county office

Vacancy Independent Director Safeguarding Champion

We are pleased to offer a unique opportunity to join our Board of Directors in a newly-created voluntary role as a Safeguarding Champion.

Devon County Football Association is the governing body for football in the county of Devon. We are responsible for leading and serving the game at amateur level, a sector widely referred to as “Grassroots” football. We aim to ensure the long-term future of the game by providing the best possible environment and infrastructure where football will flourish in the county for all backgrounds and abilities.

Devon County FA is committed to making the game of football as safe and enjoyable as possible for all those included. Devon FA works closely with The FA, the game’s Governing Body, in order to ensure that safety standards are met. Devon FA is committed to robust corporate governance and ensuring our Board of Directors best represents our members. We are committed to diversity of both skills and experiences and have recently made changes to our Governance which promotes representation from the wider community. This is a valuable position and will be one of our many Independent positions on the Board of Directors. 

The successful applicant will be an active Board member championing the safeguarding of children, young people and adults at risk in all County Football Association activities. The Board Champion will work closely with the Designated Safeguarding Officer and the Senior Safeguarding Lead to ensure that the Devon FA acts at all times in keeping with legislation, statutory guidance and The FA’s Safeguarding Operating Standard. 

The Board Safeguarding Champion will attend Board meetings and will provide information on progress against key areas of work, including risks and challenges.
This role is a voluntary role, however, reasonable travel and out of pocket expenses will be met by the Association.  

If you have experience of safeguarding or child protection and you feel that you have the appropriate skill set for the role, then please provide an up-to-date CV and a covering letter explaining why you wish to apply for this role and how you meet the criteria by Friday 19th February 2021

A role profile can be downloaded below, which provides further details of this role.

Please see Role Profile below;

Applications or queries should be addressed private and confidential for the attention of the Chief Executive Officer –
paul.morrison@devonfa.com

 

Devon County FA

Board Safeguarding Champion

Role Profile

Role purpose

  • To ensure Amateur FA (AFA) achieves and retains The FA’s Safeguarding Operating Standard.
  • To ensure the Board acts in accordance with legislation, statutory guidance and The FA’s Policy and Procedures and any associated guidance including the achievement and retention of the Safeguarding Operating Standard.
  • To be an active Board member championing the safeguarding of children, young people (under the age of 18) and adults at risk in all Devon FA activities.
  • To recognise and champion that all children and young people in football are entitled to the same protection regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity

Key skills           

  • A child-centred belief system and behaviours
  • Experience of demonstrable and effective governance
  • Experience of safeguarding or child protection
  • Awareness and understanding of The FA ‘Safeguarding Operating Standard’
  • Ability to listen effectively
  • Ability to ask probing questions
  • Communication skills

    Desirable           

  •  Knowledge and understanding of grassroots or other voluntary activity

  • Experience of organisational assessments, audits or inspections
  • Experience of being a member of committees or Boards

    Responsibilities

  • To ensure the Devon FA acts at all times in keeping with legislation, statutory guidance and The FA’s Safeguarding Operating Standard
  • To ensure the Devon FA enables and provides relevant safeguarding training for the Board, staff, volunteers and committee and council members
  • To ensure all staff profiles embed safeguarding in the role profile and functions
  • To ensure the Board receives information on progress against key areas of work, including risks and challenges.
  • To ensure all volunteers are aware of and comply with The FA’s Safeguarding Operating Standard
  • To check and challenge to ensure that the interests of children and young people are paramount in all AFA activities

What Next

Please send a covering letter explaining why you are applying together with how you meet the criteria and your CV to paul.morrison@devonfa.com by Friday 19th February 2021.

Time commitment

  • Board meetings are typically every month and can be held during the evenings.
  • Board Member may be asked to attend Council Meetings if required.