Research and Engagement Officer maternity

Black Country Women's AidLet us introduce ourselves…Black Country Women's Aid (BCWA) is an established charity working across the Black Country and wider West Midlands providing accommodation and community support services to victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking. Services range from advocacy, civil remedies, support in court, individual and group support and access to a range of therapeutic interventions. All services are client and needs-led.Centre for the Analysis of Exploitation (CeAnEx)

The Research and Engagement Officer will join CeAnEx, and its highly regarded Community Engagement Project, run by Black Country Women's Aid. The Centre, based within BCWA, conducts innovative work to identify and support women who are sexually exploited in the West Midlands. We are a small, passionate team working on the ground in communities, and we combine this with open-source intelligence and traditional academic research methods to identify victims of organised crime. Although we are an independent charity, we work closely with law enforcement and partner agencies. Our work is at the cutting edge, helping to develop new perspectives on human trafficking and sexual exploitation in the UK and beyond.

Job RoleJob Title: Research and Engagement Officer (Maternity cover October 2024- October 2025)Position available: 1 full-time position (37.5 hours)Salary: £29,569Closing date: 4th October 2024Interview date: Interviews will be held week commencing 7th October 2024Interviews will be held in personIs this you?We are looking for a candidate with experience of research and analysis.

An understanding of sex work, sexual exploitation and modern slavery is desirable, as is experience of working with vulnerable people.

The Role:

This is a unique, exciting and rewarding role, allowing the successful candidate to make a significant contribution to tackling exploitation. The role provides the opportunity to combine desk-based research on sexual exploitation with face-to-face work with victims and survivors. You will be involved in a variety of activities, including (but not limited to):

* Visits to sex work locations throughout the West Midlands and, occasionally, elsewhere in the UK* Support for victims* Joint working with police and partner agencies* Analysis of open-source intelligence* Data collection and analysis * Involvement in BCWA's FCDO-funded Romania Project, aimed at tackling the trafficking of women from Romania to the UK* Involvement in BCWA's projects involving Chinese, Hungarian, British, Albanian, Thai and Brazilian womenClick "Apply" to be emailed information about how to complete your application.

CVs will not be accepted.Important information for all positions

Black Country Women's Aid is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults, children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

All posts are subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975. It will be necessary for an enhanced disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service for details of any previous criminal convictions.Occupational Requirement under Schedule 9 (part 1) of the Equality Act 2010 applies. The post holder must be female.

Employment checks

As a responsible employer we adhere to safer recruitment practice and all our employees are subject to the following recruitment checks:

Right to work in the UKUnder Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act, we, as a responsible employer, need to ensure that we do not employ anyone illegally. To avoid discrimination we treat all job applicants equally.

We, therefore, ask all candidates selected for interview to bring original documentation to show their Right to Work in the UK. A copy of these will be taken. Once the successful candidate has been appointed the unsuccessful candidates' documents will be destroyed confidentially. You may be refused an interview if you do not bring the correct documents with you.

References

Following your interview, two employment references will be sought. One of these should be your current or most recent employer.

If you have finished full-time education and you have no employer reference, we will accept a reference from:

* a professional from your centre of study, for instance, a teacher, lecturer or headteacher* GP or health visitor* a character reference from a person who knows you* a civil servant from a government agency* a bank manager

DBS

All positions are subject to DBS checks at the relevant level.

Please note, for this role, enhanced vetting procedures will be required. You will need to have been resident in the UK for a minimum of three years for these checks to be completed.