Water Safety Officer - Ilfracombe

About us 

The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea, but it’s not limited to launching a lifeboat or providing lifeguards to save lives.

Water safety contributes to the RNLI’s vision of saving every one, by developing Water Safety and Lifesaving Plans and working with Partners to help influence improved safety, to reduce the number of preventable deaths and incidents that occur within local coastal and inland waterway environments.

The Water Safety Officer is a pivotal role in that you would be involved in the design and implementation of the Water Safety and Lifesaving Plan, liaising closely with the local Lifeboat Operations Team, Area Lifesaving Manager, and the Water Safety team. A Water Safety and Lifesaving Plan is designed to identify “at risk” groups to reduce fatalities and serious incidents by working with partners to develop specifically targeted interventions.

This is a great volunteer opportunity for someone who can be effective both within a team and on a stand-alone basis. If you would like to join a friendly, dedicated, motivated team and you fit the criteria above or, have some of the required skills, we would like to hear from you.

The impact you will make

Contribute to the RNLI’s vision of saving every one, by developing Water Safety and Lifesaving Plans to reduce the number of preventable deaths and incidents that occur within local coastal and inland waterway environment.

What you will be doing

• Design and implement the Water Safety and Lifesaving Plan to ensure delivery of targeted interventions to specific ‘at risk’ groups
• Coordinate activity and interventions of the Water Safety and Lifesaving Plan
• Lead regular water safety meetings and be a member of and represent water safety on the Operations team at the lifeboat station
• Collate and report water safety activity
• Be involved in other activities as required

Find out more about becoming a water safety education volunteer

What you need for this role

• Good knowledge/experience of coastal/inland waterway environment and local water based activity
• IT literate
• Supervisory experience
• Understanding of risk management
• Analytical skills

What’s in it for you

• Join an inclusive and diverse organisation
• Have fun, meet new people and join a motivated and enthusiastic team who are making a difference
• Learn skills and gain experience to enhance your CV
• Gain the satisfaction of giving back
• Training to fulfil your volunteer role will be provided and reasonable out of pocket expenses reimbursed

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.