Application Guide
How to Apply for Head of Bereavement Support Services and Counselling
at Sands
🏢 About Sands
Sands is a leading UK charity dedicated to supporting anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. What makes Sands unique is its comprehensive, trauma-informed approach to bereavement care and its commitment to making support accessible to all families, including those from diverse backgrounds and higher-risk groups. Working here means contributing to a compassionate organization that directly impacts families during their most vulnerable moments.
About This Role
As Head of Bereavement Support Services and Counselling at Sands, you'll lead a team of approximately 16 home-based staff to deliver individualized, trauma-informed support to bereaved families. This role involves driving organizational strategy to ensure services are accessible to all communities while embedding best practices across the organization. Your work will directly shape how Sands supports grieving families and makes bereavement care more inclusive.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve morning check-ins with remote team members to discuss complex cases and provide clinical supervision, followed by strategic meetings to develop accessibility initiatives for underserved communities. Afternoons could include reviewing service metrics, collaborating with other departments on organizational strategy, and developing training materials to embed best practices across Sands' bereavement support offerings.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Sands Is Looking For
- Has 5+ years of strategic experience managing trauma-informed bereavement services, with specific expertise in grief theory and relevant counselling qualifications (e.g., BACP accreditation)
- Demonstrates proven success in developing and delivering services for diverse communities, with understanding of cultural, socioeconomic, and accessibility barriers to bereavement support
- Possesses exceptional people management skills for leading remote teams, with ability to maintain service quality while supporting staff wellbeing in emotionally demanding work
- Shows strategic thinking to drive organizational change and make bereavement support more accessible, particularly for higher-risk groups and underserved communities
📝 Tips for Applying to Sands
Quantify your experience with specific metrics: Instead of 'managed a team,' state 'managed 15+ bereavement counsellors, achieving 95% client satisfaction scores while reducing wait times by 30%'
Highlight your experience with diverse communities: Provide concrete examples of how you've adapted bereavement services for different cultural, religious, or socioeconomic groups
Demonstrate understanding of Sands' mission: Reference specific Sands initiatives or reports you've reviewed, showing you understand their approach to pregnancy and baby loss support
Address the remote team management aspect: Detail your experience managing distributed teams, including how you maintain connection and quality assurance in virtual settings
Show strategic thinking: Include examples of how you've developed or improved bereavement services at an organizational level, not just clinical delivery
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Your strategic experience in developing and scaling trauma-informed bereavement services, with specific examples of organizational impact', "How you've made bereavement support more accessible to diverse communities, including any work with higher-risk groups relevant to Sands' mission", 'Your approach to managing and supporting remote teams in emotionally demanding work, emphasizing staff wellbeing alongside service quality', "Your understanding of Sands' specific focus on pregnancy loss and baby death, and how your experience aligns with this specialized area of bereavement support"]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Review Sands' recent annual reports and strategy documents to understand their current priorities and challenges in bereavement support
- → Study Sands' specific services and programs (like their helpline, support groups, and training offerings) to understand their service delivery model
- → Research Sands' work with diverse communities and higher-risk groups, including any specific initiatives or partnerships mentioned in their publications
- → Look into Sands' advocacy work and policy positions related to pregnancy loss and bereavement care to understand their broader impact goals
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Focusing only on clinical counselling experience without demonstrating strategic leadership or organizational management capabilities
- Using generic diversity statements without specific examples of adapting bereavement services for different cultural or community needs
- Failing to acknowledge the emotional demands of leading a bereavement team or lacking a clear approach to supporting staff wellbeing in trauma-focused work
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!