The Diocese is seeking a Project Lead for its newly created pilot project for children and young people The Alban Way.

This is a key role co-creating, overseeing, delivering and promoting the project and developing key relationships with pilot churches.

Please see our website for further information and details of how to apply: https://www.stalbansdiocese.org/vacancies/the-alban-way-project-lead/

Thank you for your interest in the role of Project Lead for the Alban Way Project.

This is an important role, delivering a significant project within our diocesan strategic progamme: Growing Younger and More Diverse.

We are looking for someone with a proven experience leading youth or children’s work progammes to join a new and developing team. The Project’s work is externally funded by the national church, and this role is therefore offered as a fixed term, 30 month contract. It is advertised as full time, but we would also be open to a discussion with candidates wishing to work 0.8 part time hours.

If this could be you we would be delighted to receive your application. If you would like an informal conversation to help you in considering your application please contact the Growing Younger and More Diverse Lead, the Revd Dan Drew, via Email or phone 07311310580 - to arrange this.

We look forward to hearing from you!

1. Overall Project Leadership of The Alban Way

This portion of the role ensures parity across each of the cohorts, ensures good governance and communication with the various stakeholders.

• To line manage the Younger and More Diverse intern who leads on the 18-35 years cohort
• Research future work with 14+ year olds in partnership with the DBE and external partners
• Produce timely updates for governance
• Produce reports for the Vision and Strategy Team
• Identify new churches for future cohorts
• Manage partnership with Youthscape who will be monitoring the project
• Ensure good working relationships with relevant church leaders
• Promote the wider work of the Younger and More diverse team
• Attend, support and promote wider diocesan youth and children’s networking events
• Communicate to Younger and More diverse board/ management team
• Any other task associated with the role

1. Leading the Children’s Cohort of The Alban Way (ages 11-13)

The larger portion of the work is weighted in this part of the role as it requires launching a new program initially in two schools and then scaling this up in year two.

• Prepare all aspects of the launch of this cohort for September 2023
• Lead any face-to-face activities
• Manage Residential for the children’s cohort
• Invest in pilot churches
• Attend the new youth ministries (observations)
• Develop children’s course materials in partnership with the Diocesan Board of Education
• Develop a resource to equip and train a wider group to run the programme

We are looking for a candidate with:

• Education to degree level or above, (or relevant equivalent experience)
• Face to face experience leading youth and or children’s work programs
• A proactive attitude, the confidence and reliability to work unsupervised, and the insight to anticipate the needs of the programme and individual projects
• Good interpersonal skills and an aptitude for dealing courteously with people in all contexts
• Ability to influence and promote good practice and to motivate teams and individuals, particularly volunteers
• Ability to work collaboratively and constructively across organisational groupings and contexts
• Experience in delivering on a variety of projects simultaneously
• An attractive and clear writing style
• Good IT skills, including a thorough working knowledge of Microsoft Office and, ideally including Project Management; ability to learn to use the Diocesan Database.
• A willingness to work flexibly including occasional evenings and weekends, and, if necessary, to travel to projects and events across the diocese
• An understanding of the Church of England and its variety of different contexts and sympathy with the life and work of the Church of England in St Albans Diocese.

The Diocese of St Albans consists of the counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and part of the London Borough of Barnet. The population is approximately 1.8 million, and the total electoral roll number is approximately 32,000. The Bishop of St Albans has overall responsibility for the Diocese. He is assisted by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Bedford and the Bishop of Hertford, who in turn are assisted by the Archdeacons of St Albans, Bedford and Hertford. There are twenty deaneries, and the Diocese has 340 parishes, of which about one third are rural, 210 benefices, 380 churches, 257 stipendiary clergy, 44 non-stipendiary clergy, 223 clergy with Permission to Officiate and 248 Lay Readers. There are 137 Church Schools and Academies in the Diocese.

The Diocese of St Albans has a clear vision of Living God’s Love with three priorities: Going Deeper into God; Transforming Communities and Making New Disciples, and doing so with: creativity, joy imagination and courage. The vision flows from God’s love for us and is expressed in our love for God and our neighbours. Through Living God’s Love we are seeking spiritual and numerical growth across our parishes, benefices, schools and chaplaincies.

The Mission and Ministry Department covers a significant and broad spectrum of work encouraging, enabling and resourcing discipleship and vocations, a vibrant mixed ecology of church, clergy wellbeing and development, lay training and local contextual mission action plans. In all of this we are working to enable people in every place in the diocese to glimpse the good news of Jesus and be released and empowered in their discipleship and calling.

All four teams work collaboratively and are governed by the Board for Mission and Ministry.

This role has been created to oversee, deliver and promote The Alban Way, a pilot project, funded by the central church, designed to develop young leaders of a variety of ages. It sits within the Growing Younger and More Diverse Team, which has significant and crucial overlap and interaction with the other three teams within the department, as well as staff within the wider diocese.