-to-day decisions, actions and interactions.
• Committed to actively contributing and building an inclusive culture in your role and day to day behaviours.

Desirable:

• A relevant professional qualification or equivalent (e.g., social work, health, education, law, policing, probation, etc.) with current registration where applicable
• Experience in one or more of the following: auditing; training development/quality assurance; safeguarding at at events/competitions; policy/guidance writing; safeguarding adults; project management
• Experience of receiving and responding to safeguarding concerns in line with organisational policy/regulation and statutory guidance
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Smartsheet and/or related software
• Mentoring/professional supervision qualification and/or experience
• An understanding and passion for sport, particularly at a community level
• Recent, relevant understanding and practical experience of the community sport environment, including the support needs of volunteers.

Additional Information:

• This role will require an enhanced DBS check.

About England Rugby

England Rugby or Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby in England. We deliver three core activities, and our purpose is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union and develop the sport for future generations.

Our core activities are:

• Rugby – supporting rugby from grassroots to performance level
• Commercial – building partnerships and hosting matches and events
• Running the business - ensuring our organization and people can thrive

Our Culture

At England Rugby, one of our core objectives is to drive rugby union to better reflect the diversity of society. We are aware that rugby, and sports in general, has not always been as welcoming an environment for everyone as we would like, and we are working hard to make rugby a more inclusive space for all identities.

We believe hiring people from underrepresented groups into positions at all levels is vital to creating spaces and initiatives that better support those identities. We would love to see applications from disabled people, LGBTQIA+ people, people from ethnically diverse communities, people of faith, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and women and non-binary people.

We know that representation is more than just getting people through the door, it’s about keeping people by responding to structural barriers relating to identities and valuing the insights that different lived experiences bring. We have network groups that provide peer-to-peer support and drive forward change internally. We support colleagues to develop, and each colleague has access to a personal coaching platform that can provide same-day one-to-one coaching. We are pushing ourselves to create a more inclusive culture every day through role modelling our culture and core values; This Rose Means Everyone: Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other.

We know that flexible working is important to our colleagues, so our guiding principles are designed to support everyone to work in the way that suits them, their teams, and the organisation in the best way.

What we can offer you

We are proud of the range of benefits we can provide: