Bishop personal assistant jobs
- Kensington Episcopal Area, Diocese of London
- Permanent
- 4 days per week (plus an additional 1 day per week for the first 18 months)
- Location: Flexible, with at least one day per week in the Twickenham office (Regal House)
- No DBS is required for this role
Do you thrive on organisation, relationships, and meaningful work?
We are seeking a highly capable and warm-hearted Personal Assistant to the Archdeacon of Middlesex to play a central role in supporting ministry, mission, and parish life across one of the most vibrant and diverse parts of the Diocese of London.
This is a richly varied role combining high-level PA support, administration, project coordination, and relationship management — perfect for someone who enjoys juggling priorities, working with people, and being the calm, organised presence at the heart of a busy office.
About the Role
You will provide comprehensive PA and administrative support to the Archdeacon of Middlesex, working closely with clergy, churchwardens, parish officers, and diocesan colleagues. Your work will directly support local churches across West London, helping parishes flourish, buildings be cared for, clergy supported, and key diocesan processes run smoothly.
We are looking for someone who:
- Has proven experience as a PA or administrator
- Is highly organised and confident juggling priorities
- Is comfortable communicating with diverse communities
- Is proficient with Microsoft 365
- Has excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Is empathetic, relationally intelligent, and discreet
- Has experience working with budgets
- Is supportive of the values and mission of the Church of England
About Us
The Diocese of London serves over 18 boroughs north of the Thames. The Kensington Area reflects the extraordinary diversity of London. We are committed to being a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming organisation and encourage applications from under‑represented groups.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
The Diocese of London is committed to creating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workforce which represents our context and wider community.
We are aware that those of Global Majority Heritage/United Kingdom Minority Ethnic (GMH/UKME), women, and disabled people are currently under-represented among our clergy and workforce, and we particularly encourage applications from those with the relevant skills and experience that will increase this representation.
Safeguarding
The Diocese of London is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Benefits of working with us
The LDF offers a supportive working environment, opportunity for career development and the following financial benefits:
- Competitive remuneration package
- 27 annual leave days to rise to 30 after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays
- 15% employer pension contribution and salary sacrifice available
- Death in service benefit x3 of basic gross salary
- Enhanced maternity leave of six months full pay, after 12 months of employment
- Season ticket loans for public transport
- Access to Benenden Health Insurance
- EAP counselling through Health Assured
- Up to £100 for eye test and contribution to spectacles
- Two additional paid days for community volunteering
To apply:
Submit your application and CV online via Pathways. Please refer to the person specification and JD when you’re answering the application questions.
Interviews will be held in-person at Causton Street, SW1P 4AU, on 6th of March 2026.
For more details, please see the full Job Description and Person Specification or visit the LDF Careers Page.
Registered Charity
0
For every Londoner to encounter the love of God in Christ
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This role provides proactive administrative support to the Bishop of Ripon. The Bishop's PA represents the Bishop's Office and is often the first point of contact.
The postholder will manage the Bishop's Office and ensure that work for the Bishop of Ripon is completed to a high standard. Much of the work is highly confidential, so the postholder must be able to deal with this discreetly and sensitively. The PA is a vital part of the local Ripon Area team but must be able to work independently and use initiative as necessary. Commitment to supporting the Bishop's ministry is essential, and a good understanding of the Christian Faith and Anglican worship is helpful.
Daily tasks will include prioritising mail and messages, organising the Bishop's diary, drafting replies and/or briefing papers as appropriate, producing communication and paperwork around the Bishop's appointments (including church visits and clergy meetings) promptly, attending and arranging events and meetings and in general ensuring that the Bishop is properly resourced and supported in his/her work. As well as overseeing the Ripon Episcopal Area, the Bishop has some diocesan responsibilities, which necessitate travel around the Diocese, and national responsibilities which include travel to London and elsewhere in the country. The planning of the Bishop's diary will reflect the travel involved.
The PA will have key working relationships with other senior staff in the Diocese and particularly those in the Ripon Area. The PA will work closely with the Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven and their PA. The postholder will also be in frequent contact with the Area and Assistant Area Deans and other Area Officers. As the Bishop is often out of the office, the post-holder should be a self-starter and capable of using their initiative with regard to planning and managing their workload.
There may be the possibility of some home-working - details to be discussed with the post holder.
Principal Duties
- Manage the Bishop's diary, appointments, travel and event logistics
- Plan the annual meeting cycle for various committees and individuals
- Manage the approval system for Lay Eucharistic Ministers, including the renewals every five years.
- Anticipate and act proactively on information that comes into the office (via email, phone or letter) particularly where this relates to diary and deadline matters.
- Ensure that appropriate matters are brought to the attention of the Bishop
- Arrange Confirmations, Licensings and other church services and handle related administration.
- Manage annual review appointments (MDRs) for clergy, ensuring that the necessary paperwork is issued and received within appropriate timeframes.
- Manage the 'New in Post' system alongside the Archdeacon's PA
- Administer the clergy appointments process within the Ripon Area, working closely with the Archdeacon, the Archdeacon's PA, Patrons and parish representatives. Ensure that all legal requirements are met.
- Managing meetings for PTO applications.
- Prepare materials for meetings; to occasionally attend and take minutes.
- Oversee the Bishop's expenses and local budget, ensuring that accurate records are kept and returned to the Bishop of Leeds Financial Officer monthly.
- Organise and maintain general and confidential filing systems, including clergy files.
- Manage the Bishop's Office, including ordering stationery, dealing with phone systems, etc
Other duties
- Represent the Bishop's Office with professionalism, discretion and pastoral sensitivity.
- Welcome visitors to the Bishop's Office, ensuring that they are dealt with in a polite and courteous manner.
- Assist in providing refreshments when necessary
- Attend meetings and other events (outside the office) as agreed with the Bishop
- Maintain confidentiality and integrity at all times, ensuring that all confidential material is properly managed and stored.
- Undertake any training as required and be willing to understand GDPR and Safeguarding practices.
- To support the Bishop in developing a social media presence
Essential
Experience, knowledge and skills:
- Experience of working in an administrative capacity in an office environment
- Excellent communication skills (verbal and written), including good telephone skills
- Excellent organisational skills and good attention to detail.
- Proficient IT skills, including strong knowledge of Microsoft Office (particularly Word and Outlook) and the ability to use databases to search and record work
- Understanding of social media
- Numeracy skills
- Good problem-solving skills
- Total discretion in handling confidential material
- Good interpersonal skills
- Ability to deal tactfully and sympathetically with the laity and clergy in the Diocese
- Ability to work on own initiative and develop new systems
- Knowledge of the structures of the Church of England (or willingness to learn)
- An appreciation of the diverse communities in the Diocese
Personal qualities:
- Sympathy with the aims and values of the Church of England
- Ability to relate to a wide-range of people across the whole social spectrum and put them at their ease
- Sensitivity to the Bishop's Office, also being the home of the Bishop
Work-related Circumstances:
- Able to work flexibly, including very occasional evenings and weekends with prior notice
- Willingness to travel to meetings within the Diocese and Episcopal Area
- Willingness to undertake training as required
Registered Charity
101 - 500
The Church of England’s vocation is and always has been to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ afresh in each generation to the people of England.
Thank you!
This is a unique opportunity to work closely with the office of the Bishops of Liverpool and Warrington, providing strategic diary management, event coordination, and high-level administrative support as part of the episcopal staff team. The Personal Assistant (Diary & Events) works closely with the Bishops, the Bishop's Chaplain & Executive Assistant and the Finance & Associate PA.
The post-holder will need to have (or be able to quickly develop) a thorough knowledge of the many facets of a Bishop's roles, the workings of the Diocese of Liverpool and the Church of England more widely. As well as having excellent organisational, administrative and diary management skills, the post-holder must have the capacity to respond quickly often working independently and calmly to rapidly changing circumstances and effectively manage competing demands.
This role demands initiative, discretion and creativity. It is ideal for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment, is passionate about the Church's mission, and is confident in managing both strategic and operational responsibilities. It requires someone who is proactive and can organise their work so that they are one step ahead in order to anticipate issues and influence positive outcomes. The post holder will also be an excellent communicator, able to handle difficult conversations and be highly collaborative in order to build highly effective working relationships with a wide range of individuals and organisations.
The role will be primarily based at Bishop's Lodge, Woolton Park, Liverpool. There is a requirement to be flexible and, on occasion, to work from the diocesan office at St James' House.
These relationships will be vital as everyone in the bishop's office must have a good awareness of each other's work and the capacity to allocate tasks and support each other's workstreams according to the particular demands. Holidays must be agreed between staff to ensure that the office is well staffed. The PA (Diary & Events) will not normally be away from the Office or on holiday at the same time as the Finance & Associate PA.
Any given day is varied and therefore likely to produce a range of demands both foreseen and unforeseen; the Personal Assistant needs the flexibility and initiative to respond appropriately as and when matters arise. The following are, however, the focal responsibilities of the role:
Diary Management
Working with the Bishop's Chaplain & Executive Assistant, to have overall responsibility to plan, organise and coordinate all elements of the day-to-day diary management for the bishops and the Bishop's Chaplain. This includes but is not limited to:
- Book, manage and adjust appointments, engagements and meetings.
- Organise the diary and schedule the bishops' day in a way that enables and sustains their ministries.
- Take the lead on making travel and accommodation arrangements
- Ensure the bishops have all necessary paperwork or information in advance of meetings or engagements
- Liaise with parishes, clergy and all key stakeholders both internal and external where required.
- Be pro-active in drafting appropriate responses to all requests and invitations.
- Protect the bishop's diary by setting criteria to manage all diary demands including pushing back on requests to ensure that the number of commitments is sustainable.
Administrative and operational support
- Managing the administration for Readers in the diocese including liaising with the Diocesan Team and the Warden of Readers.
- From time to time as and when required to serve as clerk to the meetings held by the bishops and to take notes, co-ordinate agendas, actions and follow-ups.
- Oversee the maintenance of the Clergy Personal Files ensuring that they are up to date and stored and organised correctly.
- Collaborate with the Bishops' Chaplain & Executive Assistant and other members of the team to provide administrative support to enable the smooth running of the Bishop's Office and is also crucial to the Bishops' work.
- Develop and maintain highly effective electronic and paper filing systems, data, databases, and other records storage in line with Safeguarding and GDPR principles.
- Undertake other appropriate duties as commensurate with the role as requested by the Bishop
Event management
- Lead on planning and delivery of events, both large and small, hosted by or involving the bishops as required and share in welcoming visitors to the Bishop's Office.
- Plan, coordinate and manage logistics, invitations, guest communications and event materials, liaising with both internal and external contacts and be the lead contact for such events.
- Ensure events reflect the bishops' priorities and are delivered with professionalism and warmth.
Developing and maintaining relationships
Build excellent working relationships with all those with whom the Bishops come into contact by responding to a wide range of enquiries in a warm and friendly manner, either in person or by directing enquirers to the appropriate sources of information.
Establish, maintain and improve ways of working and consistent information flow, including liaising with the bishops' staff, Diocesan Offices, other bishops, external civic contacts, dioceses and clergy nationally; the Bishoprics and Church Commissioners.
Skills/Aptitudes
- Demonstrates thinking ahead, managing time, priorities and developing structured and efficient approaches to deliver work on time and to a very high standard.
- Efficient and quick at dealing with requests.
- Ability to handle confidential information and to act with discretion
- Able to work flexibly, both in terms of time and responsibilities
- Content to work to the bishop's agenda, adjusting work style to the Bishop's preferences and requirements.
- Ability to organise own workload, to set priorities and to work to deadlines
- Ability to show initiative and creativity and to work without direct supervision
- IT proficiency, including Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel
- Strong communication skills, both oral and written including excellent report writing skills.
- Ability to work effectively as part of a team.
Experience
- Significant demonstrable experience as a highly performing administrator/personal assistant/diary manager in working with senior members of staff
- Demonstrable experience of providing Personal Assistant/Diary support to senior staff
- Proven interpersonal skills with the ability to quickly establish and maintain excellent working relationships with officers/post holders and other key stakeholder groups
- Proven stakeholder management skills to manage competing demands.
- Experience of managing expectations, conflicts and difficult conversations whilst maintaining productive working relationships.
- Familiarity with the Church of England's structures and mission
Personal attributes
- Ability to work calmly under pressure and solve problems efficiently and effectively
- Calm, confident and adaptable under pressure
- Self-movitated, punctual and organised
- Compassionate and patient
- To be a person in sympathy with the mission and ethos of the Christian Church, the Church of England and the Diocese of Liverpool
The closing date for applications is 26 February 2026 at 23:55pm.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
The Church of England’s vocation is and always has been to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ afresh in each generation to the people of England.