Specialist Domestic Abuse Practitioner

📍 Location: Agile (After 6 month Probationary Period)

⏳ Contract: Permanent (Subject to Funding)

💷 Salary: £24, 054 to £27,344 (Dependent on qualifications and experience)

🕒 Hours: 35 hours per week plus on-call

📌 Due to the nature of the work we undertake, this role is open to women only, as permitted under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Are you passionate about making a difference?

Do you want to contribute to positive change for those in need? Are you resilient, adaptable, and able to provide trauma-informed support?

If so, we’d love to hear from you.

At Vale Domestic Abuse Services (Vale DAS), we provide specialist support to women and children affected by violence against women, domestic abuse, and sexual violence (VAWDASV). Join us in empowering survivors and helping them build safer, healthier futures. Learn more about us here. 

 The Role

As an SDAP in our DART Team, you will provide trauma-informed, needs-led, strengths-based support to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Your work will help clients to:

✔ Feel safe and secure

✔ Access safe and stable housing

✔ Make informed decisions about their future

✔ Understand and build safe, equal relationships

✔ Develop strong, sustainable support networks

 Key Responsibilities

🔹 Be the first point of contact for survivors, ensuring they understand their rights and available support.

🔹 Provide crisis intervention, assess risks, and create safety and support plans.

🔹 Hold a caseload of clients, ensuring support is tailored to individual needs, backgrounds and experiences.

🔹 Support survivors through their recovery, building professional and trusting relationships.

🔹 Advocate on behalf of clients for safe housing, legal protections, and access to essential services.

🔹 Signpost and refer survivors to relevant services based on their needs and goals.

🔹 Safeguard clients by following Vale DAS’s policies and best practices.

🔹 Maintain accurate, confidential case records in a timely manner.

🔹 Engage survivors in shaping service improvements based on their experiences.

🔹 Regularly review cases with your line manager to assess risk and progress.

About You

You’ll bring:

✅ An IDVA qualification (or equivalent) or experience working within the domestic abuse/VAWDASV sector.

✅ A solid understanding of the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse.

✅ A feminist perspective on violence against women and girls (VAWG).

✅ Experience providing trauma-informed emotional and practical support.

✅ Experience managing a caseload effectively in a busy environment.

✅ Knowledge of housing, criminal, civil, and welfare rights as they relate to domestic abuse.

✅ Strong crisis management skills and the ability to handle complex situations.

✅ An appreciation for timely, accurate record-keeping and case management.

✅ A commitment to our core values: curiosity, kindness, collaboration, and integrity.

💡 For those with an IDVA qualification and at least one year of experience in this role, salaries will be towards the top of the scale.

What We Offer

✨ Employer pension contributions

✨ 35-hour working week

✨ 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays), increasing with service

✨ Birthday leave – because your special day matters!

✨ Enhanced sick pay

✨ Health cash plan

✨ Ongoing training and clinical supervision

✨ Agile working options after probation

How to Apply

At Vale Domestic Abuse Services, we are committed to fair and unbiased recruitment. We use Applied, a platform designed to remove unconscious bias from hiring. Instead of submitting a CV, you will answer skills-based questions, which are anonymised and reviewed impartially.

As part of the process, you will also be asked to provide your work history and qualifications in line with safer recruitment requirements.

💬 If you have any questions about the role, please contact Lisa Ware at Lisa.Ware@valedas.org