DIRECTOR
JOB DESCRIPTION
The Director should be a person of prayer and reflection, rooted in the Scriptures and their application to the realities of life. He/She should have an alert mind and a pastoral heart, with an understanding and experience of spiritual renewal, contemporary worship and new expressions of ministry, mission and evangelism.
This is a residential post involving full Community Membership, leading by example to instil a sense of service into all the Community. The following headings may be helpful in indicating the Director’s particular areas of responsibility. In many of these areas the Director delegates details to other Community members, but must retain overall leadership.
Lee Abbey in London is at once many things: a registered charity, a limited company, a student hostel, a Christian Community, a work-place, a home from home for students of any nationality or creed, somewhere for a brief holiday, a witness to God’s glory in Jesus, a business, a place of friendship and reconciliation. The role of the Director is similarly varied: a pastor, a chief executive, a disciplinarian, a counsellor, a diplomat, a businessman, a friend and a parent-figure, a servant of all.
1. Vision
Lee Abbey London’s mission is to “communicate Christ through relationships”, through our serving each other and the world - revealing the love and welcome of Christ to all who come to our home.
This vision includes a clear outward looking focus on evangelism and mission, which the Director must be able to re-interpret for the future in an ever changing world with a constantly changing Community and Student body. Areas already identified by a “Community Life Task Group” as requiring a renewed “vision” include:
· Improving recruitment processes
· Faith formation of Community
· Development of work/life balance
· Development of Community “life-skills”
· Develop the Leadership Team
· Education initiatives
· Interaction with students
· Mission
· Global focus/outreach
The Director should encourage, and participate in, Lee Abbey London Board and Lee Abbey Council discussions of expanding the Lee Abbey student mission into other areas and/or cities including encouraging the development of Lee Abbey London as a training resource centre for the church and small missional communities.
2. Leadership
The Director needs to inspire others to catch and share the vision of Lee Abbey through personal example of service, pastoral care and leadership. He or she must be able to think strategically, be an agent of change and give direction and encouragement to both the Leadership Team and Community to realise the vision.
The Director is coming to join a Leadership Team. He or she will need to focus on enabling and growing this team and developing a shared sense of purpose. This is a team which shares responsibility and practices mutual accountability in work and personal faith journey. Emotional intelligence will be required to encourage the best from all members of Community, who come from varied national, cultural and church backgrounds and are at different stages in their career and personal development.
3. Oversight
The Director is responsible for the spiritual, pastoral, missional and management aspects of the work and ministry at Lee Abbey London. The Director must be prepared to take responsibility for everything that happens here, and to ensure that all essential duties are carried out. The Director has the authority to decide matters of discipline, conduct, worship and witness. The Director is supported by a Leadership Team and the heads of departments. As well as being the leader of a Christian Community, the Director is effectively ‘chief executive’ of a company limited by guarantee with an annual turnover over £1.5m and assets in excess of £8m.
4. Worship
Together with the Chaplain, the Director is responsible for maintaining regular Chapel worship, including daily Morning Prayers and the weekly celebration of the Holy Communion. The Director and Chaplain provide support to those who lead Morning and Afternoon Prayers and lead Community Retreats.
5. Pastoral
The Director and Leadership Team are responsible for ensuring that the members of the Community are nurtured spiritually, cared for pastorally and trained to an appropriate standard. With the support of the Leadership Team, an emphasis should be placed on equipping, mentoring and preparing Community members for their continuing ministry of service.
Working with the Chaplain/Leadership Team, the Director also has responsibility for pastoral care to student residents.
The Director should focus on creating an ethos in the house in which Christian values are upheld, pastoral care is offered to all and in which respect is shown to those of other faiths. Lee Abbey London should be a place where issues of faith and faith journeys can be explored, regardless of background.
6. Discipline
The Director is responsible for maintaining discipline both within the Community, as described in the Community Manual, and for everyone who stays here according to the Residents’ Handbook.
7. Legislation
The Director must ensure that there is someone on Community who understands and keeps updated on all relevant legislation, and that Lee Abbey London acts in full compliance with such legislation. This includes:-
a. Employment Law
b. Immigration Law
c. Health and Safety (including Hygiene, and Fire regulations)
d. Company and Charity Law
8. Employment
The Director is responsible, in consultation with the HR Manager and Leadership Team, for appointing and employing all the Community Members and any other staff, including Outside Workers. Senior appointments are made in consultation with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
9. Networking
One of the roles of the Director is to ensure that LA London builds links with local churches, charities, student residences, colleges, and also with the wider local community. The Director liaises with the leaders of the other Lee Abbey Communities in order to further the overall work and mission of the Lee Abbey Movement.
Lee Abbey London is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014. This will be marked by celebrations over the summer. The Director will need to oversee these events as one of his/her first priorities upon appointment.
A new development will be to work with the Lee Abbey London Board and Leadership Team in developing an “Alumni” group and closer links with the Lee Abbey Friends and LA Missioner.
10. Finance
The Accountant manages the finances, whilst the Director retains overall control. Major financial decisions are made by consultation between the Director, Accountant, Leadership Team and Board of Trustees.
11. Building Maintenance & 10-year Building Development Plan
Most building repair and maintenance is managed by the Building Manager and the Maintenance Team. The Director retains overall responsibility for the building, planned maintenance, improvements and development.
The Lee Abbey Council and London Board are working towards approving a 10-year plan for the development of the building, beginning in 2015. This project includes a major reworking of the plumbing and electrics in the first instance. The Director will have responsibility for working with the architects, other contractors and the Building Manager to ensure that specific targets agreed for completion at certain stages are met.
12. Governance Matters
The Director reports to the Board of Trustees of Lee Abbey London who are responsible for Governance issues. The Board of Trustees (present Chairman Revd. Simon Holland) reports to the Lee Abbey Council, who are responsible for overall policy matters. The Director is appointed by the Lee Abbey Council. Both Chairmen are available to the Director for advice and support. On appointment the Director is in attendance at both the Council and also the Board of Trustees of Lee Abbey London.
a. Lee Abbey Council: The Director is ex-officio in attendance at meetings, and required to give a summary report at the meetings (usually 4 times a year)
b. Board of Trustees of Lee Abbey London: The Director is ex-officio member of this. The Director gives a written report to the Board at each meeting (usually 6 times a year).
c. Records: The Director is responsible for ensuring that all proper records are kept of the activities involved in 12 a & b. Archival material must be properly retained and stored.
DIRECTOR
PERSON SPECIFICATION
The Director should be a committed Christian, secure in and enthused about their faith in Jesus Christ. While Lee Abbey is an Anglican Foundation, its culture and outlook is ecumenical and welcoming. The post is open to lay or ordained men or women.
The Director should be someone of mature Christian faith and character. He/she should be able to live and work in a multi-faith and multi-cultural environment and give spiritual leadership to a Christian Community through his/her own life of prayer, study and personal integrity. The Director will be able to teach a Community of many different denominations and lead them in prayer and worship. His/her spiritual and psychological stability is crucial to the wellbeing of the Community and the house as a whole.
The Director should be able to manage a major Christian enterprise and ensure its smooth working. This requires gifts of administration and the ability, as the leader of a team, to empower others in their work and ministry, this will include the ability to delegate to others and receive advice from them. Consequently, experience in both a secular business environment as well as in Christian leadership will be an advantage.
The Director should be self-motivated and able to make decisions and carry them out in co-operation with others. He/she must be able to manage their time effectively and be able to relax when off duty. The work can be physically and mentally tiring, and the Director should be robust enough to cope with this and be able to keep their own vision alight, and also to encourage and help the other members of the Community to maintain their own physical and spiritual energies.
The Director will require gifts of understanding and communication and be able to give pastoral care to people of many backgrounds, the majority of whom are young. He/she should be a good listener and be able to evaluate situations and then make decisions. He/she will also need to be firm enough to discipline individuals and maintain the ethos of the Community.
The Director should be in enthusiastic agreement with the Lee Abbey policy of ‘communicating Christ through relationships’ and have a vision for the strategic ministry of the Lee Abbey Movement and of Lee Abbey London in particular. They should have the ability to communicate this to others.
SKILLS/EXPERIENCE / ESSENTIAL / DESIRED /Experience of and enthusiasm for Christian leadership / ✓
Clear Christian faith & character / ✓
Evidence of visionary leadership / ✓
Emotional Intelligence / ✓
Proven people management skills / ✓
Communication skills / ✓
Appropriate theological training / ✓
Experience of residential Christian community / ✓
Enthusiasm & experience of ecumenical& interfaith ministry / ✓
Mission experience
• Overseas
• Multicultural / ✓ / ✓
Proven ability to relate to students or young people / ✓
Secular management experience at a senior level / ✓
Experience of financial management / ✓
Administration skills / ✓
Self-motivated / ✓
Time management / ✓
Experience of Christian life in a city – urban ministry / ✓
Valid driving licence / ✓
Experience of managing projects / ✓
An appreciation for the gifts of the Holy Spirit / ✓
Proficiency in written and spoken English / ✓
The Applicant may be expected to have a medical upon offer of the position and also to have been checked under the Child Protection legislation.
Where appropriate the spouse of the Director would be invited to apply for community membership as a “community volunteer”. Should they prefer to pursue a career outside of Lee Abbey, they would be invited to become an “Associate Community Member”. For spouses who pursue employment outside of Lee Abbey or choose not to be a member of Community, a financial contribution towards food costs may be required.
Terms and Conditions of Service
1. Allowances:
The Director’s community stipend is £8,500 per annum plus £3,000 per annum London weighting. Allowances are reviewed in May each year. A spouse working as a member of the community would also receive the same allowance. Additional allowances would be payable in respect of any children. All meals are provided and are taken with students and the community in the dining room.
Accommodation is provided in a two bedroom unfurnished flat with a large sitting room looking onto the communal garden, as well as kitchen and bathroom facilities. The Director and his/her spouse and any children may be accommodated in the Director’s flat. Utilities, broadband, phone line rental and business calls of the Director’s telephone are paid for by Lee Abbey. The Director’s possessions within the flat are insured by Lee Abbey (although there are certain restrictions on cover and conditions apply).
2. Working Pattern:
The working week consists of five full days plus 3 hours on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Days off vary from week to week and you should not expect to receive the same day off each week.
Due to the nature of the position working hours are variable – however it is expected that the working week will be not less than 37.5 hours. All community members should expect to engage in between 2 and 3 extra evening activities each week in support of Lee Abbey London’s ministry.
Community Membership at Lee Abbey is essentially a way of life, and does not include work for which hourly rates of pay would be applicable. Your times of work may vary according to the particular needs of the Community at any given time.
It will be necessary for you to work on bank/public holidays as required; these are considered to be part of your normal working week and do not attract any additional payment.
3. Duty Person (On-Call) Duties
Senior members of Community take turns to be on call for a 24 hour period on a rota system, to deal with any emergencies that may occur. On these occasions you will need to remain within the building or arrange another Duty Person to cover if you need to go out.
It is expected that you would have between 4 and 6 Duty Person duties per month, including at least one weekend duty.
4. Pension Arrangements: