Senior Chaplain to the Bishop of Peterborough
Please Note: The application deadline for this post has now passed.
Post Introduction
We are seeking a prayerful and spiritually mature priest to serve as Senior Chaplain to the Bishop of Peterborough. This is a varied and rewarding role, supporting the bishop in her ministry across churches, chaplaincies, schools, and communities. The successful candidate will be theologically able, liturgically sensitive, administratively efficient, and committed to promoting the vision of the diocese.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the bishop in liturgical, missional, and pastoral areas.
- Draft correspondence and respond to emails on behalf of the bishop.
- Represent the bishop at events, meetings, and task groups.
- Maintain and update bishop’s guidelines; advise clergy on queries.
- Support health, military, schools, and prison chaplains.
- Prepare briefing papers for the House and College of Bishops and General Synod.
- Build and maintain networks across civic, commercial, and educational sectors.
- Provide pastoral care for clergy and lay leaders.
- Oversee the administration of licences and legal documents.
- Act as a safeguarding liaison and participate in core groups as required.
The post holder is required to have the following to be successful in the role:
- Demonstrates a deep and secure faith with a strong pattern of prayer.
- Has excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
- Is liturgically skilled and honours the breadth of traditions in the diocese.
- Offers effective pastoral care with tact, diplomacy, and confidentiality.
- Possesses strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
- Understands Canon Law and Church of England processes.
- Shows good judgment and discernment in pastoral and disciplinary contexts.
- Has a positive, pragmatic approach to problem-solving.
- Enjoys variety and sees this role as a calling to support the mission of the diocese.
Your Salary
- A salary of £34,069 per annum.
- Clergy already in the Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme (CEFPS) will have the option of either remaining in this scheme or joining the PB14 scheme. In addition to the employer age-related contribution (between 8-15% of salary), the employer also matches the employee contributions in whole percentages up to 3%. Employees enrolled into PB14 will be automatically enrolled to contribute 3% of their pensionable salary. The employee can choose to increase or decrease their contribution at any time
Your Benefits
- Housing will be provided to enable the postholder to carry out their duties.
- Access to Occupational Health, and an Employee Assistance Programme.
- 36 days annual leave plus eight bank holidays.
- We offer many services and initiatives under our Family Friendly Programme, some of these include enhanced Maternity Leave initiative, Adoption Leave, Paternity Leave, & Shared Parental Leave.
- Automatic enrolment and access to Medicash (one of the UK’s leading health cash plan providers), providing you with many services including reimbursements of routine dental treatment, optical, specialist consultations, and therapy treatments. Unlimited access to virtual GP & Private prescription service and health & Stress related helplines.
- Apply for eligibility for an Eyecare voucher.
Key Requirements
- The Chaplain’s main place of work is Bishop’s Office, The Palace, Peterborough, PE1 1YB
- The expectation is that the Chaplain will work a similar time commitment as a parish priest. As a general rule, the Chaplain will be expected to work office hours of 9.00 am to 5.00 pm with a break for lunch. There is an expectation of some work and ministry being exercised outside office hours. There will be some evening and weekend commitments.
- The post is subject to Safer Recruitment Processes and a satisfactory Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) Disclosure with a check of the barred lists.
Interviews will take place in person on 11 December 2025.
Please note: You must have the right to work in the UK to be considered for the role.
ABOUT NATIONAL CHURCH INSTITUTIONS
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.
