Information for Applicants

Information for Applicants

Thank you for your interest in working with us.

This page covers why you should work with us, and contains information about the recruitment process and completing the job application form.

Why work with us?

It is your chance to work for a better society and to help build and develop the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland.

Have a look at our mission, vision and values.

Work life balance

We’ve developed a range of flexible working practices to make it easier for our employees to have a balance between the demands of work and their personal life.

These include:

  • flexible working
  • job-share and part-time working
  • maternity, paternity, adoption, parental, carer's, bereavement, special and annual leave
  • annual leave purchase scheme
  • secondment opportunities and career breaks
  • a childcare voucher scheme for employees

See our Work Life Balance Policies for more information.

Annual leave

We offer a competitive annual leave allowance, the number of days is dependent on the number of years worked.

We also offer a holiday purchase scheme, where you can gain 5 days additional leave through salary sacrifice.

Career development

  • a structured approach to training and development, including personal development plans for all employees
  • financial assistance and time off work for employees who have approval to study for formal work-related qualifications
  • career development opportunities from time to time which you can apply for on a temporary or permanent basis

Pension scheme

We automatically enrolm employees on to our workplace pension provider's scheme.

  • The employer’s contribution rate is currently 5%
  • We offer an in-service death benefit

Investors In People

We’re proud to be recognised as an Investors in People (IIP) Gold organisation.

Our staff are our most valuable asset, and we provide excellent learning and development opportunities in order to provide our staff with the opportunity to stretch themselves, to do more and new things, to deliver our mission to promote the voluntary and community sector, lead its development, increase its resilience and represent its interests.

The Investors in People framework will help us build the capacity of our organisation, through our people, to achieve our goals.

For more information about Investors in People, you can visit the Investors in People website.

How to apply

There are a number of ways you can find vacancies and apply for our jobs.

Where we advertise

All our jobs are advertised on our website and CommunityNI.org.

We advertise jobs in the Belfast Telegraph, NI Jobfinder and we also post them on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Download the application form

Please read all the following information before applying:

You can download the application materials from the vacancy advertisement.

You can either:

  • complete it and email it to [email protected], or
  • print it off, complete it by hand, and return by post to NICVA, 61 Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, BT15 2GB

Request a form by post

You can write to us for an application form. You can then post the completed form to the return address.

Call in to our offices

Call in to our office and pick up an application form. You can also hand in your completed application forms at our office.

Our offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday, and 9.00am to 4.30pm on Friday. Directions.

Completing the form

The application form will indicate how it should be completed, including word limits and font sizing.

If you write in any section of the Job Application Form “see attached CV”, or if you send a CV in place of a Job Application Form, we shall, with regret, be unable to consider these as valid applications. However, you may attach continuation sheets for questions on the form if necessary (please keep in mind any word limit indicated).

Reasonable adjustments

If your disability precludes you from completing the application form or any part of the recruitment and selection process, please contact our Human Resource Manager, or phone 028 9087 7777, for alternative arrangements and/or reasonable adjustments to be made.

Please do not assume that because you have indicated your disability on the monitoring form that adjustments will automatically be made. This monitoring form is detached before to being viewed by the selection panel.

Monitoring information

We request monitoring information to help NICVA promote equality of opportunity in employment.

  • only the Job Application Form is considered by the Recruitment Panel, who shortlist and interview for vacancies
  • the Monitoring Form and Disclosure of Criminal Convictions form is retained by our Monitoring Officer for compiling statistical information
  • this procedure is approved by the Trade Union recognised by NICVA, SIPTU.

Our recruitment policy operates on the merit principle: we select the best person for the job regardless of religious or other beliefs.

Disclosure of criminal convictions

We may request that you declare any unspent convictions that you hold if you have been successful at interview and a conditional offer is made. For certain roles ("exempt occupations") you may be required to declare spent convictions, and a criminal records check may also be carried out.

We treat applicants fairly, and the panel will only consider any convictions where they are relevant to the job role.

An offer of employment would only be withheld or withdrawn on the basis of a criminal conviction where:

  • information has been knowingly withheld, or
  • the nature of the offence is relevant to the post and would:
    • impact detrimentally on the applicant’s ability to carry out the function of the role, or
    • impact detrimentally for the care of existing members and employees

Selection process

We use a range of selection processes to select the most appropriate candidate for a job.

Panel shortlist

After the closing date for application forms, a shortlisting panel will meet to review the information you have supplied in your application form and match this with the job criteria.

If your application form demonstrates you meet the criteria, you will be invited to the next stage of the selection process. Desirable criteria may be used by the panel for shortlisting purposes if required.

Skills testing and interview

If the panel shortlists your application, you may be invited to take part in a skills test followed by an interview process. The purpose of the skills test is to assess certain competencies which are required for the job.

This will be followed by a structured interview for the job. This panel interview will usually involve three staff members.

Appointment process

Following your interview you will be notified of the outcome. If you are unsuccessful, we are happy to provide feedback on the skills test and interview.

If you are recommended for appointment, following the panel interview, you will receive a letter of offer subject to the receipt of two satisfactory references.

Equal opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community. This means that NICVA does not permit unlawful discrimination of any kind against any person on grounds that include age, gender, sexual discrimination, sexual orientation, marital status, religious belief or political opinion, race, nationality or disability.

Unlawful discrimination is defined as treating a person less favourably than others are, or would be treated in the same or similar circumstances. Full equal opportunities policy here.

Right to work

The successful candidate will be required to provide documentation to support his/her claim that they are entitled to work in the UK. This is required under Section 8 of the Asylum & Immigration Act 1996, the law for all UK employers on preventing the employment of illegal workers.

Your right to privacy

NICVA is committed to protecting the privacy of all of our job applicants and we uphold high standards in information security and transparency. We protect your personal information and rights in line with the law and in accordance with accepted standards of best practice and our own policies.

We use your information in order to shortlist and assess candidates, and to satisfy legal requirements, as part of the recruitment process. This is outlined in the NICVA Staff Privacy Notice.

Application information is held for 6 months from the end of the recruitment process for unsuccessful candidates. If you are successful, all of your application information forms part of your personnel file and is held and used by us to manage the ongoing employment relationship.

Equal opportunities monitoring information is kept for 3 years from application to satisfy legal requirements in the case of unsuccessful candidates, and 3 years from the end of employment for successful appointees.

By submitting an application, your information will be processed as outlined in the Staff Privacy Notice.