The Church of England

Advisor

• Serve as Secretary to the Dioceses Commission, managing its operations and providing policy advice.
• Lead efforts to enhance collaboration between dioceses, particularly in back-office functions.
• Provide policy leadership for initiatives like granting voting rights to acting diocesan bishops.
• Offer ad hoc support to the Archbishops' Council and House of Bishops on various projects.
• Contribute to the Central Secretariat's wider initiatives, including the upcoming General Synod Inauguration.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior leaders and diocesan staff.
• Manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing demands in a dynamic organisational environment.
• Conduct rigorous policy analysis, present evidence-based options, and make quick decisions.
• Ensure effective administrative processes and well-organised meetings.
• Stay updated on Church of England systems and structures, and contribute to their development.

Policy Advisor

Project Manager

• Support the work of the Safeguarding Structures Team.
• Take responsibility for tracking progress of the overall plan.
• Complete relevant project management documents.
• Flag any risks and issues.
• Record and manage decisions, dependencies and opportunities in all aspects of the work.
• Support, maintain and implement governance structures as the programme evolves.
• Leading the development and maintenance of the overall plan.
• Line managing the programme coordination function.
• Ensuring the agreed definitions of programme/project scope, goals and deliverables are adhered to in all documentation.
• Coordination and writing of all project management documents for the Programme.
• Completing update reports for key governance bodies.
• Ensuring compliance with quality assurance framework for project management and change control.
• Operational stakeholder engagement, relationship building and communication.
• Support the programme board and advisory groups with planning agendas, setting priorities.
• Act as Programme Board Secretary, providing formal secretariat support across Programme, and associated committees and groups.
• Lead the planning and coordination of board and committee cycles.
• Maintain accurate governance records.
• Record, track, and follow up decisions, actions, risks, and issues arising from boards and committees.

Researcher

• Provide parliamentary and policy support to the Bishop of Portsmouth and a range of other Lords Spiritual who will speak on education issues.
• Work inside the NSE team, line managed by the Head of Education Policy.
• Support the Church’s work in education at the most strategic level.
• Advise on and researching materials for questions, speeches and other interventions in the Lords.
• Monitor and keep the Bishops informed about relevant parliamentary developments and timetables.
• Liaise with MPs, Peers and their staff, Parliamentary officials, and others in and outside the NCIs on behalf of the Bishops.
• Draft material for online and print publication about the Bishops’ work, in close collaboration with communications officers.
• Provide occasional research resource for the Bishops in their diocesan work, as and when required.
• Support the Head of Education Policy and Chief Education Officer in their wider policy-related responsibilities as and when required.

Parliamentary and Policy Researcher – Education

• Manage and deliver the contactless giving rollout project
• Equip 850 churches with contactless giving devices to enable them to receive digital donations
• Deliver the project in partnership with the Church of England’s 42 dioceses
• Include initial design work for other digital giving project ideas, depending on capacity alongside delivery of the contactless rollout
• Compile training materials to support churches and dioceses with onboarding and effective contactless giving
• Deliver training to church in-person, as needed to support diocesan colleagues
• Organise and run ‘train the trainer’ in-person workshops for diocesan Giving Advisors
• Develop strong and effective working relationships with the project board, wider Giving Directorate, key internal stakeholders, suppliers, and diocesan Giving Advisors
• Report to the project board and Senior Responsible Officer on project progress
• Manage project risks and issues
• Capture key qualitative and quantitative data throughout the project
• Regularly circulate a project dashboard to diocesan colleagues to update them on device outcomes, tracking initial realization of benefits

Project Manager – Contactless Giving Rollout

Product Manager

• Owning, interpreting, implementing and updating the Grants Policy Framework to ensure that it meets the needs of the Church, is compliant with all relevant regulations and good practice, and creates a positive experience for grantees.
• Convening, co-ordinating and working with Grant teams to ensure consistent application of the grants policy, including helping them to apply the policy accurately and consistently, including supporting its adoption for new grant initiatives as needed.
• Convening, co-ordinating and working with Legal, Risk, GDPR and Finance teams to ensure that grant making processes and policies are in line with relevant regulatory requirements, enforce appropriate control frameworks and ensure transparent evidence trails.
• Providing training and guidance to grant teams and others to build confidence and capability in the application of grant policies and processes.
• Facilitate learning and networking between NCIs grant teams on grant-making issues, and work collaboratively with grant managers to ensure the grant policy remains fit for purpose.
• Supporting due diligence, eligibility assessment, risk management and quality assurance in relation to grant making activities as required.
• Escalate matters as required to the relevant senior leaders in Finance, Legal, Data Services, Risk & Assurance, and Grant Making teams, and as needed to the Chief Operating Officer and other Chief Officers.
• Own the functional design of the Grant System including the data model and associated processes.
• Champion the use of the system and associated processes and policies across NCI Grant Making activity.
• Approve any changes to the system design, having appraised and understood user needs and technical considerations, and adhering to best practice out-of-the-box principles (i.e. adopt not adapt) and NCI grant policy.
• Keep abreast of the supplier’s product roadmap development to inform future strategy.
• Collaborate with the Grant Portal Product Owner and the Technical Systems Owner to evaluate and prioritise bug fixes, enhancement requests and new functionality available in releases (both compulsory and optional);
• Develop and manage the long-term strategy and roadmap for the system;
• Co-ordinate critical activities such as bug fixes, releases and enhancements and associated user acceptance testing and communications.
• Co-ordinate and Chair the Grant System User Group, facilitating a collaborative and consultative approach to developing the system roadmap and encouraging full adoption and compliance with the intended use of the system.

Grants Policy – Product Owner

Compliance

• Support the effective operation of the Church Commissioners’ compliance arrangements
• Lead on the coordination of Serious Incident Reporting to the Charity Commission
• Manage the day‑to‑day maintenance of the Church Commissioners’ compliance documents and records
• Foster strong working relationships with counterparts in other NCIs
• Contribute to the preparation of compliance reporting for trustees, committees and senior management

Regulatory Compliance Officer

IT Support

• Plan, execute, and report on complex, risk-based internal audit reviews across various National Church Institutions.
• Engage with senior leaders and stakeholders to understand their needs and provide effective assurance and advisory services.
• Manage the end-to-end audit process, ensuring timely delivery, adherence to budgets, and maintenance of quality standards.
• Lead technically complex assurance and advisory reviews, covering a range of processes and organizations.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior managers, trustees, and decision-makers to facilitate constructive engagement.
• Produce high-quality written reports and present audit findings confidently and proportionately to various audiences.
• Contribute to audit planning and strategy, including audit needs analysis, audit universe identification, and annual audit plan development.
• Exercise sound professional judgment and analytical skills to interpret complex data and draw practical, evidence-based conclusions.
• Stay updated with industry best practices and emerging trends in internal audit and risk management.