Parish Administrator – Swiss Cottage

Key information

Closing date: 12pm, Monday 19 May 2025

£12,480 per annum

Part-time, 16 hours per week

Permanent Contract

Based in Swiss Cottage, NW3

Interviews: w/c 26 May 2025

 

Please find the job description for this role below;

Swiss Cottage Administrator Job Description

 

Be the welcoming face and steady hand behind our vibrant parish community!

Swiss Cottage Parish is seeking a dedicated and organized Parish Administrator to work with the Parish Priest and Parish volunteers. This pivotal role combines administrative duties with pastoral sensitivity, ensuring that the parish remains a place of warmth, efficiency, and spiritual growth.

 

What you’ll be doing

As Parish Administrator, you’ll keep things running smoothly behind the scenes so our community can thrive in faith and fellowship. You’ll:

  • Be the welcoming first point of contact for parishioners and visitors, whether it’s a joyful baptism enquiry or a quick question about Mass times.
  • Keep us organized and on track by managing emails, calendars, records, and parish databases with care and precision.
  • Support the spiritual life of the parish by coordinating key moments like baptisms, weddings, and funerals, and ensuring all records are up to date.
  • Help bring parish events to life, working with clergy and volunteers to make sure everything from coffee mornings to feast day celebrations runs smoothly.
  • Lend a hand with finances to support the parish finance team.
  • Look after the parish space, keeping things tidy, safe, and welcoming.

 

What we’re looking for

We’re after someone who’s not only great with admin, but also understands that the parish is a place of community, care, and faith. You might be the right fit if you:

  • Are well organised, with a natural knack for multitasking and keeping calm under pressure.
  • Communicate with warmth and clarity, whether by email, on the phone, or face-to-face.
  • Have solid IT skills—you’re confident using Microsoft Office (especially Word, Excel, and Outlook) and are happy to learn our parish systems. Some knowledge of social media is desirable.
  • Bring a sense of discretion and compassion, especially when dealing with sensitive pastoral situations.
  • Are a team player who enjoys working alongside clergy, volunteers, and parishioners to support the life of the Church.
  • Understand and respect the mission of the Catholic Church, whether you’re a practicing Catholic or simply someone who appreciates the values we uphold.

 

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 a part-time employee)
  • 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-driven charity rooted in service, tradition, and community. Our offices are ideally located near Victoria Station, just a short walk from the inspiring surroundings of St James’s Park and Westminster Cathedral—the heart of Catholic life in the Diocese.

At the core of our mission is a commitment to faith, education, and social justice. Guided by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, we serve over 90,000 students across 208 schools, support 212 vibrant parishes, and drive countless social initiatives that bring hope and compassion to those in need. Our work extends beyond the Church walls, positively shaping communities and transforming lives.

We uphold the values of Competence, Reliability, Honesty, Perseverance, and Love—principles that define our mission and shape the way we serve. As we grow our team, we seek individuals who not only possess the skills for the role but also embody these values in their daily work.

If you are looking for a role where your talents, faith, and commitment to service can make a real difference, we would love to hear from you.

 

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.