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The Cathedral Church of St Martin was made a cathedral in 1927, after the Diocese was established in 1926, and sits in the City’s old medieval centre, near the Guildhall and marketplace. In 2015 King Richard III was buried in the Cathedral bringing a tenfold increase in the number of annual visitors.

In 2022 the Cathedral closed to undergo a £14 million transformation project “Leicester Cathedral Revealed”, designed to make the Cathedral space more open for learning, improve visitor flow and enhance everyone’s experience of the Cathedral. Due to reopen in Autumn 2023, with further buildings opening in 2024, this is both a significant moment in the Cathedral’s history and an important opportunity.

Opportunities of the role will include:

• At a time of exciting new opportunity to reopen, relaunch and sustain the Cathedral as a place of welcome, inclusion, generosity of spirit and safety for the whole of Leicestershire, urban and rural. To continue to build the role of the Cathedral as a place of vision and mission.

• To ensure that the Cathedral, its leadership, work and mission are fully integrated into all aspects of Diocesan life and priorities with particular recognition of the intercultural dimension. To connect the Cathedral with the varied and dispersed communities the Diocese seeks to serve, working in partnership in proclaiming the Gospel.

• Grow the current Cathedral community to reflect Leicester’s young and diverse profile. To maximising existing and developing new opportunities for the sake of spiritual and numerical growth and encouraging and deepening discipleship.

• Provide enabling and encouraging leadership to the expanded and developing team, compassionately steering through the change that new opportunities bring. Able to be a pastoral presence to all who need to be asked how are you really?

• Unlocking the enormous potential of the re-opening, recognising and grasping the significant challenges facing the Cathedral, particularly in terms of financial sustainability. To help the Cathedral fully grasp the opportunities of its new governance context, working with others to ensure that sound governance and accountability are in place.

• Champion the Cathedral as a place of education and learning; recognising and developing the role of music in worship, inclusion and outreach.

• Build, expand and diversify the existing relationships and partnerships, making sure that the Cathedral continues to be a beacon of Christian hospitality and outreach.

• To recognise and appreciate the rich heritage and fabric of the Cathedral and its estate as something that needs careful and constant stewardship to be sustainable, particularly recognising the Church’s commitment to Carbon Net Zero.

• An experienced, courageous leader and pastor who is comfortable in their own faith and identity. Someone who is emotionally intelligent, visible, communicative, unifying, encouraging and compassionate. An individual who recognises the value of self-care and uses the available support with ease.

• A confident team leader who is collaborative, open and humble. Someone who can hold space for difference and is able to walk lightly in tension. Experience of leading, motivating and empowering staff and volunteer teams. An individual who can support and inspire people on the edge of their comfort zones.

• A gifted preacher and teacher in mission who is grounded in prayer and the rhythm of worship, whilst also being open to embracing different styles, global cultures and ways of being Church. Helping people grow as confident missionary disciples and growing the church younger and more diverse. An innovative and creative leader in mission with the ability to navigate and balance the spiritual with the commercial.

• Gifted in developing and working in partnerships and to break down barriers. Someone at ease in the public square and who can maximise the Cathedral’s place at the beating heart of the City and County. Someone who is a strong advocate for social justice, working with others and able to move seamlessly between intercultural and interfaith worlds and relationships.

• Understands the need for good governance and effective implementation. Sound financial awareness, unafraid of income generation, commercially aware. Someone who is visionary and strategic, who looks to the long-term with the ability to instil and inspire a clear sense of momentum and purpose.

Leicester Cathedral has been described as being at the beating heart of the city and the County. In the 2021 census 23% of Leicester residents described themselves as having no religion, 24.7% as being Christian, 23.5% Muslim, 17.9% Hindu and 4.5% Sikh. 43.4% of people described themselves as being of Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh origin with 40.9% being of white origin. Because of this mix, activities in Leicester attract international interest. Diversity and inclusion are the watchwords for the city, and a source of pride to many people.

Leicester Cathedral has a good reputation for inter-faith and inclusive hospitality - hosting Sitar concerts, saying the Lord’s Prayer in different languages, working with St Nicholas (an Inclusive Church) and inviting many ecumenical and other faith leaders to speak at the Queen’s memorial service. There is a clear sense of teamwork and purpose felt by the clergy and laity in the Cathedral and a reflection of the diversity of the city present in the staff team.

From The Bishop of Leicester and The Bishop of Loughborough

This is a time of wonderful opportunity for Cathedral. The new Dean will need to be a person of prayer who can lead the Cathedral as it discerns how to respond to these opportunities. This prayerful discernment will need to be aligned with the diocesan Shaped by God Together process which is seeking to discern the future shape of the church for the 21st Century. My own hope is that the Cathedral will resource and set an example for the wider diocese in listening to God, listening to our communities, and co-creating our future. The current £12million building project will enhance the Cathedral’s status as the “beating heart for city and county” and present a whole new set of opportunities. The Dean will need entrepreneurial flair to make the most of all the possibilities which will present themselves in the coming years. The Dean will need to be a person of vision who can bring the best out of the dynamic and diverse staff and volunteers, mentoring younger members and drawing on the wisdom of the more experienced.