About us
Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre (CRCC) is a local specialist sexual violence organisation providing emotional, therapeutic and advocacy support services for women and girls across Cambridgeshire who have been subjected to all forms of sexual violence, no matter when the abuse occurred.
- Role Title: Children and Young Peoples' Independent Sexual Violence Advocate (ChISVA)
- Hours: 35hrs (full-time) per week, Monday to Friday
- Salary: £28,505 per annum
- Contract: Fixed term to 31 March 2028 (possible extension dependent on funding)
- Annual Leave Entitlement: 28 days per annum plus statutory Bank Holiday entitlement
- Responsible To: ISVA Manager
- Location: Cambridge, with travel required across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Key information:
- We require the post hold to be female under Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR), Schedule 9 (Work; Exceptions), Part 1 (Occupational Requirements), of the Equality Act (2010).
- The post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
- The post is part of a countywide ISVA service covering Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
- There may be occasional early, evening and weekend work.
- The post holder will need a full driving license and access to their own vehicle which they can use for work.
Job purpose:
To provide information, support, advice and advocacy to children and young people who have been subjected to sexual assault or sexual abuse in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The post holder will deliver child-centred support to young survivors and non-abusing care givers around criminal justice processes, wellbeing, education and safety, whilst ensuring child protection procedures are followed at all times.
The post holder will work closely with other agencies such as Social care, the Police, Education, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and voluntary sector organisations to ensure that children and young people are kept safe and are well supported. They will prioritise, assess, plan, evaluate and deliver all relevant aspects of support to an agreed and expected high standard.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Main duties:
- To engage with children, young people and their care givers accessing the ISVA service, accounting for their individual needs, backgrounds, rights and current circumstances.
- To advise and support the young survivor and their care givers around processes connected to criminal justice, child protection and education. This will involve attending and arranging meetings with other relevant professionals as needed.
- To empower and enable children and young people to take age-appropriate responsibility by providing accurate, up-to-date information, enabling them to make informed choices about their circumstances.
- To provide advocacy support where required to ensure the voice of the young survivor is heard by other professionals, promoting their wellbeing and best interests.
- To provide face-to-face and telephone emotional support services to children, young people and their families/care givers, both short and long term.
- Remain up-to-date with other services and support for young people locally, ensuring appropriate and timely onwards referrals are made when required.
- To liaise with the police and criminal justice agencies on behalf of the child, young person, parent/carer, adhering to CRCC's confidentiality and safeguarding policies.
- To provide support to young survivors around court, including arrangeing pre-trial court visits to reduce anxiety.
- To liaise with the investigating police officer to ensure young survivors and their families are kept up-to-date and informed around next steps.
- To maintain accurate and up-to-date records of the support offered to young survivors via the service.
- To contribute to CRCC's wider emotional support and outreach work with children and young people, such as groups and visits to educational settings.
- To work as part of the countywide ISVA team to deliver high quality care and support and to participate in the development of CRCC's services for children and young people.
- To follow all CRCC's policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding and data protection processes.
Individual responsibilities:
- Manage own caseload.
- Attend and participate regularly in team meetings, management and clinical supervision.
- Keep up-to-date with relevant developments and research in relation to sexual violence, criminal justice policies and legislative changes.
- To maintain a healthy work/life balance, taking responsibility for scheduling time off and balancing workloads with support from managers where required.
- Provide specialist advice to other workers and agencies, including delivering training sessions.
- Maintain a clear understanding of the impacts of sexual violence on children and young people, working alongside other relevant professionals to help keep them safe.
- Be fully aware of available resources to promote access to support, such as interpreters, signers etc.
- Engage in and support CRCC's monitoring and evaluation processes, enabling the evaluation of effectiveness of the service.
Flexibility Statement
The content of this job description represents an outline of the post only and is, therefore, not a precise catalogue of duties and responsibilities. No job description can cover every issue which may arise within the post at various times, asn the post holder is expected to carry out other duties from time to time which are broadly consistent with those in this document. This document is intended to be flexible and is subject to review and amendment in the light of changing circumstances and following consultation with the post holder.
Person specification
Short-listing and subsequent selection for this post will be determined by the extent to which you meet the requirements detailed in this person specification. You should try to demonstrate on the application form the extent to which you satisfy each of the points of this specification.
The requirements specified for the role are essential, unless marked as desirable, and will be assessed by application form and interview.
Experience
- Experience of providing practical and emotional support to survivors of sexual violence or other crimes.
- Significant experience of working with vulnerable children and young people.
- Experience of working within a multi-agency framework/with staff from different professional backgrounds.
- Experience of safeguarding children and young people.
- Experience of working with sexual health and mental health services (desirable).
- Experience of working in the women's sector (desirable).
Knowledge and understanding
- Knowledge of the nature of sexual violence and its effects of survivors.
- Knowledge of the criminal justice system in relation to rape, and other forms of sexual violence.
- A good understanding of child safeguarding and legal responsibilities.
- Knowledge of the range of statutory and voluntary agencies which survivors may come into contact with following disclosing sexual violence.
- Thorough understanding of confidentiality and data protection principles.
- Knowledge of legal, welfare and housing rights (desirable).
- Knowledge of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR, Human Rights Act and the Children Act 2004 (desirable).
Skills/attributes
- Ability to communicate clearly, tactfully, and effectively with a range of people by telephone, in writing and in person, including around sensitive and/or complex issues.
- Ability to prioritise and manage own workload flexibly.
- Ability to manage high caseloads and plan time effectively.
- Ability to take initiative and problem solve.
- High level of influencing and advocacy skills.
- Ability and willingness to develop skills to enhance practice and the service.
- Ability to work on own or as part of a team.
- Administrative and computer skills in Microsoft 365.
- Understanding and commitment to equal opportunities and anti-oppressive practice.
Values/attitudes
- Commitment to improving the lives of young survivors of sexual violence.
- Wilingness to participate in training and professional development.
- Clear boundaries around confidential working practices.
- Commitment to delivering a quality service.
- Ability to be positive and constrauctive in the promotion of good practice to safeguard children and young people.
- Commitment to confidentiality and safety of self and others.
- Commitment to working inter-professionally and inter-agency.
- Commitment to equal opportunities and anti-oppressive practice.
Education
- Ch/ISVA qualification, Rape Crisis qualification/training (desirable).
- Educated to degree level in relevant discipline, such as Sociology, Criminology or Psychology (desirable).
Other
- Full UK Driving Licence and access to own vehicle that can be used for work.
How to apply
Visit https://cambridgerapecrisis.org.uk/recruitment/ for more information about the role and to apply.
We can't accept CVs or covering letters, either via Indeed or by email. Applications must be made using the application form provided on our website (as detailed above).
Deadline for applications is 23:59 on Thursday 20 August 2026. However, we reserve the right to close this vacancy early once sufficent applications for the role are received. Therefore, if you are interested, we encourage you to submit your application as early a possible to avoid disappointment.
Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract
Pay: £28,505.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Work Location: In person
