Sands offers support to anyone affected by the death of a baby.
Sands is looking to recruit an outstanding and people-focused candidate to lead our Bereavement Support Services Team. This is a high-profile role which is responsible for ensuring that all those approaching Sands for support receive an excellent service that meets their individual needs, that the quality of support provided remains consistently high and all team members are appropriately managed and supported. The role provides an opportunity to make real change by driving the organisational and team strategies to make the support that Sands provides accessible to bereaved families from all backgrounds within the community, as well as groups at higher risk of experiencing stillbirth and neonatal death.
With demonstrable experience of delivering and managing trauma informed bereavement support services and counselling at a strategic level, you will possess an excellent understanding of grief theory and bereavement support and be qualified accordingly. Additionally, you will have experience of working with and providing services for diverse communities and have a good understanding of their specific needs.
As this role will require you to lead a highly motivated and diverse team who are all home-based, you will have excellent people management skills and be able to support your team accordingly. You will have outstanding verbal and written communication skills and be able to develop high quality services which remain responsive to the changing needs of external stakeholders. With excellent relationship building skills, you will demonstrate a high level of empathy in all aspects of your work.
A high level of project leadership skills is essential, as is the ability to produce complex statistical reports and analyse data and trends. A thorough understanding of safeguarding in the context of baby loss and a commitment to ensuring excellent practice is also required.
This is a key role at Sands heading up the UK’s leading bereavement support services team for baby loss. It is an opportunity to make real change by driving the organisational and team strategies to reach more people and higher risk groups, through traditional and digital/innovative channels. Leading a dedicated team of around 16 staff you can shape the future of service delivery, and ensure Sands provides support whenever and wherever people need us.
You will work with colleagues and teams across the organisation to ensure best practice is embedded at all key touch points and play a role ensuring that significant events and moments in the year are providing the right support, information and activities.
You will work with the team, Director and CEO to help drive change and best practice in the sector through thought leadership and implementation of best practice.
The overall aims of this role are to:
- Drive the bereavement support strategy for Sands to deliver choice, excellence and support for all, including the introduction of a counselling tier
- Ensure that innovation and thought leadership enable Sands to continue to evolve, improve and develop the bereavement support that is offered
- Ensure that bereavement support is a ‘golden thread’ throughout Sands, ensuring that all staff are equipped to engage with bereaved parents in the different contexts of their work
- Effectively inspire, support and manage the BSS team
- Ensure that those approaching the organisation receive excellent support services that meet their needs
- Ensure that all support services have the capacity to grow in order to meet demand in both diversity and capacity, with particular focus on digital support
- Ensure that the quality of all support offered remains consistently and demonstrably high and that there is a constant striving for diversification and improvement
- Provide safeguarding expertise and process as Deputy Safeguarding Lead for Sands
Sands is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We are committed to promoting equality, valuing diversity and working inclusively. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age or any other category protected by law.
To apply:
Please submit your CV, together with a supporting statement that demonstrates how you meet the criteria in the person specification to recruitment@sands.org.uk.
Please also complete the Diversity and Equality Monitoring Form and send this with your application.
CVs and supporting statements should be sent as attachments to an email in either Word or PDF format. The title of the attachments should be your first name, surname and either CV or supporting statement e.g. “NAME CV”
Closing date for applications: 8th March 2026 23:59pm
Interview dates: Week commencing the 30th March 2026
As we have limited staff resources we are unable to provide candidates with feedback about their applications. Interviews will be held online.
