Frequently Asked Questions

You can see a list of all our open vacancies by going to https://careers.redcross.org.uk/.

You can either use our interactive map to see which roles are available local to you, or you can use the search bar to look for roles that match your experience. You can also sign up for job alerts – How to do this is further down the page.

Unfortunately, we do not offer sponsorship as standard for our roles. If the role we have is open to sponsorship, we will specifically state this in the advert.

Before filling out your application, you’ll need the following information: Education History, Work History, Personal Details and an updated copy of your CV.

Once you have this to hand locate the vacancy on our website (https://careers.redcross.org.uk/). Take some time to read over the advert and the Job description/role profile (found attached to each advert) particularly the person specification section, this will give you a steer on what the hiring manager will be looking for at shortlisting. When you are ready click the apply button to start your application.

Please note that all sections of the online application form must be completed. All applications must be made through our website, we cannot accept any offline applications such as CV’s as you won’t have answered any of the mandatory questions we ask of all applicants.

If you are experiencing any issues applying for one of our vacancies, please reach out to the recruitment team and we can support at [email protected]. If you are unable to apply online or don’t have access to a computer, we may be able to send a manual application form.

Use your application to tell us about you, your skills, and your experience. We want to know what makes you the perfect person for the role. Consider how your own knowledge, experience, and skills align with the person specification section of the role profile giving examples where possible to strengthen your application. Not all your examples need to be work related, don’t forget to include examples of lived experiences, volunteering, clubs and/or other groups.

We shortlist based on how the essential criteria outlined in the job description matched your Employment History and Supporting Statement. The job description can be found on our website attached to the advert. Look for the button that says, “job description/role profile” to locate it. We recommend that you save a copy of the Job description as it may help you prepare for an interview.

Has the role closed and you can no longer access the Job description? Email the recruitment team and we can send you a copy.

We’d also suggest you read about the work we do and our values. We’re keen to understand what motivated you to apply for this role and why you’re interested in working with us.

After you have applied for a vacancy with us, your application will first be screened by a member of the recruitment team and then sent to the hiring manager for them to shortlist. The hiring manager will review your application against the essential criteria for the role (outlined in the job description). We aim to let you know the outcome of the shortlisting stage within 2 weeks of the closing date.

Never miss another opportunity again, register for job alerts. By signing up for job alerts you will be notified by email whenever we are recruiting for a new role. You can customise your job alert based on your preferences so that you only get notified when vacancies that match your specifications come up.

We take every possible step to ensure that everyone is treated equally and fairly, and that decisions on recruitment and selection are based solely on job-related criteria. Therefore, we utilise a “name-blind” process where personal details including name, and email address or contact information, is not shared with the hiring manager until you are invited to an interview or assessment.

Please make sure not to include any personal identification details on your supporting statement (name, email address etc).

We recognise that living in London can be expensive. That’s why we offer a London Weighting Allowance to all our employees who live in one of the following Greater London boroughs:

Inner London: Camden, City of London, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, and Westminster.

Outer London: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, and Waltham Forest.

The hiring manager will be able to advise at offer stage if this is applicable to you based on your home address.

On some of our vacancies we advertise that the salary includes a market supplement. This is an additional allowance that is added on top of the salary for some roles where the market rate salary for the job is higher than our salary banding.

At the British Red Cross, we are proud to be a disability confident employer. We are committed to ensuring everyone feels welcome at the British Red Cross. As such, we participate in the disability confident scheme for roles based in the UK.

During the application process, you will be asked if you wish to apply under the disability confident scheme.

We will offer interviews to disabled candidates (as defined in the 2010 Equality Act), who meet the minimum shortlisting criteria in the advertised person specification and apply under the disability confident scheme. There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people that meet the minimum criteria, for example when we receive a high number of applications, we may limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.

If you have been invited to interview, we will contact you via email to invite you to book an interview slot on our system.

We will also send reminders to any candidates who have not booked in before the interview is scheduled to take place. Please check your emails, including junk folders, for details.

If you are invited to interview and are for any reason unable to attend, we will try our best to find an alternative time. However, this may not always be possible. Interview reschedules will be dependent on Hiring Panel availability and time constraints.

If you wish to reschedule your interview you can contact the Hiring Manager directly, their contact details can be found on the interview invite email or you can contact the recruitment team by going to our Contact us page and completing the form.

If you would like to withdraw your application or cancel your interview, you can do this by logging into your job profile on our website (https://careers.redcross.org.uk/).

If you'd like to change your interview time, please sign into your profile at select 'Interviews' and click the 'Change Slot' button. From here, you'll be able to select an alternative time slot from the remaining available options. You'll be able to change your interview time up to 23 hours before the first available interview date/time.

If you're unable to attend the slot you have selected or you would like to cancel your interview, please sign into your profile and click the 'Cancel' button beside the time slot on the Interviews page, you can use the free text box to give us more details.

In the event you aren't able to log into your account, you can contact the Hiring Manager directly, their contact details can be found on the interview invite email or you can contact the recruitment team by going to our Contact us page and completing the form.

All formal interviews at the British Red Cross will be conducted by a panel so that any decisions made are made as a collective group. You can expect to be interviewed by at least two panel members. Any additional requirements at interview stage will be communicated in advance.

Interviews are typically a mix of behavioural, competency, situational and values-based questions. Looking at the job description and the skills required for the role should give you a steer on what kind of questions may be asked about your abilities and experience.

We want to see specific, measurable examples, but these don’t have to be work related. Think about personal projects, examples from hobbies or interests that are relevant might be applicable.

Remember interviews are a two-way street, we want to find out about your skills and experience, but we also want you to ask question to see if this role is the right fit for you. If you have questions about the role, the team, the organisation, please prepare them in advance as this is your opportunity to find out more.

As part of our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, we do our best to be a disability friendly employer, we offer reasonable adjustments at interview such as extra time to those who need it.

We would like to hear from you as soon as possible if there are any reasonable adjustments you need to allow you to perform your best at interview so we can put them in place.

Please email us on [email protected] to tell us what support you need quoting the job title and reference number (If known) so that we can arrange this for you.

We appreciate every candidate who invests time in our recruitment process as such we offer interview feedback to anyone who wants it. If you would like interview feedback, please contact the recruitment team directly at [email protected] quoting the job title and vacancy ID number if possible.

If you applied for a position through the British Red Cross Careers Site,please use the email address that the Onboarding team has contacted you on as your username to log in.

If you have forgotten your password, you can reset your password using the ‘Forgot Password?’ feature. Again, please use the email address that the Onboarding team has contacted you on as your username to reset your password.

If you aren’t able to reset the password yourself, please contact the Onboarding team by going to our Contact us page and completing the form.

Please refer to this link to the government website for acceptable right to work.

For non-UK employees:

You will need to obtain your share code which can be done via this link, once you have this, you will share this with your hiring manager who will conduct an online right to work check via the government website.

If you have a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) card, unfortunately this cannot be used to prove your right to work in the UK. Since April 2022 the legislation in the UK changed to advise that physical BRP cards cannot be used as proof of Right to Work, instead only online checks will be acceptable.

For non-UK or Irish nationals, you will need to provide your hiring manager with a share code and your date of birth so that they can complete an online Right to Work check. For more information, please visit the government website: www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work.

Once you provide your hiring manager with your Right to Work Share Code and date of birth, they will arrange a meeting (either face-to-face or via video call) to complete the online Right to Work check in your presence.

If you applied for a position through the British Red Cross Careers Siteplease use the email address that the Onboarding team has contacted you on as your username to log in.

If you have forgotten your password, you can reset your password using the ‘Forgot Password?’ feature. Again, please use the email address that the Onboarding team has contacted you on as your username to reset your password.

If you aren’t able to reset the password yourself, please contact the Onboarding team by going to our Contact us page and completing the form.

Please ensure you’ve logged into the Careers Site using the email address that the Onboarding team has contacted you on. Your offer letter and/or contract is linked to the email address we hold for you, so will not display if you have logged in using a different email address.

Your offer letter and/or contract will be accessible on the landing page on login; please scroll down to the ‘Things To Do’ section and click ‘Start’. If you have navigated away from the landing page, this can be accessed again by clicking on your name in the top-right of the page and navigating to ‘My Profile’.

If you’re still not able to see a ‘Things To Do’ section, please ensure you’re accessing the Site from the following:

• A laptop or PC, not a tablet or mobile device; the site is not optimised for tablet and mobile
• Using one of the following web browsers: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox. The site is not optimised for Internet Explorer or Safari.

If you’re following all the above steps and still cannot see your offer letter and/or contract, please contact the Onboarding team for further assistance on the number in the email signature.

The acceptance process is made up of two parts:

1. Initial review of the offer letter and contract (but not signing);
2. New starter forms to be completed before signing the contract (formally accepting your offer).

Once you have reviewed your offer letter and contract during the first part you will be asked if you would like to proceed with the acceptance process; this is not the same as accepting your offer.

If you answer ‘Proceed with Offer Acceptance’ during part 1, you will be presented with some introductory materials (a welcome video, employee handbook, etc.) and some forms for completing (personal details, bank details, referees, etc.). Once you have completed filling in your new starter forms the last page will allow you to sign your contract. Once signed, this is the point at which you will formally accept your offer and will stop the reminders.

If you’re following all the above steps and are still receiving the reminders, please contact the Onboarding team for further assistance on the number in the email signature.

Once you have reviewed your offer letter and contract, before beginning your offer acceptance, you will be asked if you would like to proceed with the acceptance process; if you answer ‘Proceed with Offer Acceptance’, you will be presented with some introductory materials. These include the Employee Handbook, and the Benefits Brochure. At this stage you can download the documents for your personal records.

If you have completed your new starter forms and did not download these documents, and can no longer see them on the Careers Site, please contact the Onboarding team via email requesting a copy and these will be sent to you.

If you have been provided IT access you can access the Employee Handbook and the Benefits Brochure on our intranet RedRoom.

The login details for the medical placement questionnaire can be found in two places:

1. In your offer letter; there will be a section titled ‘Health Clearance’
2. On the Careers Site during your offer acceptance process (part of the new starter forms). There is a link to the questionnaire and the password to use.

Pay day is always the 15th of every month, unless the 15th falls on a weekend date, meaning you will be paid the Friday before; however, there are some conditions to consider when it comes to your first pay...

If your start date is before the 5th of the month and we have received your completed pre-employment checks by the 25th of the previous month then you will be paid on the 15th. However, if we have not received your pre-employment checks by the 25th of the previous month then you will be paid on the 15th of the following month.

For example, if your start date is 4th March and we have received all your pre-employment checks by 25th February then you will receive your first payment on 15th March. This payment will cover from the 4th March to 31st March. If we have not received your pre-employment checks by 25th February then you will receive your first payment on 15th April.

If you have any questions regarding your start date, please get in touch with your line manager in the first instance. Your line manager’s details can be found at the bottom of your offer letter. Your manager will inform the Onboarding team of any changes to your start date if necessary. Your Onboarder will then issue a variation to your contract letter, confirming your new start date, which you will be required to sign.

There are some steps you can take to ensure that the checks are completed as quickly as possible, such as:

• Ensure you complete your occupational health questionnaire;
• Contact your referees as soon as you have submitted the request to check that it has been received and that they are able to respond promptly;
• Check your email’s junk/spam folders for any correspondence from the British Red Cross or our third-party providers:
  • Medigold One (Occupational Health provider)
  • Atlantic data (for Right to Work in the UK & DBS checks only)
  • Disclosure Scotland (PVG Checks only)
  • Access NI (Northern Ireland Criminal Record Checks only)

Throughout the onboarding process, your hiring manager and the Onboarding team will be in touch with you with specific details on any outstanding checks and any further action required.

Our third-party provider ‘Atlantic Data’ conducts DBS checks.
‘Disclosure Scotland’ conduct PVG checks.
‘Access Northern Ireland’ conduct Access NI checks.
‘Medigold One’ is our occupational health provider.

If your role is regulated (meaning a criminal record check is required), your checks can take up to 4 weeks to complete. This can be shorter or longer depending on whether there is any adverse information found.

Non-regulated roles (meaning no criminal record check is required), can take up to 2 weeks and will depend on how quickly your referees' take to respond.

The Onboarding team will reach out to your hiring manager to discuss how they would like to proceed with your start date. Your hiring Manager should contact you to discuss a possible change of start date to allow more time for the completion of your checks.

The Onboarding team will contact you throughout the process via email, advising as each check has been completed. They will also follow this up with a phone call once all checks are complete.

The British Red Cross (BRC) are required to carry out their own criminal record check as per policy and procedure, so we are unable to use any current checks you may have. For those who require a DBS check for their role at the BRC; If you are signed up to the DBS update service, please let your hiring manager know and we can use this for initiating a new check. Being signed up to the DBS update service can result in checks coming back quicker. We conduct DBS rechecks every 3 years so signing up to the DBS update service can come in handy. Bear in mind, we can only use this if the level of DBS check is the same level of check as your new role at the BRC.

You will be able to register to the update service from the moment you receive your DBS certificate. Once you have this, you only have 28 days to sign up. Please click this link for more information and to register with the update service. We would recommend signing up to automatic renewal via direct debit, otherwise you will have to remember to renew your membership each year. The update service costs £13 per year to subscribe which can be claimed back through expenses. Please note: Scottish PVG and Access Northern Ireland do not have an update service.

To conduct a criminal record check, we require three in-date ID documents, one of which must be current proof of address. Please click this link to see the full list on the Government website.

If any of your ID documents are in your previous name, you will also need to provide proof of name change i.e. marriage certificate, divorce decree or deed poll.

You should receive IT access on your first day in your new role. Your manager will arrange this as soon as your pre-employment checks are completed. Please ensure to liaise with your manager if you are having any access issues.

Our IT team will be able to assist you with any systems issues you are experiencing. You can contact the IT Service Desk directly from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am – 12noon Saturday by calling 0207 877 7300.

You will be contacted throughout your onboarding journey by our Onboarding team regarding any matters to do with your pre-employment checks. Your manager should also be in contact with you to discuss anything job role related and/or preparation for your first day.

Your line manager should be in contact to discuss the details for your first day. If you need to contact them directly, you will find their contact details at the bottom of your official offer letter.

Yes! In the first 2 weeks you will receive a series of emails containing further information to help you get settled into the BRC. Guidance will range from how to access systems, book travel, view pension schemes, and training to complete. You'll also get to know how the BRC is set up into directorates AND learn a little more about our senior leaders; such as how our CEO, Beatrice, loves going for a jog in the park with a good playlist!

No, you will receive a brand-new ID number!