Victim and Survivor Network Engagement Lead in the Office of the Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales (Ref: 23506)

This position is based Nationally

The Victims' Commissioner is an independent statutory office established to promote the interests of victims and witnesses, encourage good practice and keep under review the operation of the Victims' Code. The Office of the Victims' Commissioner works with government, criminal justice agencies, victim support organisations and stakeholders to improve victims' experiences and outcomes across England and Wales.

The Victims’ Commissioner’s Office for England and Wales is establishing a victim and survivor panel for adult survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). The panel will provide a supportive, empowering and independent mechanism for adult victims and survivors to inform government policy and practice, helping to ensure survivor insight is reflected in policy and decision-making related to tackling CSAE across safeguarding, criminal justice and child protection systems.

The postholder will work alongside, and be line managed by, the Victim and Survivor Participation Manager. They will lead the development and coordination of the Panel’s wider victim and survivor network, building trusted relationships with established survivor forums, community groups and sector partners so that wider insight can inform cross-government policy work on child sexual abuse and exploitation.

This is a specialist role requiring experience of trauma-informed, survivor-centred engagement. Working closely with the wider Victims’ Commissioner’s Office, cross-government departments and third sector partners, the postholder will identify where wider network engagement could add value to the Panel’s forward look of activity and ensure engagement is ethical, purposeful and well-coordinated.

Key Responsibilities

Stakeholder partnerships

• Map established forums, community groups and sector partners that could enhance the Panel’s reach, including with underrepresented groups, communities, identities and experiences.
• Proactively build trusted working relationships with forum leads, facilitation teams and sector partners to support ethical and coordinated wider survivor engagement, recognising and adapting the approach to respond to the intersectional barriers that may affect participation.
• Work closely with the Survivor Participation Manager to identify and develop where wider network engagement could complement the Panel’s activity and help inform cross-government policy development, implementation and accountability.
• Be responsible for regular contact with established forums to understand their schedules, priorities, capacity and preferred ways of working, and agree shared approaches that support clear, ethical and coordinated engagement.

Trauma-informed coordination of wider engagement

• Coordinate wider network engagement in line with the Panel’s approach, terms of reference and engagement principles, ensuring activity is trauma-informed and aligned with forum schedules and the Panel’s forward pipeline.
• Lead regular communication with wider network leads and facilitation teams, including invitations, updates, briefing materials and follow-up correspondence, ensuring engagement is clear, timely, sensitive and aligned with agreed ways of working.
• Support the Victims’ Commissioner’s Office, cross-government officials, ministers and partners to prepare appropriately for engagement with wider survivor forums, including by advising on trauma-informed practice, sensitive language, boundaries and accessibility considerations.
• Manage clear feedback loops with wider network participants and facilitation teams, ensuring they are kept updated on how their input has been considered, where it has informed policy or practice, and where further work is ongoing.

Policy input and insight gathering

• Be responsible for ensuring wider network engagement is designed to capture insight safely and clearly, with appropriate arrangements for recording, anonymising and feeding themes into the Panel’s workplan and relevant cross-government policy teams.
• Work with the Survivor Participation Manager to draw together wider network insight and Panel input, identifying areas of alignment, difference or emerging concern that may inform policy development, implementation or accountability.
• Lead on identifying where wider network engagement could strengthen government understanding of victim and survivor experiences, including where particular perspectives or experiences may need further exploration.

Governance

• Be responsible for clear, ethical processes for wider network engagement, ensuring activity is well planned, recorded and aligned with the Panel’s approach.
• Manage accurate records of wider network engagement, including key contacts, planned activity, risks, actions agreed and follow-up required.
• Support clear escalation and decision-making routes between the Panel, wider forums and government stakeholders where issues, risks or competing priorities arise.

Policy, briefing and communications support

• Provide policy, engagement and briefing support to the Survivor Participation Manager, Victims’ Commissioner and wider VCO colleagues on Panel related issues.
• Support Panel related communications, including stakeholder updates, website content and wider messaging, ensuring content is accurate, sensitive and aligned with agreed positioning.
• Manage enquiries relating to the Panel through the Victims’ Commissioner’s dedicated inbox, ensuring queries are triaged, responded to or escalated appropriately.

Monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement

• Manage and maintain a clear log of wider network engagement activity, including forums engaged, themes raised, feedback provided, actions agreed and follow-up required.
• Use engagement records, wider data insights, feedback and emerging issues to proactively identify recurring, themes and gaps in reach or evidence, recommending where further engagement may be needed.
• Contribute to the Panel’s annual impact and learning report by providing evidence of wider network engagement, key themes, feedback, policy influence and learning for future engagement.

Person Specification

Essential criteria

• Knowledge and understanding of child sexual abuse and exploitation, including its impact on victims and survivors and the importance of trauma-informed, survivor-centred engagement.
• Experience working with victim and survivor forums, lived experience panels, advisory groups, community networks or third sector organisations, ideally in a participation, engagement or policy context.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills, including experience working with external partners, community organisations, networks, forums or facilitation teams.
• Experience coordinating or supporting participation activity across multiple partners, including preparing materials, aligning schedules and ways of working, supporting sessions, recording themes and following up actions.
• Ability to gather, record and summarise insight ethically and anonymously, ensuring themes are presented clearly and respectfully to support policy, practice or organisational learning.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear, sensitive and accessible communications for a range of audiences.
• Strong organisational skills, including maintaining logs, tracking actions, supporting feedback loops and contributing to monitoring, evaluation or learning products.
• Good judgement and confidence escalating risks or concerns