The Bishop of Chichester is a Church of England diocesan bishop serving all of Sussex including the vibrant areas in and around Brighton and Hove. He also sits in the House of Lords. He is based in the historic Bishop’s Palace in Chichester. The Palace Manager will ensure that the varied aspects of the life of the palace run smoothly on a daily basis.

For this new and exciting role, we are looking for a Palace Manager to support the bishop in his varied diocesan and national ministries by overseeing efficiently all administrative functions at the Palace. You would report directly to the Bishop. You would also be expected to work closely with colleagues in developing further the outreach of the Palace estate locally, regionally, and nationally.

The Palace is the HQ of the diocesan bishop. You would therefore seek to ensure that communication from the Palace with and to the parishes (both laity and clergy) and the diocesan office (and its team in Hove) are key priorities. You would work closely with the Bishop’s Chaplain who provides pastoral support to the Bishop.

Adopting a collaborative administrative model, you would seek to foster confidence working with others in making the Palace a place which is welcoming, efficient, open, available and (through its outreach) of benefit to a wide range of community groups by seeking expert help and expertise in further developing the site.

If you would like a conversation about this post please phone Dr Rob Marshall, the Bishop’s Media Advisor, on 07766 952113 or email him on rob.marshall@chichester.anglican.org

The deadline for application for the post is 12noon on 20th May 2022.

Interviews will be held on Wednesday 1st June 2022.

The main responsibilities for this role will be:

• To manage the day to day running of all aspects of the Palace and the effective supporting of the ministry of the Bishop of Chichester in all its various aspects.
• To ensure a high standard of efficiency, professionalism and hospitality at the Palace.
• To ensure that best practice is followed with regards to administrative systems and structures across the life of the Palace and to line-manage both the Palace Administrator (Clergy Appointments) and the Palace Administrator (Diary and Events) and also any part-time staff such as the PTO administrator. The line management would include weekly one-to-one meetings with the staff and 6 monthly appraisals.
• To take the lead at the weekly diary meetings with the office staff and the Bishop. This would include setting an agenda and producing an action log outlining decisions taken and those responsible for their delivery.

Please see job description attached for full responsibilities

The ideal candidate must have:

• A good knowledge and understanding of the workings of the Church of England.
• An extensive managerial experience, having worked in offices, managed process and successfully led a team.
• Be mature in outlook and at ease with themselves.
• See the big picture while being capable of accurate attention to detail.
• Proven administrative and drafting skills and be computer literate, familiar with e-mail, word processing packages and the use of data bases.
• Be adaptable and flexible, able to enjoy working under pressure, to prioritise tasks and work to deadlines, to meet a broad set of demands.

Please see job description attached for full ideal candidate requirements