Part time 17.5 hours per week

Number of posts: 2

Start date: March 2023

Fixed term: 5 years

Salary: £15-£17,500 pa. Salary dependent on experience.

12.5 days holiday per year + pro rata bank holidays + pro rata 3 additional days at Christmas

EAP scheme

Non-contributory pension scheme (AVC's may be made)

Free on-site parking at the office

The successful candidate will require their own transport with expensed travel to off-site meetings.

Accountable to: Transformation Manager

Closing Date 19 February 2023

Can you help us find new ways for the local church to flourish?

In the Diocese of Liverpool, we are working to be Fit for Mission, fit for the future. We successfully secured funding from the Church Commissioners and have begun an exciting six-year step change programme. This challenging programme involves meaningful change, changing culture, bringing diversity, growing leaders and rationalising admin.

We need you and your change facilitation skills to make this happen successfully.

So if you think you can help create the conditions for the church to grow into a sustainable future, this is the exciting role for you.

Purpose of the role:

The aim of this role is to facilitate a programme of missional transformation in a deanery. You will be part of the Fit for Mission programme delivery team with whom you will meet weekly for coordination and problem solving. The majority of the remainder of your time will be spent with deanery leaders as they travel through their change period.

You will facilitate and enable good decision making by the leaders of the churches in each deanery. You will provide energy, experience and process thinking to guide the team through a two-year intensive change period which includes leadership team development, discipleship culture development, lay leadership development, addressing buildings and pastoral reorganisation. Some key tasks within this role will be to:

• Facilitate the work of the deanery navigation team – four lay and four clergy tasked with navigating and coordinating the transformation and various portfolio teams. You will attend all their weekly meetings and ensure that decisions and progress are transparent to the wider team. You will facilitate the clarification of their change journey (timeline and required actions), undertake reviews and enable them to stay on course, adapting the change plan as required.
• Ensure change portfolio teams and ministry portfolio teams meet regularly and that their leads regularly attend the navigation team for progress and coordination purposes. Attend some portfolio team meetings to assist with coordination.
• Build excellent relationships with key deanery leaders, gaining their trust by listening well and transparently doing what you say you will do.
• Utilise the support of team coaches to help the clergy team to develop a culture of mutual support and accountability.
• Be the main connection point for the deanery with the FfM programme team. As part of the delivery team you will work closely with the Transformation manager on progress and planning, ensuring that remedial action is taken as needed. Through your liaison with the Transformation manager specialist diocesan support can be made available to suit the needs of each deanery (coaching, right buildings strategy, core services development etc.).
• Ensure that measurement data flows back to the FfM programme team such that progress and effectiveness can be monitored.
• Ensure that communications are effective both within each deanery and back to the comms team. Ensure remedial action is taken as needed.
• Enable the larger parish leadership team to define and own the team’s specific vision and values.
• Enable clarification of team roles and responsibilities.
• Enable the clarification of the strategic plan and outcomes (include what to stop, start and priorities). Facilitate by preparing strategy options as required.
• Facilitate cross-fertilisation of ideas and learning by documentation and communicating.
• Recruit and line manage a local project administrator, who will support the navigation team through the transition.

Along with other members of the delivery team you will be a champion to help others:

• recognise the urgency and need to lead the significant change required for growth.
• commit to the change journey.
• align to the FfM vision and objectives.

You will work closely with: Local church leaders (lay and ordained), the transformation manager, and the comms team.

Essential Requirements

• A-level / BTEC qualifications which demonstrate ability in English and Maths.
• Competent Change Facilitator with strong facilitation/change experience.
• Evidence of ability to facilitate and enable the work of others; skills to facilitate a room.
• Evidence of ability to find creative solutions to problems and challenges.
• Ability to take responsibility to ensure tasks are completed.
• Ability to build good relationships and maintain them while being persistent to ensure that the work gets done.
• A proven problem solver with resilience and flexibility.
• Shares the values and the ethos of the Church of England.
• High level of IT proficiency using Microsoft Office/Teams.
• A good and effective communicator.
• Able to prioritise tasks and manage own performance.
• Experience of faith communities.
• Access to own transport
• Willing to attend evening and weekend meetings as necessary, with notice.

Desirable Requirements

• Facilitation / change qualifications.
• Degree level qualification.
• A member of the Church of England.
• Experience in the voluntary sector.
• Experience of working in a Church context.
• Knowledge of the structures and organisation of the Church of England.

About Fit for Mission

As a diocese we are on a trajectory, first defined in Bishop Paul’s paper ‘Fit for Mission’ (endorsed by Diocesan Synod and Bishop’s Council 2014) to have accountable, dynamic and missional leadership teams in every deanery. Bishops and Archdeacons are leading us forward to work more collaboratively across deanery-scale geography.

The Fit for Mission programme will provide focus and support to work together to face the significant issues that hold back mission and growth.

Fit for Mission will support each deanery in the Diocese of Liverpool to create their own future. There are five elements to this, and for each of them the programme will make available help and specialist resource:

1. A focus on developing our discipleship culture through training and support, including delivering ‘Cultivate’, a successful lay development programme which results in new worshipping communities and justice initiatives planted and existing ones revitalised.
2. Creating missional leadership teams of lay and ordained people over larger areas with responsibility for specific mission and worship communities.
3. Developing high quality support and accountability structures for all leaders.
4. Making sure buildings are fit for purpose, with buildings expertise available to assist in making good decisions on use, investment, or closure.
5. Work towards each deanery having one or two larger Parishes. Each larger Parish to have high quality support services, resulting in simpler administration, less bureaucracy and more mission.

For more information on Fit for Mission go to www.liverpool.anglican.org/fitformission

About the Diocese of Liverpool

The Diocese of Liverpool is the Church of England in a corner of the north west with churches from Southport to Widnes; Wigan to Warrington and throughout the city of Liverpool all working their hardest to fulfil our vision of asking God for a bigger church making a bigger difference with more people knowing Jesus and more justice in the world.

As we work towards that vision we have four priorities

1. Introducing people to Jesus
2. Deepening discipleship
3. Developing Christian leaders
4. Working for justice

The diocesan offices provide essential support services to our parishes with many specialist staff offering expert support to our frontline parishes. We have a reputation for being a creative organisation securing national church backing for a range of innovative projects.

We are a small, supportive team offering a flexible approach. We have adopted a hybrid model balancing office based with home-based working. We are serious about the work life balance with generous holiday allowances and access to an Employee Assistance Programme. Diocesan staff have a strong working relationship with Liverpool Cathedral and our offices sit in the shadow of this magnificent iconic building.

For more information visit our website www.liverpool.anglican.org