Redress Scheme Steering Committee Member (Professional)

We are looking to recruit three members of this committee. If you are a professional with lived experience of abuse, please do not apply to this role, but apply under the role “Redress Scheme Steering Committee Member (Professionals with Lived Experience)”. If you are a professional who do not have lived experience of abuse, we warmly welcome you to apply for this role.

The prospective candidate will join the RSSC for a period of 2.5 years, starting January 2027.

This is primarily a remote role, as committee meetings are held online. However, committee members are expected to attend one in-person meeting in London each year.

Governance

The RSSC provides oversight and governance of the Redress Scheme, as a sub-committee of the Archbishops’ Council. The Archbishops’ Council agreed that it can operate with delegated authority to take decisions in the best interests of the Council.

The RSSC ensures that the Scheme delivers fair, compassionate and accountable redress to victims and survivors of Church of England-related abuse. At the same time, it respects the independence of the Scheme and maintains transparency and public trust.

The Scheme Administrator, Kennedys Law LLP, will work with the Contracts Team of the National Safeguarding Team (NST) of the Archbishop’s Council. Together, they will report to the RSSC. The RSSC will in turn report to the Archbishops’ Council and General Synod as needed.

How the RSSC works

The RSSC is expected to meet monthly from January to June 2027, at the beginning stage of the Redress Scheme. Thereafter, the RSSC is expected to meet every three months or so. Meetings will mostly be online, but once a year the RSSC will meet in person in London.

The RSSC will consist of a non-executive chair and six members, all appointed by the Archbishops’ Council. Three of these members are openly recruited. The other three members are representatives of the Archbishops’ Council, the Church Commissioners and a senior clergy of the Church of England.

RSSC members can come from backgrounds of different faiths or no faith.

RSSC meetings will take place on weekdays during office hours. Each meeting is expected to last for 1 to 3 hours.

The RSSC will be supported by the NST Contracts team, including a Deputy Director of Safeguarding, a Senior Contracts Manager and relevant staff members.

Remuneration

This is a voluntary opportunity.

Before you take on the role

The openly recruited RSSC members will be required to complete a Basic DBS check and provide two references.

These processes must be completed ahead of their first meeting with the committee.

RSSC members will have to formally agree to the Terms of Reference of the RSSC. These terms will be shared with shortlisted candidates for this role.

RSSC members will also be required to undertake mandatory training including:

• Church of England National Safeguarding Basic Awareness training (1 hour and 15 minutes)

Conversations and interviews

If you would like to have a conversation, please get in touch with Vicki Levick, Senior Contracts Manager, vicki.levick@churchofengland.org.

If you would like to apply for this role, please apply through the recruitment website and not through the email address above.

Application Process

Please answer all the questions on the form, and provide a covering letter and a CV. In the covering letter, we invite you to share how your lived experience of abuse will contribute to the work of this role. You do not have to describe the abuse you experienced.

The deadline for application is 11.59pm, Wednesday, 2 December. Shortlisting will be done shortly after, and shortlisted candidates will be contacted as soon as possible.

Interviews for this position will take place on Monday, 14 December. They will take place online.

• Provide professional expertise on the management of the Redress contract
• Provide oversight of and advice on non-financial redress
• Maintain confidentiality of information

You should have one or both of these skills and experiences

• Strong expertise in oversight of contracts valued at approximately £150 million or more, KPI monitoring, legal compliance and assurance.
• People with strong financial, legal and governance backgrounds and/or people with a familiarity of overseeing large schemes and with an understanding of church structures

You should also have these skills and experiences

• Have a good understanding of abuse and trauma
• Have insight and understanding of the particular impact and consequences of Church-related abuse
• Have experience working in trustee or similar bodies

Please note that you will not be able to view the role description after the closing date. We suggest that you save a copy of this page before you submit your application.

About the NCIs

The National Church Institutions comprises a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation – a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.

We Include. You Belong.

Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

Living out our values in all that we do, we:

• Strive for Excellence
• Show Compassion
• Respect others
• Collaborate
• Act with Integrity

We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward. The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you.

We offer a highly competitive benefits package that supports your health, wellbeing and long-term financial security. This includes annual leave starting at 25 days’ plus bank holidays and three additional NCI days, family friendly policies, a wellbeing cashback scheme, an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, a defined benefit pension with employer contributions of up to 18%, and generous life assurance cover.

Use of AI in your application

We appreciate that you may want to use AI tools to help you with your application. We’re happy for you to use AI to come up with ideas and help structure your thoughts, but you shouldn’t use AI to fabricate information or write your whole application for you. One of our values is integrity, and although we want you to demonstrate your best self, we don’t want an AI-generated persona. If you simply copy and paste AI-generated content into your application, this will reduce your chances of success.