Parish Organist – Whitton

Key information

Closing date: 12pm, Wednesday 19 March 2025

£3,640 per annum + extra services as agreed with Parish Priest

Part-time, 2 hours per week

Permanent Contract

Based in Whitton, TW3

Interviews: w/c 24 March 2025

 

Please find below the job description for this role:

Parish Organist Job Description

 

Bring your musical talent to life and inspire our parish community—join us as our Parish Organist and make every service a celebration of faith and harmony!

 

Key responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with the Parish Priest to plan and coordinate music for Church services.
• Play the organ at the 11:30 am Sunday Mass, as well as Christmas, Holy Week, and other significant liturgical celebrations.
• Lead and support the choir in the sung liturgy.
• Monitor and report on the tuning and maintenance needs of musical instruments in the Church.
• Arrange for suitable substitutes in case of absence.
• Maintain a high standard of music within the parish.

 

Additional Opportunities

The Parish Organist will have the right of first refusal to play the organ at weddings, funerals, and other special services. (Fees for these services are arranged separately with families and couples and are not provided by the Church.)

This means there’s lots to get involved in – and to be excited about.

 

What we’re looking for

We are seeking a talented and dedicated Parish Organist to lead and accompany music at liturgical services. The successful candidate will assume full responsibility for the voluntary choir and accompany both the choir and congregation proficiently on the organ.

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.

 

Person Specification

The successful candidate must demonstrate our core diocesan values of Competence, Reliability, Honesty, Perseverance, and Love. In addition, they must have the following skills and experience:

Essential

• Ability to effectively lead and motivate a choir.
• Ability to work independently, using initiative.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Ability to sing and lead congregational singing.
• Knowledge and experience of Roman Catholic liturgical and musical practices.
• Ability to select and plan appropriate music for the seasons and feasts of the Church’s year.

Desirable

• Knowledge and appreciation of Catholic liturgy and liturgical music.
• Ability to work methodically and consistently.
• Professional experience playing the organ in a Church setting.

 

Please note that this role is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

 

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:

• 23 days annual leave + bank holidays (pro rata for part time employees)
• Vouchers for free eye tests and £50 towards the cost of glasses
• Reward Gateway scheme offering discounts on a wide range of products and services
• Pension scheme for eligible employees – 5% paid by the employer
• Salary exchange (salary sacrifice) for pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Life assurance/ Death in Service benefit

 

Who are we?

We are the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, a faith-based charity with offices close to Victoria Train and Underground Station and just a short walk from St James Park and Westminster Underground stations.

We are home to the Archbishop of Westminster (Cardinal Vincent Nichols) & our beautiful Westminster Cathedral. We are one of the leading Catholic dioceses in the country, delivering our charitable mission through our network of 208 schools in which over 90,000 pupils attend daily, 212 parishes and several hundred social justice initiatives. We seek to positively impact the lives of all members of society.

Our core values are Competence, Reliability, Honesty, Perseverance & Love.

Our values are at the centre of everything we do and as such we are looking for an Organist who is able to clearly demonstrate and evidence them

 

Application details

Our people are incredibly important to us, and we value and 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 and from the communities in which we work. 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.