Work at Novalis Trust

First things first – there are plenty of easier ways to earn a living than by working at Novalis Trust. Working with children and adults with complex needs can be difficult and demanding. It’s certainly not for everyone. But if you want a career which offers the sense of achievement and satisfaction that comes from making a real difference to the lives of others, Novalis Trust may be the place for you.

Are you reliable, resilient and hardworking? Do you enjoy working as part of a team? Do our values of kindness, empathy, creativity, curiosity and positivity chime with yours? Are you looking to work in an organisation which provides great training and career development opportunities? If so, you are looking in the right place!

In addition to offering competitive salaries, other benefits of working at Novalis Trust include:

  • The opportunity to do interesting and worthwhile work within a supportive and friendly environment working alongside colleagues who are genuine leaders in their field
  • An industry leading staff training and development programme
  • A fantastic location in the beautiful Cotswold countryside
  • Excellent staff welfare support
  • A free cooked lunch every day working

We are currently offering anyone who applies and who is successful in the application process a starter bonus of up to £600 if they apply for a role from 1st April 2023.

We currently employ approximately 300 staff across all our sites on either a part-time or full-time basis. We offer a diverse range of roles within a variety of departments including:

  • Education (teachers, tutors, teaching assistants and learning support workers)
  • Clinical therapy (qualified therapists and clinical therapy assistants)
  • Care (lead care practitioners, senior care practitioners, keyworkers, senior adult support workers, adult support workers, and welfare support workers)
  • Youth and Adult Support (youth support workers, and adult activities coordinators)
  • Domestic (cooks and cleaners)
  • Maintenance
  • IT, Training, Finance, HR and Administration

Meet Jake – Our CEO

Meet Caroline – Our Deputy CEO

Meet Tim – Our Principal

Meet Hannah – Our Headteacher at Cotswold Chine School

Meet Gareth – Our Headteacher at William Morris School

Meet Grace – One of our two Deputy Heads of Clinical Services

We welcome and promote diversity and we are committed to a policy of equal opportunity in all aspects of our recruitment process. All job applicants will be treated fairly and judged solely on their merits. We aim to maintain a recruitment process that is open, honest and fair.

If you have a disability that may affect your ability to perform a role in which you are interested, we will be happy to discuss with you what adjustments or arrangements we can make to accommodate your needs. If your disability is likely to affect you adversely within the application process itself, please let us know so that we can consider whether we can make any adjustments to the process that will allow you to be considered fairly for the role.

Novalis Trust is fully committed to the principles of safer recruitment and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and adults in our care.

In accordance with the requirements of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and related guidance, all applicants will be required to declare any previous cautions or convictions (including ‘spent’ convictions but excluding ‘protected’ convictions) and offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment vetting procedures. For most roles this will include receipt of at least two references and an enhanced DBS certificate. For certain roles, a ‘barred list’ check will also need to be completed.

The disclosure of a criminal record will not preclude your appointment unless the recruitment panel considers that it makes you unsuitable for the role you have applied for. When making this decision, the panel will consider all relevant circumstances including the nature and seriousness of the offence(s), how long ago it was committed and your age at the time.

Further details of the pre-appointment checks that will be carried out can be found in our Recruitment Policy

Our recruitment process varies depending on the role applied for, but will generally involve the following key stages:

  1. All applicants will need to complete either our online registration form (accessible via the ‘Register your interest’ page) or an application form (accessible online via the ‘Apply Now’ page or available on request from jobs@novalis-trust.org.uk)
  1. After completion of the registration form or application form, a member of our HR team will contact you to provide the relevant information for the role including the job description and terms and conditions.
  1. Once you have reviewed the relevant information and confirmed that you wish to proceed, your application will be sent to the relevant manager to carry out the shortlisting process.
  1. If you are shortlisted for interview, you will be invited for a formal interview with a member of our HR department and a senior manager from the relevant department. Some candidates may also be interviewed by a panel of pupils or residents. In most cases, you will also be given the opportunity to make an informal visit to the site where the role will be based. You will be asked to bring to your interview different forms of identification such as your passport, driving licence, proof of address and national insurance number so that we are able to verify your right to work in the UK and apply for a DBS certificate if you accept an offer of employment.
  1. We aim to inform all candidates whether or not they have been successful within 1 week of their interview. In some cases, you may be asked to attend a second formal interview.
  1. If you are successful at interview, you will be sent an offer letter. All offers are subject to the satisfactory completion of our normal pre-employment vetting procedures (i.e. receipt of two references and DBS certificate, verification of any required qualifications and confirmation of your right to work in the UK).
  1. Following confirmation of your acceptance of the conditional offer, we will carry out a DBS check and contact your nominated referees (one of whom must by your current or most recent employer) for a reference [N.B. for teaching positions references will usually be requested prior to the initial interview].
  1. On receipt of your references and DBS Certificate, a member of our HR team will contact you to discuss any issues that require clarification.
  1. Once the pre-employment vetting process has been satisfactorily completed, we will contact you to confirm a start date. Prior to your start date we will confirm your rota details (if applicable) together with the timetable for your induction process.
  1. Before or on your first day you will be provided with a copy of your employment contract and any other relevant paperwork for signature.
  1. During the first few days of your employment, you will be required to complete our induction training course covering a variety of topics including the Novalis model, safeguarding procedures and health & safety. Additional induction training sessions will take place over the course of the first few weeks of your employment.

Please see our vacancies page for details of our current vacancies.

All information that you provide during the application process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil any necessary legal or regulatory requirements.

The information you provide will be held securely by us whether the information is in electronic or physical format.  We will not store any of your information outside of the United Kingdom.

We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.

Further details of how we collect and process personal data relating to prospective, current and former staff members can be found in our Staff Privacy Notice