Our aim is 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.

The Project Support Officer will be responsible for providing high level administrative support to the Senior Change Project Manager in delivering a project to ensure our retirement housing service is fit for the purpose for the future. This will involve a consultation and conversations across a diverse range of stakeholders and customer groups – exploring options for the evolution of the Church’s retirement housing service, ensuring it best meets the needs of our customers and the Church in the coming decades. Alongside the project, several business improvement initiatives will also require administrative support, all aimed at supporting the housing team in getting business ready to deliver a long-term, sustainable service.

This role will involve the organisation and delivery of a series of events, meetings and workshops, as well as supporting the development and management of online interfaces for delivery of the consultation. The Project Support Officer will help ensure the effective delivery of the consultation programme over a six-month period, working under the direction of the Senior Change Project Manager, with the aim to ensure there is a high level of engagement from stakeholders. The Project Support Officer will also collate feedback/data from conversations and research within the consultation period, summarising key information for stakeholders, supporting document management for the Project Board and relevant committees.

This is a post which would suit someone with good IT literacy, awareness/understanding of projects, who learns quickly, and marketing awareness, and has experience of working closely with key stakeholders whilst maintaining careful attention to detail.

The main responsibilities for this role are:

• Supporting the Project Manager and other team members in the delivery of the project.
• Organising diary appointments, events and workshops – including venue management, equipment and catering where relevant.
• Maximising attendance at events through invitations and regular reminders and the issuing of joining instructions for larger events
• Coordinating meetings involving senior stakeholders across the NCIs (National Church Institutions).
• Supporting the development of a web interface for the project and consultation.
• Monitoring engagement with an online questionnaire, tracking responses and reporting on progress.
• Feeding data into a central repository as it is received.
• Tracking participation across all digital platforms to ensure every stakeholder group is engaged effectively.
• Maintaining records for Project Board and Management Group.
• Updating the project management system and monitoring milestones.
• Distributing research reports and briefings.
• Updating content on the Project’s internal SharePoint site and staff Gateway.
• Administrating queries and liaising with project leaders to ensure replies are given in a timely manner.
• Working within the relevant legislation, policies and procedures.
• Being clear, assertive and a patient communicator.
• Maintaining confidentiality where necessary.
• Carrying out any other duties and projects as required by the Project Manager

The ideal candidate must have:

Essential

• Highly IT literate and proficient with common applications such as MS Office and web-based applications
• Good coordination skills, with the ability to prioritise activities.
• Enthusiastic and positive, welcoming of change.
• Experience of meeting facilitation, recording and following up actions.
• Experience of managing and maintaining project logs.
• Experience of collating and delivering reports.
• A methodical approach to process; an aptitude for accuracy and attention to detail
• An understanding of change management and how it can affect people in different ways.
• Ability to handle data accurately.
• Flexible, adaptable and able to work using own initiative.
• Prioritise workload and meet deadlines.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information appropriately
• Undertake research and project work

In the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we support the mission and ministries of the Church of England. We work with parishes, dioceses, schools, chaplaincies and other ministries, and with national and international partners including mission agencies, and other denominations and faith groups.-.

Find out more about working for the National Church Institutions at Careers | The Church of England

Our NCI values

• We strive for excellence
• We collaborate
• We act with integrity
• We show compassion
• We respect others

We welcome everyone and we accept and value people for who they are and what they contribute, treating others in the way we would wish to be treated ourselves. We actively listen to and include others, encouraging and enabling everyone’s voice to be heard in discussions and decisions. When we disagree, we aim to disagree well with respect and kindness.

We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people. 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. If there is anything we can do to support you in your application please get in touch via email to hr.recruitment@churchofengland.org.

• As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.
• We are a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.