Visitor Experience Co-ordinator Birmingham, England
Job description
The Cathedral Church of Saint Phil ip
Recruitment pack
Visitor Experience Co-ordinator
Closing date for applications:
Tuesday 23 May 2023
Interviews to be held on Tuesday 6 June 2023
About us
Birmingham Cathedral is the oldest building in the city centre still used for its original purpose. We are home to some remarkable treasures, as well as the largest green space in central Birmingham. Our cathedral is free to visit, and and attracts over 100,00 people a year.
Our visitors come to us for many different reasons - including to attend services, pray, reflect, light candles, learn about our heritage, take part in key civic events, and to enjoy a range of concerts and events held in our building or Cathedral Square throughout the year.
We are a Christian Church of the Anglican Communion and seat of the Bishop of
Birmingham. We offer corporate worship of The Church of England, enriched by the
Anglican choral tradition. Christian worship is at the heart of the cathedral’s life as we offer to God our praises and prayers. Everyone is welcome to attend any of our public services, as we rejoice in the diversity of the communities we serve and promote inclusion as widely as possible.
Birmingham Cathedral Chapter place the safeguarding of all who worship at and visit us as their highest priority. This particularly includes children and at risk adults.
As a Church of England Parish Church Cathedral we work closely with our Diocesan
Safeguarding colleagues to ensure our practices and policies are providing a safe environment for all. The Cathedral has a Safeguarding Team, made up of both staff and volunteers, who meet quarterly to review best practice, policy and to ensure that safeguarding remains at the forefront of all our work and mission.
We are excited to offer this full-time opportunity for a Visitor Experience
Co-ordinator to join our team and support the growth and engagement of our cathedral community.
The cathedral has the support of nearly 100 volunteers already undertaking a number of roles, some of these are behind the scenes. In this role we are looking for someone to specifically co-ordinate our front-facing volunteers in a range of roles.
Our team is currently undergoing a period of growth as we complete our long-awaited
Divine Beauty Project. This will see our four world-famous stained-glass windows cleaned, repaired and conserved for future generations to enjoy - accompanied by a varied programme of public engagement activities.
Divine Beauty Project
We are honoured to have four dazzling examples of some of the finest stained-glass work of Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward
Burne-Jones and William Morris in our cathedral. The windows are some of the most exceptional stained-glass in the world and among the best examples of Birmingham artistry in the city.
Birmingham is the birthplace of Burne-Jones and he was baptised in St Philip’s in January 1834. The windows were designed at the height of his influence as an artist, inspired by Medieval artworks, but sing simplified forms and shapes, which were enhanced by the use of bold colours.
The windows were installed over a twelve year period between
1885 and 1897, when St Philips was still a parish church.
The Ascension (1885), was the first window to be installed, depicting Jesus parting with his followers and ascending into heaven forty days after Easter. Burne-Jones was so struck with its beauty that he was inspired to design two more. The
Nativity and The Crucifixion were the next two windows to be installed in 1887. The Last Judgement (1897), is widely recognised as the finest example of Burne-Jones’ work, depicting the return of Christ and his judgement on humanity.
Initial funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund enabled a detailed investigation of the condition of the windows to take place. Unfortunately, this work found that the windows were significantly damaged in a number of places and portions of glazing were missing or cracked. We have secured a further
£641,200 in National Lottery Heritage funding to go towards this vital conservation. Work will take place to remove a substantial build up of debris and to repair areas of cracking, failed leading and paint loss.
Visitors will be able to see this work as it happens from an accessible platform, as well as engage in a range of activities throughout 2023 to learn more about these unique treasures.
Follow our project updates via @DivineBeautyBhm on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram, or via our website.
Job role Visitor Experience Co-ordinator
Responsible to: Head of Comms
Working hours: 37 hours per week
The Birmingham Cathedral comms team has a presence at the cathedral throughout the week, including at weekends. There is an expectation that this role will be visible in the cathedral on weekdays, with the flexibility to meet the changing needs of the cathedral diary. This will include some evening and weekend work.
Salary: £23,625
Pension: Subject to meeting the relevant criteria you will be enrolled in the Cathedral’s
Pension Scheme with 8% employer contributions.
Contract: Two-year fixed term (with potential for renewal).
Holidays: 36 days (including statutory and public holidays).
Key relationships
The Visitor Experience Co-ordinator will work closely many different departments, including Clergy, facilities, events, HR, learning, and our Divine Beauty project team.
Main responsibilities
In this role you will co-ordinate the welcome and experience of visitors to Birmingham
Cathedral. You will grow the capacity of the team by recruiting and training new welcome volunteers to support an agreed strategy of delivering excellent hospitality and welcome.
In this role we are looking for someone to specifically co-ordinate our front-facing volunteers in a range of roles, including a regular presence of Visitors’ Chaplains (with the oversight of clergy colleagues).
- To lead the overall visitor welcome at Birmingham Cathedral.
- To provide a high-quality experience for anyone coming to Birmingham Cathedral and working with clergy, staff, and volunteers to develop a variety of ways to welcome visitors.
- To recruit and train additional members to our front-facing volunteer team
- To supervise front-facing volunteers and provide induction, supervision, and ongoing support.
- To create rotas and written procedures in relation to the front-facing volunteers.
- To maintain standards of welcome that adhere to safety and security measures and are accessible to the widest variety of people and groups.
- To work collaboratively, creating strong relationships with the wider cathedral team.
- Have, and instil in the volunteer team, enthusiasm, a keen eye for detail and high standards of care at all times.
- To create an environment where excellent welcome will increase donations, giving and ticket sales and with finance colleagues to develop ‘generous giving’ strategies
- Work with Comms colleagues to ensure consistency of messaging – digital, marketing materials and face-to-face.
- To supervise and develop work placement opportunities that link with the ethos of the cathedral eg. probation service, work experience and other work placements.
- To develop excellent relationships with those across the cathedral community.
- To monitor Key Performance Indicators that relate to visitor numbers, income targets and visitor satisfaction.
- Work with HR team to ensure the correct recruitment process, compliance with
Safeguarding policies and safe storage of personal data.
- Any other reasonable duties and responsibilities as may be required by Chapter.
Person specification
You will possess outstanding people skills, the ability to work in a dynamic way, and to create enjoyable experiences for all visitors to Birmingham Cathedral. You will be a team player, as well as being able to manage and liaise with volunteers. You will care passionately about presentation and engaging with people.
- Excellent communication skills, together with confidence and approachability.
- Experience of supervising people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
- Experience of working with volunteers, enabling people to achieve their best.
- Experience of a people focused environment (e.g. charity / heritage / faith context).
- An understanding of and experience of creating and implementing policies and procedures following best practice for volunteering.
- Ability to respond pro-actively in challenging situations.
- Good awareness and understanding of current health and safety and security requirements in public buildings.
- High degree of self-motivation, and flexibility.
- Comfortable working in a place of worship and sensitive in communicating the varied aspects of the cathedral’s life.
- Supportive of the mission and values of Birmingham Cathedral.
We are an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons. However, as those from global majority heritage groups are currently under-represented in our staff team, we would particularly welcome applications from those groups.
This role is part-funded by the Church Commissioners via the Cathedral Sustainability
Fund.
The application process
To apply, please complete an application form online at
birminghamcathedral.com/vacancies
Forms can also be downloaded from this section of our website and returned to
[email protected].
Forms can also be returned by post to:
Recruitment,
Birmingham Cathedral St Philips,
Colmore Row,
Birmingham,
B3 2QB
Closing date for applications: Tuesday 23 May 2023.
Interviews will be held on Tuesday 6 June 2023
For an informal discussion about this role, please contact Rebecca Preece, Head of Communications at [email protected]
The Cathedral Church of Saint Phil ip
@BhamCathedral @DivineBeautyBhm
birminghamcathedral.com
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: £23,625.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
- Weekend availability
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 23/05/2023
