Parish general manager jobs

Role Purpose

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 over 200,000 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.

The role is a key one to ensure Southwark Cathedral is able to:

• Promote the Cathedral’s image and reputation as a place of inclusive welcome

• Trade profitably

The Events & Enterprises Assistant will be expected to work within the diverse and inclusive ethos of Southwark Cathedral. They should be able to be flexible and creative in maximising the opportunities for commercial income alongside the worshipping and community life of the Cathedral. The post-holder will also be expected to work closely with staff and volunteers from all areas of Cathedral life.

Role Overview

The Events & Enterprises Assistant is an exciting role offering both administrative and practical support to the Cathedral and its trading company Southwark Cathedral Enterprises Limited (SCEL). The post-holder will provide key administrative support to the COO, who is Company Secretary of SCEL, as well as giving broad practical support to the Head of Events to help deliver the special events and commercial meeting-room business.

The post-holder will provide support to the Head of Events in the delivery of a colourful programme of special events in the Cathedral space. Each year we hold a number of private parties, dinners and fundraising events as well as concerts, memorial events and carol services. The Head of Events holds the responsibility for converting special event enquiries into confirmed visits, relationship management and this post will share event management ‘on the day’, to ensure the smooth and safe delivery of often complex largescale events. Most often working one year ahead of the event, the post-holder will provide administrative and operational support for preparations and the delivery of the events by completion of operational notes, RAMS or similar.

Additionally, the Events & Enterprises Assistant will be responsible for the effective day- to-day management of commercial bookings for the Cathedral’s meeting rooms. Our conference business, comprising three main meeting rooms of varying sizes, has a wide client base drawn from the commercial, government, charity and national health sectors and many of the bookings are repeat business. The meeting rooms have an excellent reputation and are popular with clients and for managing the clients’ experience from initial enquiry to final invoice. The post-holder will provide a welcome to clients on arrival, 3 ensuring that their room, IT and catering specifications have been met and manage their requirements during their stay.

They will also work closely with the Marketing & Communications Manager on communications campaigns which are relevant to the Cathedral’s conference and special events business activity.

The post-holder will support the work of the Board of Enterprises by organising the annual schedule of Board meetings – booking meeting rooms, setting up technology and refreshments on the day, attending and minuting meetings and acting as a point of contact for members of the Board. They will also support the Cathedral’s COO in their role as Company Secretary of SCEL - assisting them with correspondence, meeting arrangements, collation of papers and drafting reports for meetings and liaising where necessary with the finance team.

Generous Giving Manager
Canterbury, Kent
£36,397 pa plus excellent benefits
35 hours per week

The Generous Giving Manager is a very exciting and influential role at the Diocese, as you will build on the strong and energetic foundations within our two-person Generous Giving Team to strengthen the financial sustainability of local churches by encouraging generosity in time, talents and financial giving.

Working closely with deaneries, parishes and their leadership teams, you will identify local challenges and opportunities for generous giving, sharing innovative giving practices to help parishes and deaneries develop creative and effective ways to resource their mission.

Communicating clearly and inspiringly the principles of Christian giving to diverse audiences, you will keep up to date with National Church resources, promoting and supporting a wide range of giving methods such as the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS), online and contactless giving. You will also offer guidance to parish officers for resources on giving campaigns, legacies and grant funding.

This is an ideal role for someone with a good understanding of church life, a passion for helping local churches thrive, a strong commitment to community engagement and an understanding of generosity grounded in Christian teaching.

With demonstrable experience in fundraising or parish ministry, you should bring an awareness of the financial and missional challenges facing churches today, particularly in rural contexts. 

With an understanding of the Church of England’s structures, ethos, and range of traditions, you will have the proven ability to plan, advise on and lead giving or fundraising programmes in a not-for-profit or charitable context. You should also have a clear understanding of the teaching which underpins the Christian principles of giving.

Your motivational and collaborative approach across a variety of settings, combined with your outstanding interpersonal skills and natural ability at rapport building will ensure you are able to generate and develop creative, solution-focused ideas, engaging and inspiring individuals and groups, both in person and online.

Typically, you will operate during office hours but will need to adjust your working pattern in order to meet with parishes in the evenings and/or occasionally attend their Sunday worship, so the ability to travel to remote locations and work flexibly is a necessity.

Canterbury Diocese is the oldest diocese in England, stretching from Maidstone to Thanet, the Isle of Sheppey to the Romney Marsh. We have 350 miles of coastline with historic ports and seaside resorts, alongside rural communities, market towns and commuter-belt urban developments. Affluent areas often sit alongside pockets of major deprivation, offering an exciting and challenging mission context. 

At the heart of all we do is a vision of transformation for ourselves and our communities: no one can encounter God and remain unchanged. In the Diocese of Canterbury, we want to increasingly become a Christian community transformed through encounter with Christ, growing and overflowing to transform and bless the families, homes and communities we serve: Changed Lives, Changing Lives.

Closing date: 20 November 2025.

Stella Maris is the official maritime charity of the Catholic Church.  We are looking for a Regional Port Chaplain for East Anglia to support seafarers, fishers and their families.

In this unique and rewarding role, you'll be the welcoming face of Stella Maris in your region, visiting ships, listening to crew members, and offering practical, pastoral and spiritual support to anyone in need, regardless of faith or background.

About the role

No two days are the same.  You might spend the morning visiting ships and listening to crew members' stories, help someone contact their family back home, support a seafarer in crisis, or offer a quiet moment of prayer on deck.

You'll also recruit and support a team of volunteers, work closely with other maritime charities and local partners, and build strong relationships with parishes, dioceses, and port authorities.  You'll be part of a nationwide network of Stella Maris chaplains, supported through regular meetings, retreats and professional development opportunities.

Key responsibilities

• Visit ships regularly to meet seafarers and fishers, responding to their pastoral, practical and spiritual needs.
• Provide practical help such as transport, communication access, and emergency or crisis support.
• Offer spiritual care to Catholic seafarers and facilitate the religious needs of those from other faiths.
• Recruit, train and support Stella Maris volunteers.
• Work collaboratively with other maritime charities.
• Maintain strong relationships with local parishes, the Diocese of East Anglia, and port stakeholders such as the Harbour Master, shipping agents and welfare committees.
• Support local fundraising and awareness initiatives alonside the charity's national team.

About you

You'll be someone who takes joy in helping others.  You don't need maritime experiences, what matters most is your empathy and ability to offer pastoral support in practical ways.

You may come from a background in chaplaincy, parish ministry, community work or social care.  You'll share our commitment to upholding the dignity of every seafarer and fisher.

Chief Executive Officer – St Luke’s Community Centre

Location: London EC1V (on-site presence required)

Salary: Between £95,000 - £105,000 per annum

Contract: Permanent, full-time (37.5 hours per week)

Are you ready to guide St Luke’s Community Centre - south Islington’s 500-year-old community hub - into its next era of intergenerational community impact?

About St Luke’s

St Luke’s Community Centre traces its roots back over 500 years, stewarding ancient parish endowments to relieve poverty in our defined area of benefit. In 1982 we opened our purpose-built home on Central Street. In 2019 we transformed from an over-55s’ welfare organisation into a vibrant, intergenerational hub. Our programme of over 100 weekly activities has grown year-on-year, and we’ve become the first organisation in Islington to achieve the trusted standard benchmark. Our already strong reputation was bolstered by our team’s incredible response to the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic, during which we never closed, but pivoted to preparing daily meals, running befriending calls and welfare checks, and welcoming the community back in as soon as it was safe to do so. Today, we are the beating heart of the community.

As our next CEO, you will:

• Shape Strategy & Impact: Lead development and delivery of our three-year rolling strategy, balancing service excellence with financial sustainability.
• Governance & Finance: Oversee robust governance frameworks and financial controls, stewarding our £20 million investment portfolio, trading income and grant programmes.
• Operational Leadership: Inspire and support a diverse team of 44 staff and hundreds of volunteers, embedding a culture of continuous improvement, inclusion and professionalism.
• Income Generation: Unlock new revenue streams - maximising room hire, cookery-school capacity, digital/social enterprises and corporate fundraising partnerships.
• Community & Partnerships: Forge and deepen relationships with local authorities, corporate sponsors, umbrella bodies and community groups.
• Brand & Profile: Be the public face of St Luke’s, elevating communications, safeguarding our reputation and ensuring our values of inclusion, equality, friendship, wellbeing and support shine through.

Who you are

• A seasoned senior leader (CEO or equivalent), ideally within the charity, membership or community-services sectors.
• Demonstrable expertise in strategic planning, P&L management and complex stakeholder governance.
• A persuasive communicator and boardroom presenter with the gravitas to inspire trustees, staff, volunteers and funders.
• Entrepreneurial and innovative, able to identify revenue opportunities and drive their delivery.
• Hands-on and approachable - a visible presence on the shop floor as well as the board table.
• (Desirable) Experience of trading-arm management, social-enterprise models or corporate fundraising.

Why St Luke’s?

• Lead a historic, 500-year-old charity with a modern purpose-built centre at its heart.
• Salary between £95,000 - £105,000 plus generous employee benefits (Benenden health membership, pension, season-ticket loans, cycle-to-work, subsidised lunches).
• Shape a charity whose community-shop, wellbeing hub, cookery school, employment hub, lunch club and gardening projects touch hundreds of lives each week.
• Join a committed Board, supportive Chair and passionate team determined to grow St Luke’s impact in challenging times.

Please see the attached Recruitment Brief with details on how to apply.

Closing date for applications: 9am, Monday 10th November 2025

As leading charity recruitment specialists and a certified B Corp, Harris Hill is committed to high and ever-improving standards of equitable and inclusive recruitment. We actively welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexuality and other protected characteristics.