The Church of England exists to offer a spiritual home for all people in England and is embedded in our national life at local levels through its parish structure, in our education system and in many other ways. We know people from UKME backgrounds do not always feel supported to flourish or welcome within the Church, and the Archbishops’ Council is therefore creating a Racial Justice Unit to work alongside the newly created Commission on Racial Justice (RJC) to drive a process of change at all levels of the Church of England. The Archbishops’ Task Force on Racial Justice (From Lament to Action) recommended that the Racial Justice Unit (RJU) is set up for an initial period of five years. Subject to review, this period may be extended or made permanent.

The role of the Deputy Director of Racial Justice will have substantial areas of direct responsibility and also support the Committee for Ethnic Minority Anglican Concerns. The RJU will have a remit to work across all the National Church Institutions and the Deputy Director will be a senior change leader working closely with the Director and other senior colleagues in the Archbishops’ Council and across the NCIs.

This is an exciting and new role within a newly formed unit and offers an opportunity to work with the Director to create, implement and embed real and lasting change within the organisation.

You will bring a passion for social justice and a strong belief that all should feel valued and included. You will have strong advocacy skills, a sharp critical analysis of the political and social context and have extensive experience of working for UKME inclusion. Your experience of programme management and ‘getting things done’ will be integral to the success of the RJU and you’ll be confident in working closely with powerful individuals as well as colleagues throughout the Church. You will have experience of tackling systemic racism and will understand how change can be driven in complex institutions.

You will be a team player, able to work creatively to draw others into the work and to contribute creatively to joint projects. You will be able to take, and share, responsibility and drive agendas forward as a member of a hard-working and highly motivated team without neglecting your own support structures and work/life balance.

In terms of the Church of England, you will have an understanding of the role of the church and of the Christian faith in society and you will have a sympathy for the Church of England’s mission to the world, and its commitment to oppose racism in all its forms.

To arrange an informal conversation about the role please contact Leann Dawson at leann.dawson@churchofengland.org

Closing date will be on the 4th of December 2022.

Interviews will be held on the week of 12^th December2022.

The Church of England is for everyone, and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. This is a priority for the Archbishops. 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 disabled people.

In return 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.

Role

Key Priorities

• Support the Director in devising strategic responses and action plans in the area of racial justice, including responses to the Archbishops’ Racial Justice Commission reports and “From Lament to Action”.
• Support the Director in devising action and delivery plans for the Church’s Triennium Funding investment of up to £20m for racial justice, working closely with dioceses and all other stakeholders. Reporting against these plans.
• Be responsible for programme management and delivery as agreed with the Director.
• As Secretary to the RJC and the CMEAC, propose, plan and manage their work programmes, keep their members informed of relevant developments in church life and ensure that the Committees’ work is reported to the wider church.
• Support members of RJC, CMEAC, and ME members of Synod, the Archbishops’ Council and its Boards and Councils, in their roles.
• Work with the Boards and Councils to enable the voices and experience of minority ethnic members of the church to be represented and heard in every aspect of the national life of the church and in its decisions making processes.
• Work with Ministry Division and other partners to foster vocations to ministry among minority ethnic Anglicans.
• Play a full role in the Racial Justice Unit, sharing responsibilities as directed by the Director of the RJU.

Other Responsibilities

• Liaise with, and support where possible, the diocesan link or MEAC officers and their network.
• Working with CMEAC members and others, monitor the central policies and processes of the Church of England and highlight their likely impact (where appropriate) on minority ethnic Anglicans.
• Help to establish good working relationships with staff of other denominations working on these issues and build effective relationships with churches which have a high proportion of minority ethnic members.
• Build relationships with public and voluntary bodies working to combat racism in society and help to bring a Christian perspective to this work.
• Work with other NCI policy officers to understand and influence areas of public policy which impact particularly on ethnic minority people in society.

The Requirements

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Good analytical skills and the ability to understand practice in the context of wider theological/theoretical frameworks.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A strong commitment to the church’s ministry and mission in the contemporary world.
• A strong commitment to advancing the role of minority ethnic people within the church and in wider society and to combating racism wherever it is found.
• Direct experience of delivering and managing projects and programmes.
• Ability to turn ideas into practical actions that achieve measurable results.
• Familiarity with anti-racism programmes in the churches and beyond.

Knowledge/Experience:

• An understanding and empathy with the structure and culture of the Church of England.
• Experience of working with minority ethnic people in the church and in wider society and awareness of the particular challenges.
• Knowledge of good practice in combating racism and exclusion.
• Experience of working for justice within an organisational context.

Personal Attributes:

• A self-starter who is also a collaborative team player.
• The ability to learn from others and enable them to learn from each other.
• Good IT literacy in general.

Education:

• Educated or equivalent professional experience at a level that enables confident engagement with people at many levels, including academics specialising in racial justice and related issues. Some knowledge of relevant disciplines (such as theology, religious studies, mission studies, social science etc).

Circumstances:

• Willingness and ability to travel within the UK, sometimes including overnight trips.

We in the National Church Institutions support the mission and ministries of the Church all over England. We work with parishes, dioceses (regional offices), schools, other ministries and our partners at a national and international level.

Excellence, Respect, Integrity

We follow these three values in everything we do, whether we are of Christian faith, another faith or no faith. To learn more about working for National Church Institutions and our benefits, please click here

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

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

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to ensuring that everyone, job applicants, customers and other people with whom we deal, are treated fairly and not subject to discrimination. We will do whatever is necessary to provide genuine equality of opportunity. We continuously review our policies and processes to support our aim to create a workforce as diverse as the nation the Church of England serves.