Location: The City, London

Salary: £48,256 - £56,263

Hours: 34.75

Department: Governance

Job Type: Full time

Contract Type: Permanent

About the GOC

We are the regulator for the optical professions in the UK. We currently register approximately 33,000 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses. Our purpose is to protect the public by promoting high standards of education, conduct and performance amongst opticians.

About the role

We are seeking an enthusiastic and forward-looking equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) Manager to work alongside our employees, members and workers to deliver our EDI strategy for 2025-30.

Our EDI work has been recognised by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) and we have made a substantial series of commitments in our new five-year corporate strategy. This includes a dedicated EDI strategy that sets out of our key objectives as an organisation, including the actions and measures we will use to achieve them.

This is a dynamic role that will enable you to lead the conversation around EDI across our organisation and with key stakeholders, including the professions we regulate. You will develop key relationships to ensure that we model our organisational values and deliver EDI improvements across the breadth of our work as a statutory regulator and charity.

You will lead discussions with senior colleagues and be able to present with confidence and persuasiveness. You will also advocate on behalf of our active staff networks, which celebrate the breadth of our diverse workforce, by ensuring they have the advice and support they need.

You will have the opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise with others and facilitate a collaborative approach to the delivery of our EDI ambitions, matched with excellent opportunities to report on, and celebrate your achievements. You will also have a key role in ensuring that new policies and procedures are fully cognisant of any EDI implications, and support services to identify actions to appropriately manage these impacts.

Supported by the Head of Governance and the Head of People & Culture, you will have the opportunity to make a positive impact in our business planning and strategy development. You will set the tone for the organisation in respect to EDI and ensure that employees, workers and members are able to have sensitive, intelligent conversations about our respective responsibilities around EDI.

Key Accountabilities:

The following will be expected to be achieved by the post holder:

Governance

You will be responsible for:

Providing the key operational support to deliver our five-year EDI strategy, including the production and delivery of an annual EDI action plan.
Developing a partnership approach to deliver our EDI objectives for 2025-30. This includes supporting our senior leadership team to put in place the actions and resources required to deliver on our commitments.
Owning and leading the impact assessment process for our key decision-making and policy development across the business.
Using data and evidence to underpin our conversations and considerations around EDI, as well as to produce EDI reports.
Providing a range of reports and input to provide assurance to Senior Management Team (SMT), Leadership Team, Council and its committees about our compliance with PSA standards of good regulation (with a particular focus on standard 3), including producing an annual EDI report.
Ensuring our compliance with a range of statutory requirements related to equality legislation, including the implementation of the Welsh Language Standards.
Managing a small team.

People & Culture

Develop and deliver training and presentations and workshops to employees, members and workers and relevant stakeholders, including how to complete EDI impact assessments.
Responsible for organising and delivering a varied and impactful programme of wellbeing initiatives across the organisation with support from the Head of People and Culture.
Leading the Staff Networks as a mechanism for driving cultural and systemic change.
Acting as an advisor to staff network leads and ensure they are empowered to influence GOC wide change.
Management of and accountability for the Staff Network budget with support from People and Culture.
Own, develop and maintain the EDI pages of our intranet, including links to the EDI improvement plan, relevant research, reports and events, working with the relevant staff groups.
Advise People Team on inclusive language for job descriptions, policies and processes as required.
Analyse data and draft reports to help complete Gender Pay Gap and others as required.
Be the GOC lead at Inter-Regulatory and Optical Sector EDI Networks.

Reporting and planning

Lead the development and maintenance of effective systems for reporting on equality objectives to ensure equality and diversity is embedded into GOC performance reporting process.
Work with those designing data collection (systems and surveys) to ensure that EDI information is collected using best practice classifications.
Produce data analysis for EDI monitoring and reporting purposes, and ensure there are adequate plans in place to address any identified gaps or potential improvement of outcomes.
Report monthly to SMT on progress delivering the EDI strategy and on progress delivering the recommendations set out in the EDI action plan.
Produce an annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion report, drawing input from analytical colleagues on the data component and from corporate and regulatory areas on relevant parts of our EDI plan.
Contribute to the GOC’s other key reports including the annual business plan and annual report.
Other reporting as identified by the Head of Governance and Head of People and Culture.
Essential skills/Experience/Qualifications:
Knowledge of, and commitment to, all aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Experience of leading project or programme work across teams, with a proven track record for delivery.
Experience of demonstrating equality, diversity and inclusion leadership in a work or voluntary setting, including a commitment to all aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Proven experience of developing and delivering training, events and seminars to others.
Experience of communicating and influencing at all levels of an organisation with credibility and integrity.

GOC Values:

Acts with integrity
Pursues excellence
Respects other people and ideas
Shows empathy
Behaves fairly
Agile and responsive to change

We are committed to ensuring that in exercising all our functions we operate in a fair and transparent manner and in a way that is free from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Within all our functions, we are committed to promoting equality; valuing diversity; being inclusive; and meeting our equality duties. We will not discriminate on age; disability; gender reassignment; race/ethnicity; religion or belief; sex or gender; sexual orientation; marriage and civil partnership; and pregnancy and maternity.

Closing date for applications is 19 March 2025, please note we reserve the right to close the role early dependent on number of applications.

Please provide a covering letter exampling how you meet the essential skills of this role, no more than 2 A4 pages. Please note your application will not be accepted without a covering letter.

REF-219903

General Optical Council

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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager