Correspondence Officer
Please Note: The application deadline for this post has now passed.
Post Introduction
The Correspondence Officer will assist the Correspondence Manager in the effective delivery of the correspondence operation; processing, logging, distributing and responding to the Archbishop’s correspondence in line with agreed objectives and strategy, contributing to the ministry of the Archbishop.
Please note, this is a 6 month fixed-term contract.
About the Department
As a nationally and internationally significant religious leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury receives thousands of letters, e-mails, invitations and phone calls from members of the public every year, each of which needs to be carefully examined and an appropriate response given and recorded. The Correspondence Team process and log all correspondence and ensure correspondents receive a helpful, gracious and timely response. From official correspondence to questions and queries from the general public covering a rich diversity of topics and subjects. As such, the way the correspondence operation is delivered and managed is essential to the witness and ministry exercised by the Archbishop. It requires a high degree of wisdom, judgement, communication, emotional intelligence, diplomacy, confidence, attention to detail and collaboration to ensure correspondents feel they have been responded to graciously.
This post gives an excellent opportunity to work in a small, friendly, busy office, in unusual and pleasant surroundings. The staff at Lambeth Palace work as a small and close-knit team, supporting each other at busy times with flexibility and good humour. In this role there is the expectation that you will be based at Lambeth Palace 4-5 days per week.
In this role you will:
- Process the Archbishop’s large volume of correspondence: receiving, opening, logging and distributing letters and emails.
- Draft and send replies to correspondence, either as unique letters or tailoring standard replies in line with agreed objectives.
- Assist with the compilation of statistics and reporting on volume and trends within correspondence, including preparing regular and occasional reports.
- Receive telephone calls from the public, responding to public enquiries, compliments and complaints, and ensure that any subsequent action is taken.
- Use a range of office software, including email, spreadsheets and databases to carry out the work of the Correspondence Team.
About You
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.
To be successful in this role you will:
- Have experience of handling correspondence or papers for senior managers.
- Have excellent IT/computer skills including experience of Microsoft Word, Outlook, and databases.
- Strong interpersonal and diplomatic skills, with the ability to deal with people at all levels.
- High attention to detail including a high standard of accuracy when processing data.
- Sufficient interest in, and knowledge of, the ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the ministry of the Church of England generally.
What we offer
Our benefits include:
- A salary of £33,382 per annum 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.
- 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.
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.
