Head of Learning and Training

National Association for People Abused in Childhood

Hours
35 hours per week

About the Organisation

NAPAC provides the only free national support service for adult survivors of all types of childhood abuse. We offer specialist, confidential support to all adult survivors of any type of abuse, operated by experienced staff and trained volunteers. NAPAC works closely with the criminal justice and public health sectors. We support survivors to navigate and understand their options with criminal and civil law, and in healing and recovery. Choice is key, and our website provides a lot of free information for survivors and those supporting them. 

As a trusted support service, survivors engage with NAPAC to disclose childhood abuse, to be heard and comforted, and to be able to make brave, positive choices every day – including asking for help when they need it. Those using our services ask for support with a range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, isolation, reporting to the police, domestic and sexual violence, boundaries, and complex post-traumatic stress. For many, contacting NAPAC is a first step to recovering from trauma and leading happier, more fulfilled lives.

We have four main areas of focus:

• We run the UK’s only free national telephone and email support service for all adult survivors of any kind of childhood abuse
• A model for intensive psycho-educational support groups for survivors of abuse, which can be delivered online or in-person (funding dependent)
• We provide extensive training for professionals who engage with adult survivors of childhood abuse and anyone at risk of vicarious trauma
• We conduct research and advocacy, using our own data and working in partnership to raise survivors’ voices in policy and practice across the UK

About the role

The Head of Learning and Training is responsible for leading the strategic direction, quality, and development of NAPAC’s learning offer. This pivotal role ensures the organisation has a high-quality, trauma-informed training and consultancy function that supports NAPAC’s mission, strengthens professional practice, and generates impact across a wide range of audiences. The postholder will lead the creation, refresh, and continuous improvement of NAPAC’s learning content and products, including bespoke training, webinars, online learning, and practical resources.

They will bring strong facilitation credibility of their own, with the ability to deliver high-quality and engaging training sessions and to model, coach, and quality assure the excellent standard expected across NAPAC’s wider trainer network. A central part of the role is to combine strong content leadership with a sustainable delivery model. The postholder will oversee and strengthen a blended approach that uses NAPAC’s internal expertise alongside external trainers and training associates, ensuring delivery is scalable, consistent, and aligned with survivor perspectives and trauma-informed practice.

The role also requires a strong grasp of the subject matter underpinning NAPAC’s work. We are seeking someone who brings, or can evidence substantial equivalent experience of, psychological, therapeutic, trauma-informed, or clinically grounded approaches relevant to adult survivors of childhood abuse and neglect. Intellectual curiosity, excellent research skills, and the ability to translate complex material into accessible, high-quality learning are all essential.

The Head of Learning and Training will work closely with colleagues to shape the learning offer, respond to client needs, strengthen partnerships, support external trainers, and ensure that NAPAC’s products remain evidence-informed, engaging, and operationally credible. CEO, Head of Communications and Advocacy, Head of Development, Head of Support Services, the Stockport team, Marketing and Business Development Executive, external trainers and partners, and relevant external stakeholders. 

The ideal candidate will bring strong learning and development leadership, excellent facilitation and content-creation skills, intellectual curiosity and the ability to translate complex trauma-related material into engaging, high-quality learning for a wide range of audiences. They will be strategically minded and collaborative, but also sufficiently hands-on to model, coach and quality assure excellent delivery across NAPAC’s wider trainer network.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership of Learning and Training:

• Lead the strategic direction, quality, and development of NAPAC’s end-to-end learning and training offer, ensuring it supports the organisation’s mission, reputation, and wider organisational priorities.
• Work with the CEO, Chief Operating Officer, and colleagues to align the learning offer with organisational needs and identify opportunities to strengthen reach, relevance, and impact.
• Ensure that systems, planning, and ways of working support an efficient, professional, and sustainable learning function.
• Contribute specialist expertise to organisational planning, funding applications, and external submissions where relevant.

Content Creation, Curriculum Design, and Subject-Matter Leadership:

• Lead the creation, refresh, and continuous improvement of NAPAC’s training and consultancy products, including bespoke content, webinars, online learning, toolkits, and practical resources.
• Translate research, survivor insight, trauma-informed practice, and clinically grounded knowledge into clear, engaging, and high-quality learning for professional audiences.
• Ensure all learning content is evidence-informed, trauma-informed, accessible, and relevant to different audiences and settings.
• Work closely with internal colleagues and, where appropriate, external experts to ensure that content reflects current research, survivor perspectives, and wider policy and practice developments.
• Oversee the development and continuous improvement of online learning modules and the learning management system to ensure a high-quality learner experience.

Training Delivery, Quality Assurance & Trainer Development:

• Deliver high-quality training sessions yourself, including flagship, bespoke, and strategically important sessions where your own facilitation and subject expertise adds value.
• Set, model and maintain the NAPAC standard for excellent training delivery, ensuring consistency of tone, quality and trauma-informed practice across the function.
• Lead the recruitment, contracting, induction, support, and quality assurance of external trainers and training associates.
• Design and oversee the delivery model across the external trainer network and internal colleagues, ensuring training is well planned, high-quality, and aligned with client needs, subject matter, and delivery format.
• Develop and strengthen approaches such as train-the-trainer activity, briefing, coaching, onboarding, and ongoing development so that external trainers are well equipped to deliver to NAPAC’s expected standard.
• Maintain a structured associate model including performance frameworks, feedback loops, and utilisation planning to support consistency, quality, and sustainability.

Stakeholder Relationships and Client Engagement:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, commissioners, partner organisations, and other external stakeholders, acting as a polished and credible representative of NAPAC.
• Engage clients to understand their needs and shape training and consultancy responses that are practical, high-quality, and aligned with NAPAC’s expertise.
• Work with relevant colleagues to refine offers, shape proposals, and support client conversations so that commissioned work is deliverable, high-quality, and well aligned with organisational capacity.
• Support the growth and profile of NAPAC’s learning offer through strong relationship management, excellent delivery, and a reputation for quality.

Trauma Informed Organisations Programme and consultancy:

• Lead and develop the Trauma Informed Organisations Programme, ensuring it remains high quality, practical and responsive to client needs.
• Work with internal and external stakeholders to promote and expand the programme and identify opportunities for wider uptake.
• Provide consultancy input to organisations and policymakers on survivor-related issues where this falls within NAPAC’s remit and supports the organisation’s strategic aims.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Continuous Improvement:

• Develop and implement effective approaches to monitoring and evaluation so that NAPAC can assess the quality, impact and reach of its learning offer.
• Collect and analyse client and participant feedback to improve products, delivery approaches and trainer performance over time.
• Use insight, data and market intelligence to inform decision-making and strengthen the overall learning strategy.
• Prepare reports and updates on activity, impact and performance for internal and external stakeholders as required.

Leadership and Organisational Contribution:

• Line manage relevant staff and contribute to a positive, collaborative and high-performing working culture.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge through reading, networking, conferences and professional development.
• Perform any other duties as reasonably requested by the line manager and CEO.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Learning, Content & Training Expertise:

• Significant experience in a senior learning and development, training, consultancy or related leadership role.
• Strong experience in creating, refreshing and improving training or consultancy content for external audiences, including bespoke as well as repeatable offers.
• Excellent understanding of adult learning, learning design and accessibility across face-to-face and online formats.
• Proven ability to deliver engaging, high-quality training and facilitation yourself.
• Experience in translating research, theory and complex subject matter into practical knowledge and skills for professional audiences.
• Experience of supporting, coaching, developing or quality assuring staff, trainers, associates or faculty networks.

Subject Knowledge & Approach:

• Substantial knowledge of trauma-informed practice and the broad impacts of childhood abuse and neglect on adult survivors.
• A psychology, counselling, psychotherapy, mental health, clinical or equivalent trauma-related background would be highly desirable.
• Where candidates do not hold a formal clinical qualification, they should be able to demonstrate substantial equivalent experience of working with psychologically informed or trauma-related content at a high level.
• Intellectual curiosity, strong research skills and the ability to learn quickly and thoughtfully where needed.
• Positive attitude towards survivors, their support and recovery.

Leadership, Relationships & Organisational fit:

• Outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to build credibility and rapport with a broad range of stakeholders.
• A polished and confident external presence, with evidence of managing senior relationships well.
• Collaborative and able to work in partnership with colleagues and clients, ideally with a strengths-based and trauma-informed leadership approach.
• Strategic, organised and able to manage competing priorities while building systems and capacity through others.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate ideas into clear, high-quality products and proposals.

Desirable Additional Experience:

• Good knowledge of the UK health and social care sectors, criminal justice and civil law systems, and third sector organisations working with survivors of sexual and other forms of abuse.
• Experience in managing learning management, CRM or other relevant internal systems.
• Experience in leading or contributing to accreditation processes and other quality markers.

Compensation & Benefits

• 25 days of annual leave
• Contributory pension scheme with 5% employer contribution, subject to a minimum 3% employee contribution, and HSF health plan.

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely

How to apply

• To apply, please send to [email protected] the following documents:
  • A CV of no more than two pages
  • A supporting statement of no more than two pages setting out how you meet the requirements of the role

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