The Church of England exists to offer a spiritual home for all people in England. It is embedded in our national life at local levels through its parish structure, in our education system, and in many other ways. We know that many people from UKME backgrounds are not fully welcomed or supported to flourish within the Church. The Archbishops’ Council therefore seeks to appoint a Director of the Racial Justice Unit to drive change in culture and practice across the structures of the Church. This is an exciting and completely new post, at a senior level, marking the intention of the Archbishops and the Archbishops’ Council to bring about substantive and measurable change which is felt and recognised by UKME communities across the country.

The Role

Working closely with the Archbishops’ Council, the Archbishops’ Commission on Racial Justice, and the Church’s Committee on Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, the Director of Racial Justice will lead the strategy for the Church’s racial justice work. You will be the leading advocate at official level within the Church for the priority of racial justice at all levels and under your leadership, the Racial Justice Unit will design programmes and policies, and drive and encourage their implementation across the Church. 

You will bring a strong track record of driving change and have extensive experience of working for UKME participation and inclusion in the context of public and institutional life. Confident and humble in equal measure, you will be passionate about fully valuing and including all people and will understand the nature and power of systemic racism and have experience of tackling this in effective ways. 

You will be a values-driven, experienced leader used to working in complex, multifaceted organisations with a diverse stakeholder community. You will be a strategic leader, with strong advocacy skills and a sharp critical analysis of the political and social context, nationally and globally. You will enjoy robust debate and challenge, comfortable at both a strategic level and at working through the detail. 

We know that this is no easy task and we are therefore looking for a visionary yet pragmatic leader with the ability to effect long term change for the Church as well as identifying opportunities to make immediate impact. This is a significant role, with the opportunity to truly enhance the lives of others. Your critical thinking and highly tuned judgement will be welcomed and valued as will your ability to recommend and implement solutions. 

You will practise our core values, and demonstrate your strong commitment to the goals and mission of the Church, although you need not be a communicant member of the Church of England. We are actively committed to increasing the diversity of our teams and welcome applications from all sectors and backgrounds.