Retreat Centre Manager – Westminster Youth Ministry

Key information

Closing date: 12pm, Friday 29 November 2024

£40,000 per annum

Full-time, 35 hours per week

Permanent Contract

Based in Pinner, Middlesex

Interviews: w/c 9 December 2024

 

Please find below the job description for this role:

SPEC Centre Manager Job Description

 

Do you have the skills to take responsibility for day-to-day running of a Retreat Centre, contributing to the overall mission of youth ministry at the Diocese of Westminster? Then you could be the SPEC Retreat Centre Manager.

 

What you’ll be doing

Situated in Pinner, Westminster Youth Ministry’s Retreat Centre, through the retreat experience, aims to create opportunities for young people to have a Spiritual and Personal Encounter with Christ (SPEC). The Centre Manager has overall responsibility for the centre, promotion, co-ordination and delivery of retreats for young people, and of other centre-based activities

As Centre Manager you will maintain and develop the mission of SPEC as a Diocesan Retreat Centre by promoting and delivering a programme of residential retreats for parish groups, as well as promoting and encouraging the Catholic ethos of SPEC. Additionally, you will work collaboratively with the Diocesan Youth Chaplain to jointly be responsible for the overall development of a stimulating youth retreat and formation programmes. You will also have responsibilities surrounding the recruitment of the retreat staff and delivery of an on-going programme of faith formation, training and mentoring that will serve the staff personal development, ensure the quality of retreats given, and positively augment the Diocese’s pool of potential youth ministers.

You will be responsible for leading on the marketing and public relations activity necessary for the diocese to achieve the maximum occupancy throughout the year, and also to lead on developing the commercial use of SPEC facilities when they are not in use for retreats. Furthermore, you will work alongside the Director of Youth Ministry to build the Centre’s budget and manage expenditure, ensuring that SPEC operates within agreed margins, as well as identifying and pursuing fundraising opportunities.

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

 

What we’re looking for

The successful candidate will have experience and knowledge of designing and delivering retreat programmes for young people, and will also have experience of leading teams and motivating colleagues in faith-based projects. You’ll love working within a large team, maintaining excellent professional relationships with youth ministry colleagues, other diocesan agencies and departments, as well as parishes including clergy, catechists and teachers. This role requires the successful applicant to manage the day-to-day practicalities surrounding the delivery of day and residential programmes, but also an ability to manage and lead large retreat programmes for various age groups when necessary.

Additionally, you will have excellent organisational skills, and an innate ability to think strategically whilst meet challenging targets and operational goals. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role for the Westminster Youth Ministry team, sustaining a diverse and demanding workload, whilst also managing relationships with a variety of stakeholders, all of which require you to communicate succinctly and with clarity.

The successful candidate for this role will need to be a practicing Catholic with a deep understanding of the Catholic faith and how the Catholic Church works, with the ideal candidate also having a professional qualification in a relevant subject area and ideally possess relevant experience of managing a retreat centre or a similar set up. What we require above all else though, is that you respect the values we share to help others and support decent and dignified work for all without prejudice.

 

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
• Specsavers Eyecare Vouchers
• 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.

 

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 a Centre Manager 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.