Head of Diversity and Inclusion

Location: Flexible can be based in the UK 

Hours: Full-time: 35 hours per week

Salary: London; £54,000pa. Rest of UK; £51,000pa + benefits

Benefits: Read more about what we offer 

Contract type: Permanent

Travel: Regular presence in Chesterfield and London required plus occasional travel to our offices in Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff.

Closing date: 5pm 28/09/2020

Summary

Are you an experienced diversity and inclusion professional, looking for the opportunity to lead organisation wide change?  

At Versus Arthritis we have much to do to realise our ambitions to become more diverse and fully inclusive:  we have high levels of commitment but need support to develop and implement our approach. We want to work with pace, but we know we need to listen and learn.  We are committed to resourcing this work appropriately, but there are strong and differing views about how best to make progress.  

This new role, working closely with the executive team and Board of Trustees, will influence across the organisation, leading the work to develop an integrated strategy for diversity and inclusion, both in our internal and external work. 

This is an exciting opportunity to make a big impact, in an organisation eager and committed to doing better.

About the role

As Head of Diversity and Inclusion you will influence and support a range of colleagues, enabling them to embed diversity and inclusion in all their work.  There is a particular focus on the experience of our people, as well as working with teams that lead on our service delivery, brand, policy and research.  To be successful you will need to be willing and able to work strategically and tactically, acting as leader and as practitioner, adapting as the circumstances demand.  Flexibility and a willingness to get stuck in will be key to success.

Key responsibilities:

Strategic planning and leadership

Influencing and delivering through others

Monitoring and evaluation and embedding a culture of continuous improvement

Working internally and externally

Key requirements

We are looking for an experienced diversity and inclusion professional eager to embrace the opportunities (and challenges) that come with working at a strategic level. 

We are looking for candidates who have the following skills, knowledge and experience: 

Experience of developing and delivering strategic plans for diversity and inclusion

Excellent knowledge of diversity and inclusion legislation, including emerging good practice and trends in diversity and inclusion work

An ability to inspire, inform, support and challenge a range of colleagues, enabling them to become leaders for inclusion

Ability to lead and to build strong relationships, managing complex and sometimes challenging conversations with internal and external stakeholders

An ability to generate ideas, proposals and initiatives that deliver measurable change

An ability to collate and interpret complex, sensitive and contentious information from a range of sources and to use this to drive change

An ability to facilitate and evaluate training and wider development that encourages individual and team learning and increases knowledge and skills in diversity and inclusion

An understanding of the need to and how to flex approaches to work effectively with both staff and volunteer teams

A commitment to our values and behaviours

How to apply

To apply for the role please submit two things:

a CV 

brief written responses to the following questions

1. Why should diversity and inclusion be a priority for Versus Arthritis?

2. Which organisations do you admire for their work on diversity and inclusion and why?

3. If appointed what would you prioritise in your first six weeks in post?

The CV should be no longer than three pages in length.  Responses to the three questions should be total no more than two sides of A4.

Interviews 

Round one interviews will take place on October 7th and October 8th candidates will only need to attend on one day, for approximately 90 minutes.

Round two interviews will take place on October 14th and 16th candidates will only need to attend on one day, for up to two and a half hours.

All interviews will be conducted via MS Teams.  More information on panel members and the structure and focus of the interviews will be provided to shortlisted candidates.  We also aim to have a brief conversation with all shortlisted candidates ahead of their first interview.

About us

Arthritis causes pain, fatigue and isolation for 17.8 million people in the UK every single day. It can impact on the ability to work, our relationships and take away our independence. We dont accept this. 

We are Versus Arthritis. We are volunteers, healthcare professionals, researchers and friends, all doing everything we can to push back against arthritis. Were reaching out to everybody with the information and support they need, funding vital research and changing the way society sees arthritis. Together well keep running, researching, in?uencing, volunteering, advising, chatting, baking, listening.  We wont stop until no-one has to tolerate living with the pain, fatigue and isolation of arthritis. 

Join us and use your skills, knowledge, passion and energy to help us defy arthritis.

Read more about what we do, working for us and what we offer.

 Happy to Talk Flexible Working  

Promoting Equality in the workplace 

Versus Arthritis is a Registered Charity No: 207711 and in Scotland No. SC041156