Apprentice Church Buildings Officer
Please Note: The application deadline for this post has now passed.
Post Introduction
This is an exciting opportunity to join the National Church Institutions on an apprenticeship within the Cathedrals & Church Buildings department.
As Apprentice Church Buildings Officer you will support the Church Buildings Team, enabling the provision of advice and guidance to churches across England. The postholder will be responsible for essential administration of the Church Buildings Council and Statutory Advisory Committee, as well as the provision of advice to churches and the promotion of the Team’s work.
The post is available as an apprenticeship opportunity. The successful candidate can opt to enrol on the Level 4 Historic Environment Advice Assistant Higher Apprenticeship course run by Strode College on a distance learning basis. This would enable candidates without sufficient historic environment knowledge and experience but who meet the other criteria for the role to extend their learning and skills in this area. The course starts this autumn and will last for two years. Fees and necessary travel and subsistence expenses would be covered by the NCIs as employer.
This is an excellent opportunity to join us as an Apprentice Church Buildings Officer on a fixed term basis expected to last for 24 months, while gaining a qualification. There will be opportunities to work across the department. We are a supportive and inclusive team looking forward to welcoming a new team member.
Applicants have until 11:59pm on 18th August 2024 to apply for the role. As part of the application, please complete the questionnaire attached and return to us via email. Please use a suggested word limit of 500 words per question. Please also attach your CV in addition.
This role will involve:
- Prepare agendas, minutes, mailings and additional administrative tasks.
- Attend site visits to support and learn about the work of the Church Buildings Council.
- Co-ordinate social media posts promoting the work of the Cathedrals and Church Buildings Team.
- Attend all relevant training and learning opportunities related to the apprenticeship. These are expected to be delivered in a block release format. This is likely to include blocks of five days of working on site in another location and to require overnight stays.
To find out more about the role, including details of the apprenticeship, please join us for a webinar on Monday 12th August 13:00-13:45pm. Click here to register for this webinar.
To be successful in the role, you will need to:
- Have a sympathetic understanding of the purposes of church buildings as centres of Christian worship and mission.
- Have knowledge/experience of the use of church buildings, their contents and churchyards and understanding of their architectural and archaeological development.
- An ability to think clearly about administrative procedures and how to implement them in a straightforward way.
- Be a pro-active team member, able to communicate and work creatively with colleagues.
- Have effective time management skills.
Please see job description attached for further information on the role and person specification.
Interviews are expected to take place on 23rd August 2024.
The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME)/Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under-represented groups.
About the NCIs
The National Church Institutions comprises a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation - a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.
We Include. You Belong.
Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims 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.
Living out our values in all that we do, we:
- Strive for Excellence
- Show Compassion
- Respect others
- Collaborate
- Act with Integrity
We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward. The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you.
What we offer
Our benefits include:
- A salary of £33,382 plus age-related pension contributions between 8-15% of salary. We will also match any pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of salary.
- 25 days annual leave (increasing to 30 days within 5 years) plus three additional days
- Flexible working hours and location, with an expectation of just 1-2 days per week in our office in Westminster. However fully remote working is also an option.
- Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships
- Access to Occupational Health, and an Employee Assistance Programme
- Opportunity to the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies
We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work-life balance.
