Job summary
- Main area
- Chaplaincy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 309-UCLH-7040-A
- Employer
- University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- University College London Hospital
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £64,156 - £71,148 Per annum inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 07/12/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Lead Chaplain
NHS AfC: Band 8a
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Job overview
Do you want to lead a team of spiritual care practitioners who are compassionate, mutually supportive and committed to developing best practice and who deliver effective, supportive care for the healthcare community of University College London Hospitals?
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Healthcare Chaplain who wants to broaden the horizons of their experience of managing the delivery of effective spiritual, pastoral, and faith-based care in a large, acute hospital setting in central London. You will manage a team of employed and voluntary chaplains from diverse faith/belief backgrounds, and you yourself will lead by example as a healthcare chaplain.
Main duties of the job
This role requires an experienced and proficient spiritual care practitioner with a person-centred approach who employs active listening together with a high-level of interpersonal skills in support of patients, their visitors and staff colleagues.
Applicants will be Accredited or Licensed with authority to practice as a religion or belief leader/representative and/or pastoral worker in line with NHS chaplaincy Guidelines for NHS managers on pastoral, spiritual and religious care. This post has become available because of the impending retirement of the current post-holder.
If you answer yes to the above questions, please consider joining and leading the Healthcare Chaplaincy Team at University College London Hospitals.
Working for our organisation
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.
We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites:
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University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
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National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
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Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
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University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
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Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
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University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
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The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
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University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street
We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women’s health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.
We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.
Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*
* UCLH top trust to work at in England - In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England – for the third year in a row.
UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff – To find out more, visit: Flexible working.
To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?
Person specification
Knowledge and Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Validated training in spiritual care or equivalent pastoral practice to the level of bachelor’s degree that is consistent with sponsoring faith community or belief group
- A recognised faith leader in good standing with their faith community with the appropriate authorisation as recognised by the UK Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy.
- Eligible to receive authorisation/permission/licence to officiate from the local faith/church/belief authorities.
- Significant experience of stakeholder engagement and management.
- Substantial experience of managing difficult situations including media attention and challenging behavior.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Substantive pastoral experience in pastoral ministry, including significant senior level experience in an adult hospital chaplaincy setting which includes palliative and end-of-life care.
- Experience of working in a multi-faith/multi-cultural setting together with an understanding of the issues involved.
- Have an in-depth knowledge of their own faith community and religious traditions and a knowledge of other traditions and faith/belief communities.
- A specialised understanding of contemporary health-care ethical issues.
- To have experience of teaching and training staff.
- To have experience of financial management, including managing a budget.
- Sound IT skills (e.g. Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Experience of managing chaplaincy volunteers.
- Proven ability in supporting bereaved parents following miscarriage, stillbirth or peri-natal deaths.
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
- A skilled communicator, able to establish and maintain appropriate relationships in pastorally challenging, complex, sensitive situations (sometimes within unpleasant and hostile environments)
- Able to train others within the areas of spiritual, religious and ethical issues.
- To liaise with local religious leaders and faith communities always acting within the rules of confidentiality by which every NHS employee is bound.
- Proven experience of managing budgetary resources; to include pay, non-pay and income.
Desirable criteria
- To have experience of major incident planning.
Communication
Essential criteria
- Articulate, influential and persuasive with proven ability to influence and negotiate with a range of staff including very senior staff
- Be enthusiastic and motivated, with the ability to lead a team through times of change.
- To receive, manage and impart highly distressing information.
Desirable criteria
- Proven counselling skills.
Personal and People Development
Essential criteria
- Able to co-ordinate and manage the Chaplaincy service, providing supervision and support for chaplains, honorary chaplains, volunteers, and students on placement.
- Have the necessary skills to be able to arrange and offer specialist training in spiritual, ethical and multi-faith issues:
- Time management and organisational skills in meeting objectives
- Able to work to work under pressure
Specific Requirements
Essential criteria
- Work pattern requires flexibility, including unsociable hours and 24/7 on-call rota.
- The post holder will need to be passed fit to perform full duties of the post across the various UCLH hospitals. This will be determined through occupational health with any reasonable aids provided wherever possible.
Responsibilities towards promoting Equality Diversity and Inclusion
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the NHS obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duties
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Lisa Anderton
- Job title
- Head of Patient Experience
- Email address
- [email protected]
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