Army Cadet Safeguarding Manager

Job summary

The Army Cadets is a national uniformed youth organisation comprising around 68,000 children and 11,000 committed adult volunteers. These volunteers support two key elements: the community‑based Army Cadet Force (ACF) and the school‑based Army Section of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF). The organisation provides a stimulating and rewarding environment, equipping young people with the skills, confidence, and resilience needed for success in later life.

The Ministry of Defence, through Regional Command Cadets Branch in Aldershot, oversees the Army Cadet Force. The Army Cadet Safeguarding Hub plays a central role in meeting safeguarding responsibilities, managing and assessing concerns, and determining appropriate action. It also leads the development and delivery of safeguarding policies, procedures, and training across the organisation, promoting a strong safeguarding culture with the wellbeing of children at its core. In addition, the Hub acts as the lead point of engagement on cadet safeguarding matters with the Ministry of Defence and external civilian statutory authorities, ensuring effective collaboration, oversight, and alignment with national safeguarding standards.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The Safeguarding Casework Manager plays a critical role in delivering the Cadet Branch safeguarding agenda, ensuring that all safeguarding concerns are assessed promptly, consistently, and in line with statutory and organisational standards. The role requires confident leadership of complex safeguarding casework, supporting decision-making, contributing to briefings, and working in close partnership with a wide range of stakeholders across Defence, wider government, and the voluntary sector.

Based within the Army Cadet Safeguarding Hub in Aldershot, the postholder will lead and oversee a team of caseworkers undertaking safeguarding enquiries across the Army Cadets. This includes directing and quality assuring investigations, making defensible, child-centred decisions, and ensuring appropriate referrals are made to external agencies such as Children’s Social Care, the Police, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), where required.

The role demands strong professional judgement, experience in child protection, and the ability to operate effectively within multi-agency environments. The postholder will engage with a broad range of stakeholders, including young people, families, adult volunteers, and staff, alongside representatives from statutory and third-sector organisations. They will provide expert safeguarding leadership, advice, and guidance, contributing to a culture of safeguarding excellence across the organisation.

As a safeguarding manager, the role includes leading and managing caseworkers, ensuring high standards of practice and supporting continuous professional development within the team.

This position offers an excellent opportunity for experienced safeguarding professionals from backgrounds such as Social Work, Youth Work, Education, or Policing to apply their expertise within a growing national youth organisation. It requires resilience, adaptability, and the ability to manage a team with diverse professional backgrounds, overseeing complex caseloads across a wide geographical area, including occasional travel within the UK and overseas.

While the role is primarily delivered during standard weekday hours, there is a requirement for flexibility to engage with volunteers and young people outside of core working hours. Participation in an out-of-hours duty rota may also be required, with additional allowances where applicable.

Main Role Responsibilities:

• Promote a child-centred approach, ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of children is always the primary consideration.
• Provide leadership, guidance, and support to safeguarding caseworkers, including line management and supervision responsibilities, to ensure consistent practice and continuous improvement.
• Act as one of three regional management leads for safeguarding concerns, disclosures, and referrals, providing expert advice and coordinating effective responses.
• Manage and oversee safeguarding casework, ensuring all activity is compliant with national legislation, statutory guidance, and Army Cadet policies and procedures.
• Direct safeguarding enquiries and investigations, making informed and defensible decisions regarding the suitability of individuals to remain within the organisation.
• Apply sound professional judgement to complex safeguarding decisions, maintaining clear and auditable rationale.
• Build and sustain effective multi-agency partnerships, attending and contributing to safeguarding meetings both internally and externally.
• Ensure accurate, timely, and comprehensive record keeping, including the completion of all case documentation to a high standard.
• Make appropriate referrals to statutory and regulatory bodies, including LADO, DBS, Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland), and Access Northern Ireland.
• Participate in professional supervision and actively engage in continuous professional development.
• Maintain and apply up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding legislation and guidance, including Working Together to Safeguard Children, the Data Protection Act 2018, and UK GDPR.

Person specification

Essential Skills Required:

• Substantial experience in safeguarding practice, preferable with leadership experience, including front line intervention and/or assessment of risk posed by individuals, suitable professional backgrounds may include Social Work, Policing, Education, Youth Work, Youth Offending Services, Defence Specialist Welfare.
• Experience in a leadership safeguarding role within sectors such as social care, education, youth organisations, or similar setting, alongside a strong understanding of safeguarding frameworks, processes, and interventions.
• Strong analytical skills to assess complex information and make defensible, child-centred decisions.
• Proven ability to lead, manage, and supervise a team of caseworkers.
• Experience managing adiverse and complex caseload,ensuring timely progression and resolution.
• Strong partnership-working skills across statutory, Defence, and third-sector organisations
• Ability to engage effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including young people, families, and professionals
• Ability to ensure casework is legally compliant and aligned with policy
• Capacity to respond to changing demands, including out-of-hours responsibilities

Desirable Skills:

• While there is no essential qualification requirement, experience operating in a safeguarding environment with associated qualifications such as Diploma or Degree in Social Work, Education, Youth Work, Safeguarding or the Defence Specialist Welfare Worker qualification is desirable.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,040, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,337 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance.

Other benefits for Army civil servants include:

• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service
• Highly competitive pension scheme
• Personal and professional development of skills
• Alternative working patterns for many roles
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
• Enhanced parental and adoption leave
• 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities
• Learning and Development
• Pension contribution: 28.97%

We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role.

A modern apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through the schemes available you will gain a professional qualification, practical experience, and the broader skills required to develop in your current role and pave the way for your future career.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Ability and Experience.

When applying you will need to complete an online Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Test.

At application stage you will be assessed against the following:

• Your CV
• Personal Statement - of no more than 750 words detailing how you meet the essential skills criteria
• Behaviour - Leadership

Where a large number of applications are received, an initial sift will be conducted based on the evidence you provide in support of Leadership.

The remaining elements will only be reviewed if you are successful at this initial sift.

At interview stage you will be assessed against the following:

• Experience - Question based on CV & Personal statement
• Behaviour - Making Effective Decisions
• Behaviour - Communicating & Influencing
• Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service.

Application sifting will be scheduled to take place within 10 days of the application closing date. Interview dates will be the week commencing 27th July 2026 and will be held in person. We endeavour to keep to these time frames, but these are subject to change around business needs.

Test Information:

Candidates will be required to complete an online Verbal test.

The Civil Service Judgement Test is not bankable and therefore must be taken on every vacancy where it is applied.

Should you be invited to complete the online tests, please allow sufficient time to complete the tests and the remainder of the full application form; only candidates who are successful at the test stage will be invited to complete the remainder of the application by clicking ‘Submit Application’. Your application must be completed by 23:55 on the closing date of the vacancy. Late submissions cannot be accepted. The tests are not timed, as they work by giving you harder questions if you answer the previous question correctly, and easier if you get it wrong. You should allow up to an hour for each test, and each test must be completed before you will be invited to complete the second part of your application. Internet access will be required for the duration of the test. Please refer to the attached Candidate Guidance for further information.

Candidates that reach the minimum required pass mark will have their results saved as a banked score against the following tests:

• New Civil Service Verbal Test

When a candidate has a banked score they’re not asked to re-take the same test providing it is set at the same level. Scores will be banked for a 6 month period from the date of test completion. If a candidate is invited to take the same test against multiple vacancies, the banked score will be recognised against all vacancies and all active applications will progress.

CSJT scores cannot be banked as each test is generated from the behaviours required for a specific role which will vary between recruitment campaigns.

If you require any particular arrangements (for example due to a disability or health problem) to be made in order for you to complete the online test you MUST contact the DBS Enquiry Centre on 0800 345 7772 BEFORE accessing the online test.

Opening times Mon -Friday 0800- 1600 hrs.

Further Information:

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all DCS candidates that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations such as a high volume of applications, seasonal demand, or peak periods, the employer may wish to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both DCS and non-DCS applicants.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.
Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Nathan Ditton (Hd Safeguarding)
• Email : Nathan.ditton737@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-ResourcingTeam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk.

Attachments

ARMY Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 273kB)Defence Internal Brief notice Opens in new window (docx, 43kB)Defence Civil Service Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)Candidate Information Opens in new window (docx, 32kB)