Equality, Diversity And Inclusion Officer

Social Work England are the specialist regulator for social work in England, focused on enabling positive change in social work. Every day, social workers support millions of people to improve their chances in life. We are taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate – to protect the public, enable positive change and ultimately improve people’s lives.    

We believe that the principles of EDI are central to us being an effective regulator and employer. You will support the implementation of Social Work England’s EDI strategy and associated action plans and policies ensuring that we meet our statutory duties and reporting requirements.

The role will involve raising the profile of EDI across our organisation, providing advice, support, and constructive challenge to colleagues.

This role will work closely with the communications and people and development teams and support the maintenance of a positive working culture.

What you will do

• To act as the first point of escalation for any EDI issues, ensuring that they are resolved in an appropriate and timely way.
• Support the smooth running of the EDI steering group which provides a formal setting for our people to steer organisational policy related to equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.
• Support the development and implementation of a programme of activity and learning to raise awareness of EDI issues which promotes an inclusive organisational culture.
• Collaborate with communications and engagement colleagues to consider how we better understand, reach and influence our key audiences. You will be involved in helping shape and develop a wide variety of materials and outputs that support our commitment to EDI.
• You will lead the equality impact assessment review group to support the implementation, and development of our equality impact process, ensuring plans, policies and processes take full account of our obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
• Work closely with the people planning and delivery officer to coordinate and support our employee networks, to ensure good governance and effectiveness.
• Tracking and managing progress against the EDI action plan, as well as ensuring alignment to the business plan, people plan and organisational strategy. Identify early trends, patterns and associated risk and escalate as appropriate.
• Present and update on EDI activity across the business, including to ELT and senior managers, providing assurance of being on track.
• Benchmark our progress using external tools and resources, such as the talent inclusion and diversity evaluation benchmarking tool from the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion and build on our external accreditations.
• Build and maintain relationships at all levels in the business, both internally and externally.

Your skills, knowledge and experience

• Interest, knowledge and demonstrable commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Driven self-starter, with the ability to work autonomously, using judgement and initiative to assess and make robust decisions.
• Able to plan and prioritise work, manage time effectively and deal with changing priorities and multiple demands.
• Evidence of working supportively with others, building strong relationships as well as proven ability to work as part of a team. 
• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills with an ability to inspire and motivate others.
• Has the courage and confidence to speak up and will challenge others appropriately even when met with resistance or unfamiliar circumstances.
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams. 
• Experience of creating training and resources and facilitating learning.
• Ability to be a proactive problem solver and seek out new ways to support the development of the organisation.
• Experience of maintaining information systems, compiling statistics and interpreting data to identify risks and inform decision making.

Details

• Job type: Permanent.
• Working pattern: Full time. We offer flexible working subject to business need.
• Salary: £31,364 per year, rising to £33,605 per year after successful completion of a 6-month probationary period.
• Location: Sheffield/hybrid remote.
• Benefits: flexible working, contributory pension, life insurance and upcoming benefits portal.
• Interview date: 20 March 2024.

Application

During the application process, you'll be asked to provide answers to three questions from the job description. These answers will be what your application is scored on, please answer in as much detail as possible using examples where necessary.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £31,364.00-£33,605.00 per year

Benefits:

• Cycle to work scheme
• Free flu jabs
• Life insurance
• On-site gym
• Sick pay

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• No weekends

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Sheffield

Expected start date: 22/04/2024