Overview

Thank you for your interest in our People Director role. I hope you’ll be keen to find out more about us, so you can discover whether you might be the right person, at the right stage of your HR career, to join us to make a significant personal and professional impact at the Church of England.

So why should you be excited or intrigued by our role? Do you fancy being the HR director for an organisation distributing major grants, for a buildings regulator, a Pensions Board, an innovative policy body, a synod and law-making body, a delivery of key services across the church and an investment organisation at the same time? This role offers a chance to lead a well-respected HR team delivering tailored services into a fascinating, complex system of Christian Anglican organisations. You will be joining a dedicated, supportive and incredibly talented team of people who together support, enable and lead the National Church Institutions by using their professional services and skills to stand them and ensure they are a cohesive whole.

As we move towards a programme of delivering a more focussed central structure and a major change in governance, we’re looking to build on the professional, foundational HR work we’ve done over the last five years. This work has made measurable strides in inspiring and equipping our leaders and ensuring we live out our refreshed Values and our Belonging & Inclusion pledges. We’re also excited by the opportunity to reap the benefits of our recent investment in HR systems and data. So we’re looking for a collaborative, experienced, reflective and highly relational HR leader who is passionate about bringing together these varied elements, who can exhibit a strong track record in similarly complex organisations.

The successful role holder will have the chance to get to know the work of the Church across our English dioceses, parishes and cathedrals, to listen to their needs and develop innovative service offers to meet them. The People Director will be embedded within our national senior leadership teams, developing trusted relationships and influence alongside senior lay people, clergy and trustees. They will gain insight into the workings of a complex historic institution, grappling with many challenges and offering new solutions.

The driving force behind the People Director role is to underpin and support the mission, ministries, Vision & Strategy of the Church of England. We’re looking for a person who has deep empathy for the work of the Christian church and is very comfortable leading in an environment where we equally welcome those of Christian faith, other faiths or no faith. If this fascinating, stretching and impactful role is of interest to you, then please read on!

Rosie Slater-Carr
Chief Operating Officer

Post Introduction

This is a complex and senior People Director role at the heart of one of the country’s most interesting and complex institutions. This post is key to supporting the NCIs in their purpose to support the mission and ministries of the Church locally and throughout England, as encapsulated in our Christ-centred Vision and Strategy for the 2020s.

This role is about providing people leadership across the national Church, through accountability at the NCIs for tailored organisational development, leadership and inclusion initiatives, supported by excellent technology-enabled day-to-day HR services for our people. The role also delivers leadership across the national HR profession in England’s dioceses and cathedrals via sponsorship of a dynamic HR Network sharing tailored good practice across lay and clergy employment matters. The role holder plays an advisory role on the governance body advising General Synod and the Archbishops Council on clergy remuneration, terms of service and wellbeing. Alongside delivery of NCI HR and Organisation Development services, the role holder also leads a small team supporting dioceses and cathedrals with ad-hoc HR advisory and career transition services, national level employment casework and HR training, to supplement local HR capacity.

The People Director works in close collaboration with the NCI Chief Officers, the Directors of Ministry, Racial Justice, Safeguarding, the Archbishops’ Chiefs of Staff and their Advisor on Appointments to build a holistic, tailored approach to people and change-related issues.

The role holder helps create a working environment where those of Christian faith, other faiths or no faith can flourish and where personal exploration of spiritual wellbeing is valued alongside physical and mental wellbeing.

This year, as the Church plans to implement a refreshed future governance model, the role holder will support the organisational design, cultural direction and key senior appointments for a new combined service delivery body to succeed the NCIs. This is a major change and working closely with the Governance Programme Director will be key to success.

We are proud of the progress made over the last 5 years in terms of our culture, values, engagement and Belonging and Inclusion and our smooth transition to hybrid working. We now need a new People Director to take us on the next steps in our journey to building confidence and trust in our internal and external HR services to support our ambitious vision.

For further details and to apply, please visit National Church Institutions – Church of England (green-park.co.uk)

Please do not apply using the link below.

If you want to know more about the role or selection process, please contact Katie Faulkner from our Executive Search partners, Green Park by emailing katie.faulkner@green-park.co.uk

Please submit your application by 11:59pm Tuesday 9^th January 2024.

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.

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 Minority Ethnic Backgrounds and other under-represented groups.

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.

About Us

In the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we support the mission and ministries of the Church of England. We work with parishes, dioceses, schools, chaplaincies and other ministries, and with national and international partners including mission agencies, and other denominations and faith groups.-.  

Find out more about working for the National Church Institutions at Careers | The Church of England

NCI values

• We strive for excellence 
• We collaborate 
• We act with integrity 
• We show compassion 
• We respect others 

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. 

If there is anything we can do to support you in your application please get in touch via email to hr.recruitment@churchofengland.org

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

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