Lead Chaplain

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust; Carlisle; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) invites an experienced chaplain to lead and manage the Trust-wide Chaplaincy Team, meeting the spiritual, religious and pastoral needs of patients, carers and staff at The Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle.

This permanent full-time role carries Band 7 NHS AfC salary £49,387–£56,515 per annum. The post requires strategic development of Chaplaincy services and reporting to Trust leadership.

Qualifications

• Accredited Faith Leader with recognised authority within own faith group.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent in healthcare chaplaincy.
• Postgraduate certificate or equivalent in healthcare chaplaincy.
• Master's level degree relevant to healthcare chaplaincy.
• Registered with a professional chaplaincy body.

Responsibilities

• Be the principal point of reference for spiritual and religious care within the Trust.
• Provide professional advice and training on faith and beliefs in relation to patient care.
• Lead and manage the Trust-wide Chaplaincy Team and develop Chaplaincy Services.
• Interface with faith communities and negotiate external service contracts for chaplaincy.

Skills

Leadership

Communication skills

Emotional resilience

Time management

Team leadership

Pastoral care

Education

Accredited Faith Leader

Degree level in healthcare chaplaincy

Postgraduate certificate in healthcare chaplaincy

Master's degree in relevant field

Registration with professional chaplaincy body

Job description

Would you like to join a centre of excellence in rural and remote healthcare?

Main area Lead Chaplain Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Occasional on call out of hours) Job ref 262-A-26-8170198

Site The Cumberland Infirmary Town Carlisle Salary £49,387 - £56,515 Per annum. Out of hours on call as per Trust policy Salary period Yearly Closing 28/08/2026 23:59

Job overview

Lead Chaplain

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) is looking to appoint an experienced chaplain to lead and manage the Trust-wide Chaplaincy Team in meeting the spiritual, religious and pastoral needs of the Trust's patients, carers and staff. To be responsible for the ongoing strategic organisation, development, implementation and evaluation of the Trust Chaplaincy Services.

Main duties of the job

• To be the principal point of reference for spiritual and religious care within the Trust.
• To be the Trust knowledge expert, providing professional advice and training on all issues pertaining to faith and beliefs in relation to Health Care Chaplaincy quality standards that influence patient care. Support all levels of staff in providing spiritual care to patients, from the Trust Board to locally‑based staff of all professions. To also support volunteers and carers in offering spiritual care.
• With support, to lead and manage the Trust-wide Chaplaincy Team in meeting the spiritual, religious and pastoral needs of the Trust’s patients, carers and staff, maintaining high standards. To be responsible for the day to day strategic organisation, development, implementation and evaluation of the Trust Chaplaincy Services.
• To act as key communications / interface link externally between the Trust and all faith communities within the community; local and national forums; the regional and national organisations for Chaplaincy in healthcare; public affairs relating to spirituality. To negotiate and implement service‑level contracts external to the Trust in relation to the Chaplaincy Team.

Working for our organisation

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of ‘safe, high quality care every time':

• Being a clinically led organisation
• Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust
• A positive patient experience every time
• A great place to work
• Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

CERTIFICATE OF SPONSORSHIP

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment.Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed. For further information visit theUK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts. Please see our Policy for eligiblevacancies.

Disclosure and Barring Service:

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £21.50 + Administration cost of £6.50 = £28.00 Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one‑off payment.

Enhanced Check: £49.50 + administration cost of £6.50 = £56.00 Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one‑off payment.

NCIC can offer successful future employees the following benefits:

27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

NHS Discounts*

Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work*

Vivup is a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work‑related problems

*Subject to eligibility

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

If sufficient response is received this post could be closed earlier than the specified closing date, please apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is considered.

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Accredited Faith Leader
• Recognised authority within appropriate faith/belief group
• Educated to degree level or equivalent in a subject relevant to healthcare chaplaincy
• Relevant postgraduate certificate or equivalent
• Master's level degree with demonstrable outcomes of learning relevant to healthcare chaplaincy
• Registered with Council for Professional Chaplains and Carers (formerly UK Board of Healthcare Chaplains)

Experience

• Committed practice within own faith/ belief group
• Substantial and significant experience of professionally supervised clinical practice as a healthcare chaplain that must include working with adult patients, end of life care, and on‑call duties in the acute NHS hospital setting
• Delegated management or team leadership responsibilities within a healthcare chaplaincy department
• Teaching, mentoring and training of health professionals, chaplains and students in spiritual and pastoral care
• Evidence of working with and respecting religious, spiritual and pastoral diversity and differences
• Chaplaincy experience in emergency care, critical care, neonatology, oncology and palliative care
• Involvement in audits, service evaluations and surveys

Knowledge

• Leadership knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours
• Knowledge and understanding of NHS structures, systems and processes relevant to healthcare chaplaincy
• Cultural competence and religious literacy in diverse religious, spiritual and pastoral traditions
• Safeguarding policies and procedures
• Information governance and confidentiality policies relating to healthcare
• Teamworking and team management
• Service improvement methodology
• Training in adult education and teaching
• Pastoral Supervision using a recognised method appropriate to healthcare chaplaincy

Skills and Aptitude

• A professional Chaplain identity rooted in one's own religious/spiritual/pastoral heritage that integrates professional values and behaviours, skills and specialist knowledge.
• Capacity and commitment to learn, critically reflect and develop.
• Capability and emotional maturity to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgments, and take personal responsibility and initiative.
• Resilience and adaptability to complex, unpredictable and challenging operating conditions.
• Ability to demonstrate skills in providing pastoral supervision and reflective practice
• Self‑assured, friendly and professional approach to working with colleagues; and the capability to work both independently and collaboratively. Fluent and effective communicator in speech and writing.
• Ability to build and sustain pastoral and professional relationships and effectively lead a department
• Ability to perform daily tasks using Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• Workload prioritisation, time management and the capacity to incorporate new challenges, to manage projects and to hold others to account

Personal Circumstances

• Good standing within own denomination or faith community
• Respect for differences including other faiths/beliefs
• Ability to adapt and flex to service needs out of hours and weekends on rota basis, including travelling between sites
• Ability to travel to sites across the Trust

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Name Jane.Nattrass Job title Lead Chaplain Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07812473387 Additional information

For an informal discussion about the role, available Mon - Fri 09:00 - 17:00