Facilities Officer

As the Facilities Officer at Southwark Cathedral, you will work as a key part of the Property team – co-responsible for the set-up and maintenance of spaces such as the Cathedral’s conference rooms and for health, safety and security on site. Working closely with the Head of Property, Facilities Manager and other members of the Property team and Verger team, you will be at the forefront of making the Cathedral site safe, tidy, functional and sustainable.

Southwark Cathedral has been a place of Christian worship for over 1400 years. Now it stands on the vibrant and exciting regenerated south bank of the Thames surrounded by cultural venues such as Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and Borough Market, the offices of major companies as well as schools and diverse residential communities. It is an inclusive Christian community that offers a welcome to all. 

The Cathedral’s mission, ministry and musical tradition are core to its life as a Cathedral and a parish church serving the community. It also relies on the valuable financial contribution made by its income generating activities such as its shop, café, conference rooms, corporate events and concerts. It is a very busy place, attracting 290,000 visitors a year to the Cathedral, its churchyard and medieval herb garden. The Cathedral relies on a small but dedicated team to be inclusive and welcoming to all.

If you have experience of: 

• Working on a busy site
• Maintaining safety to persons and to heritage fabric
• Working with key health and safety considerations in mind

And are: 

• A proactive problem solver, pragmatic and solution orientated
• Committed to continuous organisation improvement and the ability to act as an agent of change
• Understanding of and enthusiastic for the Cathedral’s overall vision and values, including sustainability across the site

 Then we would love to hear from you.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Site and Facilities Assistance 

• General porterage, to include moving and installing of pack-away furniture as required; 
• Shifting of furniture between rooms and storage across site to meet needs of Cathedral; 
• Assistance with delivery of tea, coffee and finger-food refreshments to conference and meeting rooms for internal meetings and external clients. Food & Hygiene Level 2 required (training given); 
• Light cleaning as required, including bin-emptying; 
• Top-up cleaning of toilets and washrooms, to retain fully functioning facilities for conferences, meetings and events; 
• Replenishing washroom supplies, e.g. soap, paper hand towels, toilet roll, etc; 
• Assistance with some high-level housekeeping in the Cathedral church and throughout the site, e.g. heritage cleaning, hanging decorations, lights, etc; 
• Assist Facilities Manager with simple tasks of general building maintenance;
• Maintain tidiness of the cleaning and furniture stores; 
• Remove waste and bulky redundant items from rooms and storage areas for on-site collection; 
• Carry out regular site inspections to ensure that the entire Cathedral precinct is kept free from litter and in good order with signage and barriers correctly placed

Security, Health and Safety

• Remain vigilant at all times for the security of the Cathedral premises; 
• Check that public areas and working areas and practices are kept safe and free from trip, slip and other hazards; 
• Take action when needed to implement emergency procedures; 
• Act as Fire Marshall and Lockdown Marshall (training given); 
• Ensure compliance with relevant Heath and Safety legislation and statutory codes of practice; 
• Liaise with the Property Team and Head Verger over any issues of concern with regard to Health, Safety & Security. 

Conference Rooms 

• Work with Property Team managing the preparation of conference rooms including audio visual equipment requirements; 
• Ensure conference and meeting rooms are set with appropriate furniture and equipment for event or meeting in timely fashion; 
• Manage week-day room-setting according to Cathedral diary and to meet different departments’ event requirements; 
• Provide operational audio-visual support to clients to provide presentation- and meeting-standard IT functions.

Sustainability 

• Assist in the implementation and monitoring of the Cathedral’s energy management and waste strategies including liaising with waste management suppliers, reading utility meters, changing fittings to LED light bulbs;
• Light garden maintenance where required. 

Closing date: 11.59pm on Monday, August 17th

Interviews are planned for Tuesday, September 1st and Wednesday, September 2nd

Southwark Cathedral is committed to being an Equal Opportunities Employer. We believe in promoting and building a diverse and inclusive team, and workplace, culture and governance structures that are welcoming to and respectful of all. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified people whatever their ethnicity, background, age, disability, long term condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.

 Southwark Cathedral is committed to a culture of safeguarding, especially for children, young people, and vulnerable adults. The Cathedral has adopted the Church of England policy statement ‘Promoting a Safer Church (2017)’; Safeguarding Learning and Development (2024) and the Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance (2021). Every member of our team is recruited according to these policies and is required to complete safeguarding training.

Appointment to this role is subject to satisfactory references and the right to work in the UK.