Overview

Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The Senior Appointments and Vocations Team is a key team within the Office of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, supporting and advising the Archbishops and the wider Church on the appointments process for senior clergy. The Team’s work supports the Crown Nominations Commission in identifying new Diocesan Bishops; those involved in appointing Suffragan Bishops; and the selection panels who nominate new cathedral Deans. The Team supports senior clergy in their vocation and discernment, working closely with the Ministry Development Team to identify, support and develop a diverse pipeline of candidates for senior roles. The team also helps to ensure that senior clergy are equipped for the Church of England’s missional challenges and for the vital role it plays in the life of the nation.

Post Introduction

This role offers a unique opportunity to work in a small, friendly, committed, professional and busy team supporting a complex, detailed and fast-paced portfolio of senior appointments and associated projects.

As Appointments and Vocations Adviser, you will promote continuous improvement and best practice in nomination and selection processes for senior clergy roles. You will identify and implement external best practice, provide professional advice to bishops and appointments panels, lead a range of projects and initiatives, accompany individuals in their vocational development and take particular responsibility for the management of operational support; all within the context of Christian ministry. 

We work as a close-knit team in beautiful surroundings, part of the Lambeth Palace community and Office of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, supporting each other with care, flexibility and good humour.

The working hours for this post will be 35 hours per week however we are happy to offer flexibility and hybrid working. The working arrangements are expected to include 2 days per week based at Lambeth Palace and the rest of the week to be worked remotely, however flexibility will be needed to attend the office and other locations as required.

To arrange an informal conversation please contact stephen.knott@churchofengland.org

Interviews will be held on the 25th August 2022.

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country.  This is a priority for the Archbishops. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we particularly welcome applicants from UK Minority Ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities.  

We also invite interest from those with excellent experience in a number of areas that may not meet every criteria.

We offer a unique environment with opportunities for continuous learning, generous annual leave for work life balance, season ticket loans and a range of benefits including discounted entry to attractions and what we feel is a market leading package when it comes to our pension scheme.

Role Responsibility

The Role

• Overseeing the appointments and vocations policies and processes to ensure highly professional, efficient, effective and stakeholder focussed operational delivery; making proper use of technology and best practice to support the evolution of the team’s work, including collecting and producing statistics, stakeholder engagement; line-managing staff within the team carrying out performance management, recruitment & development. The team should exemplify the NCI values and behaviours and our inclusion and belonging commitments.
• Contributing to specific senior vacancies: conducting consultations within dioceses and cathedrals, working with appointment panels to draft job adverts and candidate briefing packs, advising on and participating in longlisting, shortlisting and interview processes.
• Supporting vocational discernment: contributing to the Episcopal Exploration discernment process to advise bishops on people who may have a calling to episcopal ministry, and supporting individuals in their own discernment and ongoing development.
• Leading on the use of psychometrics in selection and vocational exploration, choosing the most appropriate tools, working with external consultants to brief candidates on the process, interpreting and validating the results, providing summaries to the interview panels and debriefing candidates; facilitating and supporting dialogue within the team and wider Church about the use of psychometric and other selection tools.
• Contributing to policy and frameworks relating to the identification, appointment of senior clergy, working with others to support the process for identifying as diverse a group of people as possible considered to have potential for strategic leadership; keeping in touch with the wider Church (e.g. via Ministry Development, HR etc) and external organisations on this work.
• Supporting the governance of the Department, deputising for the Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments, as required, acting as Secretary of the senior appointments reference group (currently being established), drafting reports and other papers, coordinating the Departmental budget, developing and keeping updated project plans/risk registers, overseeing data protection/records management for the Department.
• Overseeing external communications for the Department, having responsibility for developing and promoting the Department’s external web and social media presence, keeping an eye on debate online and in social media on topics relating to the work of the Department.
• Leading on and supporting other projects and areas relating to the work of the Department, as required, and to share best practice with other departments, particularly in HR systems issues.

The Ideal Candidate

The Requirements

Essential

Knowledge/Experience:

• Recent/current experience of, and interest in, selection and resourcing issues for significant leadership roles with creative and best practice, gained in an organisation of scale.
• Evidence of, and interest in, the development and implementation of effective HR systems, policies and procedures, particularly in connection with recruitment and selection, with a demonstrable commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Holds the BPS Occupational Test User Personality certificate (previously Level B), and ideally experienced in using Hogan and/or Strengths Profile.
• Hands-on experience of using technology to support and drive best practice in HR, together with a vision of its potential.

Key Skills:

• Excellent oral and written communication, presentation, facilitation and influencing skills and the ability to produce high quality written reports and policy papers.
• Successful track record of working well with others, both within the organisation and in external networks with the ability to develop ideas with other people.
• Administrative skills including ability to use IT software (e.g. Microsoft Office and SharePoint) and able to be self-supporting in relation to preparing presentations, diary management, correspondence etc.

Education:

• Educated to degree level, or equivalent, with evidence of recent and continuous professional development.

Personal Attributes:

• Personal resilience and high level of self-awareness.
• Delivery and stakeholder focused.
• Ability to work with an intellectually challenging client group.
• An interest in people and effective organisational culture.
• An empathy with the mission and ethos of the Church of England.
• A high degree of discretion in handling confidential personal matters and information.
• Engaging, with the ability to build effective relationships with people and able to build credibility with senior clergy and staff.
• Ability to work both at a strategic and operational level and to deliver a number of projects at one time.
• Ability to navigate a complex political landscape with professionalism and confidence.
• The Church’s culture and the appointments processes are deeply intertwined with its theological heritage.  The post holder will need to be interested in, and able to work creatively with the language and concepts that emerge from this. 

Desirable

• Chartered MCIPD Coaching qualification and/or experience.
• Experience in both appointing to senior leadership roles and developing those in them.
• If the successful applicant is a specialist in one area only, then interest in developing the other area is essential.

Circumstances:

• The role will require some occasional evening working, together with some travel around the dioceses of the Church of England.

About Us

We in the National Church Institutions support the mission and ministries of the Church all over England. We work with parishes, dioceses (regional offices), schools, other ministries and our partners at a national and international level.

Excellence, Respect, Integrity

We follow these three values in everything we do, whether we are of Christian faith, another faith or no faith. To learn more about working for National Church Institutions and our benefits, please click here

As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.

As a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, we welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to ensuring that everyone, job applicants, customers and other people with whom we deal, are treated fairly and not subject to discrimination.  We will do whatever is necessary to provide genuine equality of opportunity. We continuously review our policies and processes to support our aim to create a workforce as diverse as the nation the Church of England serves.