Safeguarding Officer – Scotland

Salary: £38,000 to £42,000 (dependent on experience) Contract type: Permanent Hours: Full-Time Location description: Homebased with travel required across Scotland (expensed) Interview location: Initial interview via Teams. 2nd interview in Perth. Interview date: Weds 8th July and Tues 14th July 2026 Closing Date: Reference: 21491

About us

We are an inclusive and values-driven organisation made up of staff and volunteers, all with a simple purpose, to save lives at sea. We do this without prejudice. We respect and value diversity and consider it essential to help us deliver a world-class lifesaving service, which we have been doing for over 200 years.

We’re looking for a Safeguarding Officer (Scotland) to join our Safeguarding Team. The Safeguarding Team helps to create a safe and inclusive RNLI for all our people and the communities we come into contact with. The Safeguarding Officer will play an integral role in creating a sustainable and future-proof safeguarding function.

This role is homebased requiring regular travel within the region – Scotland – as well as travel across the UK and Ireland when required.

Some of the benefits

– Salary £38,000 to £42,000 (dependent on experience) – 26 days’ annual leave plus Bank Holidays – Competitive pension scheme (employer contributions of up to 10% of basic salary) – Life assurance – Health cashplan option – Mileage, travel and subsistence expenses reimbursed in line with RNLI policy

Your Role

As a Safeguarding Officer, you will deliver safeguarding activities, support the implementation of policy and guidance, act as the lead practitioner in the management of safeguarding disclosures and lead safeguarding investigations.

You will be tasked with the following areas:

– Act as the safeguarding lead practitioner across the geographical patch, providing high-quality, practical safeguarding advice, oversight, guidance and support. – Coordinate and lead the assessment of all safeguarding allegations in line with the RNLI’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedures. – Lead and manage delegated safeguarding investigations. – Manage complex and sensitive safeguarding cases. – Operate within the legal, statutory and regulatory frameworks and report matters to external agencies within set timescales, such as LADO teams. – Manage the criminal vetting check positive disclosure process. – Act as an enabler in the delivery of positive activities for children, young people and adults engaged with or who come into contact with the RNLI.

About You

You’ll be someone with a proven ability to set and deliver on strategic Safeguarding direction, an active listener and strong communicator who is able to create and deliver powerful written and verbal communication to a variety of audiences.

You will need to demonstrate experience of the following essential criteria:

– Hold a minimum Level 3 Safeguarding Qualification. – Experience of leading and conducting safeguarding investigations. – Experience of challenging and influencing organisational culture and behaviour. – Valid Driving Licence.

Please apply via the button shown, we'd love to hear from you!

This post requires a valid driving licence.

Safeguarding

The RNLI is committed to safeguarding; protecting a person’s health, wellbeing, and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment and have a zero-tolerance approach. The suitability of all prospective employees and volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment. This will include relevant criminal record checks being carried out dependent on the eligibility of the role. (England & Wales; DBS check, Scotland; Disclosure Scotland PVG, Northern Ireland; Access NI, Republic of Ireland; Garda Vetting; International, International Child Protection Certificate process).

Diversity at the RNLI

Our staff and volunteers have been saving lives at sea without prejudice for 200 years. We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams, and consider it essential to help us deliver a world-class lifesaving service. We are an inclusive organisation and welcome applications from everyone. In addition to having the skills needed for the role, we also look for applicants who share our commitment to living our RNLI values (trustworthy, courageous, selfless, and dependable) and helping us work towards Our Vision: To save Every One.