Chief Operating Officer £80,000 - £85,000 The Catholic Diocese of Northampton Northampton Full-time, permanent

The Catholic Diocese of Northampton covers the traditional counties of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, together with the town of Slough, a Unitary Authority within Berkshire.

The Diocese is involved in many different areas of life. Not just in parishes, but also in schools, hospitals, prisons and religious communities; working with people with disabilities, and with the young and the old; promoting the value of family and of marriage; caring for the poor, the homeless and those who live at the margins of society.

With its southern edge resting on the Thames and its northern tip in the East Midlands, it is by no means the smallest English diocese. There are 69 principal parishes with another 26 "satellite churches", chapels of ease, and a few more Mass centres in private schools and other institutions. They are served by 48 active diocesan priests, assisted by 12 active priests from other dioceses and 18 from religious orders.

The diocese has 29 schools at primary/infant/junior level, 6 secondary schools, one 4-19 VA through-school, one private primary school, a private prep school, and one private girls boarding through-school. Between them they educate some 20,700 pupils.

The diocese is a registered charity, The Northampton Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust, and is also a registered company. The Chief Operating Officer will be the Honorary Secretary to that corporation. There is one active trading subsidiary, RCDN Property Services Ltd, which provides project management for school projects. There are separate Trustees' Property, Investment and Health and Safety Committees.

In addition to the statutory and legal and governance responsibilities attached to the role, the Chief Operating Officer is responsible for all the core business functions or finance, facilities, including IT, and HR.

As the Chief Operating Officer includes the role of Diocesan Finance Officer under Canon Law, the postholder must fulfil the requirements of ecclesiastical office under the Canon Law of the Catholic Church. The post is therefore subject to the occupational requirement that the holder is a practicing Catholic under Part 1 of Schedule 9 of the Equality Act.

How to apply

Application is by way of CV and a Supporting Statement, which should concentrate on your motivations and evidencing how your experience and skills meet the requirements.

Interview arrangements

All interviews will be held in accordance with the UK Governments guidance designed to limit the spread of COVID-19. If the guidance allows, the interviews will be held on-site at the Diocese, otherwise they will be conducted via a remote video facility. Accessibility Please let us know if you have any special requirements which we might need to consider in relation to any aspect of the selection process, e.g. application process, attending interview, completing online psychometric exercises. Any requests will not be taken into account in the selection process.

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Given the current crisis we are experiencing a high volume of applications for the active searches we are managing at the moment. We regret that it is impossible to provide a detailed individual response to each application received. If you do not hear from us within 7 days of the advertised closing date, please assume that your application is not being taken forward to the selection stage.