Finance Manager – Westminster Cathedral
Key information
Closing date: 12pm, Wednesday 31 July 2024
£62,000 per annum
Full-time, 35 hours per week
Permanent Contract
Based in London, SW1P 1QW
Interviews: TBC
Please find the job description for this role below:
Cathedral Finance Manager Job Description
Would you like to develop your financial career by helping an iconic London landmark to achieve its full potential?
Who are we?
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, known as Westminster Cathedral, is the largest Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. It is the seat of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and it is also home to one of the country’s most celebrated Cathedral Choirs. We are located close to Victoria train and underground station and just a short walk from St James’s Park and Westminster underground stations.
Even though the Cathedral is not a historic monument it is a significant visitor attraction with up to 25,000 people passing through its door each week. It is very much a working church for the 6,000 people who attend Mass and services here every week. It is at the heart of a very diverse and committed parish community who practice their faith and their commitment to the values of Catholic social teaching in a large number of special interest groups and charitable endeavours.
The Cathedral is also known for hosting concerts and services of different kinds and the adjacent Westminster Cathedral Hall is used for different purposes by a wide range of clients including local Government departments, the National Blood Transfusion service and the Bach Choir.
Westminster Cathedral is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, a faith-based charity, which seeks to positively impact the lives of people through its network of 208 schools, 212 parishes and several hundred social justice initiatives. The diocesan core values are Competence, Reliability, Honesty, Perseverance and Love, and they are at the centre of everything we do and as such we are looking for a Finance Manager who is able to clearly demonstrate and evidence them
Who we’re looking for
We are looking for someone with a positive attitude to work, a good communicator and a team player who will be committed to high quality delivery and professionalism at all times.
The successful candidate will be joining a management team embracing the challenge of helping the Cathedral balance the twin imperatives of respecting the traditions and requirements of the Roman Catholic Church, and taking advantage of the many growth opportunities available to it.
This is a hugely varied role that offers an exciting opportunity for someone looking to make his or her mark on an internationally-renowned and much-loved institution by helping set it on a path to profitable future growth and development.
We welcome applications from those with a Catholic faith, those of other faiths, or none. What we require above all else is that you respect the values we share to help others and support decent and dignified work for all without prejudice.
What you’ll be doing
The Finance Manager is responsible for running and administering robust and effective management accounting and information systems, and empowering colleagues within the organisation by ensuring that they have both good knowledge and understanding of all relevant aspects of the Cathedral’s financial performance, and a commitment to budgetary accountability and control.
The post holder will report to the Cathedral Dean and will be the line manager of the Cathedral’s part-time Finance Officer. He/she will work collaboratively with the Cathedral Manager, and liaise with other heads of departments, those working as part of the Finance team of the diocesan curia, and members of the Cathedral’s Finance Committee.
The Finance Manager will produce monthly management information to enable colleagues to optimise the efficiency of the areas under their control and to inform strategic planning and he/she will be instrumental in advising the Dean on what needs to be done to optimise the operational and commercial activities of the Cathedral
This means there’s lots to get involved in – and to be excited about.
What we offer you
In return for your hard work and commitment to us, you will receive a competitive reward package which will include, but is not limited to:
- Life Assurance
- Access to Healthcare Cash Plan
- Discounts scheme through Reward Gateway – shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets gift cards and much more
- Season Ticket Loan
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Access to low cost loans with Churches Mutual
- Employee assistance programme– free, independent 24/7 help and advice for work-related issues as well as problems affecting home life
Application details
We value our employees and therefore respect diversity in all its forms (seen and unseen). We particularly welcome applications from those from Black and Asian backgrounds, as well as candidates with disabilities. We would like to increase representation of these groups among our staff as we know greater diversity will lead to an even greater impact for our work.
To be considered for the role, please complete an online application. CVs will NOT be considered, therefore, please do not send them. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Please note that you will need to be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this position. You must provide proof of Right to Work in the UK. We reserve the right to remove the vacancy before closing date.
Equal Opportunities & Living Wage Statement:
The Diocese of Westminster is an Equal Opportunities and accredited Living Wage employer. To be successful, we aspire to be person centered at all times and place human dignity at our centre. We aim at all times to recruit the person who is best suited to the job, and we welcome applications from all communities and underrepresented groups, regardless of race, sexual orientation, disability, faith, age and gender. We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria. We strive to take a holistic approach to the development of our people so that we may better serve and empower the mission of our Church as ministered by the parishes, deaneries, schools and communities that we support. Our ambition is to work together to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrating and promoting diversity.
We want people from all walks of life to feel valued for their individuality, thrive in our organisation, share a sense of belonging and demonstrate our values. With this in mind, we positively celebrate Diversity & Inclusion at the Diocese of Westminster and place it at the heart of our aim which is to reflect and connect with the diverse communities that we serve.
Actions we take to provide equality of opportunity for all candidates include:
- We anonymise application forms during our shortlisting process to ensure that candidates are assessed without any consideration of their name, gender or background.
- As part of this anonymisation, we don’t take into consideration where candidates studied, or the method of that study e.g. full-time, part-time or distance learning.
- We apply a consistent approach to our question setting across our applications and interviews to ensure that everyone is assessed against the identified values, competencies and job requirements. Our values are important to us and as such we use a scoring framework that marks candidates based on values, behaviours and competencies.
- We provide guidance and brief all our interviewers throughout the selection processes in recruitment best-practice to mitigate against any potential for conscious or unconscious bias or discrimination.
- Whenever possible we will have multiple interviewers when assessing each candidate to ensure marking is accurate and fair.
- We ensure all our assessment venues are accessible. We offer alternative formats of our application forms to encourage applicants with disabilities or who require reasonable adjustments to perform at their best.
- We will work together with candidates with a disability or health condition to implement reasonable adjustments to enable them to feel comfortable and strive during the assessment process.