Programme Director

Summary

Introduction

Working within the Central Secretariat, the Safeguarding Structures Programme Director will lead a programme team to implement the new independent structures for the Church of England's safeguarding function.

About the Department

The Central Secretariat provides support to many of the governance bodies of the Church of England, including the General Synod, House of Bishops, Archbishops' Council and others. It also provides policy analysis and support on internal matters relating to the structure and governance of the Church of England.

What you'll be doing

The purpose of this role is to deliver the General Synod's motion of February 2025 to design, develop and deliver independent scrutiny of Church safeguarding and such operations as the Synod decides. It needs to do so in a way that brings stakeholders - victims and survivors, safeguarding staff across the Church, trustees and others - along with them, with a focus on delivering a system of safeguarding that commands greater confidence. And it needs to do so working through an executive chair and lead bishop.

You will lead a programme team that is in the process of being formed, and you'll report to the Director of the Central Secretariat, whilst also working through an Executive Chair (currently being recruited), the lead bishop for safeguarding and a Programme Board, and maintaining the confidence of the wider Church of England, including the General Synod, the House of Bishops and others.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the programme team to deliver an ambitious programme of policy development, legislation, restructure and new service development, being accountable for ensuring the programme meets objectives , delivers outcomes and realises benefits
• Support the Executive Chair and lead bishop to deliver the mandate of General Synod (February 2025) regarding the future of Church of England safeguarding - maintaining their confidence and engagement at all times, building a relationship of trust and collaboration.
• Lead the team to deliver the change:Design the change - agreeing the new models for scrutiny/complaints and operations
• Secure buy-in to the change - including from governance bodies, the General Synod, and other stakeholders
• Execute the change through a mixture of legislative, contractual and other arrangements; and
• Embed the change - through the communications, engagement, planning etc that will enable the programme to deliver the benefits
• Maintain excellent programme governance - both ensuring the programme is well-run, with appropriate internal governance (plans, resource management, risk management) and reports effectively to the Programme Board, and to governance bodies
• Develop excellent engagement with safeguarding staff and leaders across the Church
• Ensure that the proposals are designed from the user perspective - with a particular focus on victims, survivors and parish safeguarding officers
• Lead, support, encourage and manage, the programme team of approximately 6-8 people
• Develop key messaging and strategic engagement CW4 , overseeing internal and external engagement
• Equip and enable the lead bishop and Executive Chair to be effective senior sponsors and externally facing change champions, ensuring that they are fully briefed on all developments and properly supported prepared for their meetings.

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. As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to recruiting disabled people. We offer interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

To succeed in this role, you will need to have substantial experience of delivering complex organisational change programmes, along with a strong understanding of safeguarding and trauma-informed practice. You'll need to be confident in leading substantial change programmes that are subject to intense public scrutiny. You will be values-led, promoting integrity and transparency in all aspects of your work in order to build and maintain the trust and confidence of a broad range of stakeholders.

Along with a recognised Programme Management accreditation (e.g. APM, PMI, PRINCE2 or equivalent), you will also need to demonstrate:

• The ability to create the vision and a sense of the destination, and also to engage in the precise details of what needs to happen to deliver it;
• A track record of engaging with people who are impacted by substantial change;
• Ability and experience of working collaboratively with a programme team and wider stakeholders to achieve success
• Experience of working with senior stakeholders to deliver, and capacity to work with an Executive Chair and lead bishop or similar.

What we offer

Your Salary

A salary of 82,157 per annum, plus age-related pension contributions between 8-15% of salary. We will also match any salary-sacrifice pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of your salary.

Your Benefits

• 30 days annual leave plus eight bank holidays three additional days (pro-rated if working part-time). We welcome all flexible working arrangement requests. This is looked at in a case-by-case scenario and if this fits within the department's needs. 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.
• 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.
• Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships.
• 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.
• Access to Occupational Health, and an Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to the Department of Education Restaurant and Westminster Abbey with a plus-one guest.
• Apply for eligibility for an Eyecare voucher.
• Opportunity to join the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies.

ABOUT THE 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.