Lead Chaplain

Transformation Unit; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust in Huddersfield is seeking a Lead Chaplain (NHS AfC: Band 7) to lead the delivery of multi-faith chaplaincy services across the Trust.

The post involves strategic and operational leadership, workforce development, budgeting and governance, with on-call duties and commitment to inclusive spiritual care for patients, families and staff.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) with demonstrable learning in a relevant field such as counselling, pastoral care, psychology, psychotherapy, religious studies or theology
• Endorsement to practice as a healthcare chaplain by a recognised faith community or belief group
• Evidence of Continued Professional Development relevant to healthcare chaplaincy
• Postgraduate qualification or Masters, or equivalent post basic training
• Registration with the Council for Professional Chaplains and Pastoral Carers or eligibility to register
• Qualification in Leadership and Management

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic, professional and operational leadership for the Trust's Chaplaincy Service
• Plan, manage and improve chaplaincy services with senior teams
• Ensure on-call provision during weekends
• Lead development of a compassionate, value-based service
• Embed spiritual care within patient-centred care and governance

Skills

Leadership and management experience

Budget management

Recruitment and selection of staff

IT skills and accurate record keeping

Communication and interpersonal skills

Education

Bachelor's degree (or equivalent)

Endorsement to practice as healthcare chaplain

Postgraduate qualification or Masters

Registration with professional body or eligibility

Leadership and management qualification

Job description

Employer Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust Town Huddersfield Salary £49,387 - £56,515 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 21/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 29/10/2026

Lead Chaplain

NHS AfC: Band 7

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics.

We are committed to recruiting to our values. Leading One Culture of Care underpins our values by creating an environment, tone and behaviours across all parts of the Trust that are fundamentally rooted in compassionate care.

We are open to considering a wide range of flexible working arrangements. There are opportunities to flex the days of the week, hours and times of work and place of work including: part-time, job-share, flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home when appropriate. Please talk to us during the interview process to discuss any flexibility that you may require.

We received our Silver Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme which is helping actively promote SaBRE - Supporting Britain’s Reservists and Employers. This means that we provided its statement of intent to support all Defence personnel and we welcome application to work for us.

Our Future Plans

The Department of Health and Social Care has awarded capital funding to invest in local health services at both Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. This is a significant investment and an opportunity to enhance services for our populations in Calderdale and Huddersfield and West Yorkshire for generations to come. To find out more, please visit https://future.cht.nhs.uk/

Job overview

The Lead Chaplain is responsible for leading the delivery of Multi-faith and belief Chaplaincy services across the Trust.

The Lead Chaplain will work closely with the Matron for Patient Experience to plan, manage, and improve chaplaincy services, ensuring that patients, families, and staff receive appropriate religious, spiritual, and pastoral support.

They will have management responsibility for healthcare chaplains, honorary chaplains and chaplaincy volunteers and ensure there is an on-call provision during weekends.

The Lead Chaplain will work within the Council for Professional Chaplains and Pastoral Carers Code of Conduct.

Main duties of the job

The Lead Chaplain will provide strategic, professional and operational leadership for the Trust's Chaplaincy Service, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, inclusive spiritual, religious and pastoral care for patients, families, carers and staff.

The postholder will lead the development of a compassionate, value based service, ensuring compliance with national standards, NHS guidance and Trust policies. They will provide expert advice to senior leaders, contribute to Trust strategy and governance, and work with clinical teams to embed spiritual care within patient-centred care.

The role includes responsibility for clinical and professional governance, service planning, quality improvement, performance monitoring, risk management and major incident preparedness.

The Lead Chaplain will lead and develop the chaplaincy workforce and volunteer programme, supporting recruitment, appraisal, training and professional development while promoting understanding of spiritual care across the Trust.

The postholder will also manage departmental resources, including budgets and charitable funds, ensuring services are effective, sustainable and responsive to the needs of the diverse communities served by the Trust.

Working for our organisation

CHFT is an integrated acute and community Trust serving diverse communities across Calderdale and Kirklees, with strong partnerships across West Yorkshire. We are proud of our One Culture of Care - caring for each other with the same compassion, kindness and respect that we show our patients - and of the values that underpin how we work: we put people first, we go see, we work together to get results, and we do the must dos.

CHFT is recognised as a forward looking, digitally enabled Trust, with a strong track record of using data, innovation and system collaboration to improve quality, safety and outcomes. We are ambitious about the role that acute trusts play in prevention, population health and reducing inequalities, and this post sits at the heart of that agenda.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Lead Chaplain is responsible for leading the delivery of Multi-faith and belief Chaplaincy services across the Trust.

The Lead Chaplain will work closely with the Matron for Patient Experience to plan, manage, and improve chaplaincy services, ensuring that patients, families, and staff receive appropriate religious, spiritual, and pastoral support.

They will have management responsibility for healthcare chaplains, honorary chaplains and chaplaincy volunteers and ensure there is an on-call provision during weekends.

The Lead Chaplain will work within the Council for Professional Chaplains and Pastoral Carers Code of Conduct.

Person specification

Qalifications Training

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) with demonstrable learning in a relevant field such as counselling, pastoral care, psychology, psychotherapy, religious studies or theology
• Endorsement to practice as a healthcare chaplain by a recognised/established sponsoring faith community or belief group.
• Evidence of Continued Professional Development relevant to healthcare chaplaincy to Council for Professional Chaplains and Pastoral Carers standards
• Post graduate qualification or Masters, or equivalent post basic training or work experience with demonstrable outcomes of learning relevant to healthcare chaplaincy
• Registration with the Council for Professional Chaplains and Pastoral Carers or eligibility to register (the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care recommends choosing chaplains from an Accredited Register.)
• Qualification in Leadership and Management

Knowledge, Experience & Expertise

• Minimum of 1600 hours of professionally supervised clinical practice as a designated healthcare chaplain that should include: On-call duties, Neonatal care, Maternity Care, Palliative and end of life care
• An understanding of different leadership styles and the difference between leadership and management.
• Create and lead ritual or other spiritual process in a way that is sensitive to the pastoral context and faith/belief needs of those present
• Offer spiritual care beyond own faith/belief boundaries with evidence of commitment to an inclusive approach to chaplaincy
• Working knowledge of major faith communities and belief groups in relation to the acute hospital context
• An understanding of the principles and practice of governance and/including safeguarding
• Evidence of reflecting critically on the practice and experience of providing pastoral care. Evidence of finding or searching for meaning through exploration of spiritual issues encountered in sickness, mental health, dying, death and bereavement
• Teaching and training of healthcare staff at a variety of levels
• Act as an informed theological/philosophical and ethical resource in complex pastoral and clinical situations.
• Engagement with audit, service evaluation or research
• Ability to take responsibility for, and representation of, the Chaplaincy Department.
• The ability to regulate own workload and to act on own initiative
• IT skills and accurate record keeping
• Experience of managing change within the service and supporting immediate team members with a flexible approach and embracing of change.
• Leadership and management experience.
• Ability to articulate vision for the chaplaincy service
• Experience in budget management
• Evidence of successful quality improvement.
• Recruitment and selection of staff.

Communication and Relationships

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and be able to negotiate and work within highly complex and sensitive situations and to provide or advise on the spiritual care that is required.
• Capability to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively
• Experience of counselling skills and pastoral techniques
• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently, and the capacity for effective Multi-faith and belief networking
• Enhanced use of self in chaplaincy practice including emotional availability, cultural humility, appropriate self-disclosure, positive use of power and authority, and clear and responsible boundaries
• To be trustworthy, showing careful attention to the individual and specific needs of those in their care, and have an approach that values and affirms the right of those outside the chaplain's own tradition to practice their beliefs appropriately.
• Workload prioritisation, time management and hold others to account on delivery of outcomes
• Supervision of newly qualified chaplains and others working within the chaplaincy service
• Lead reflective practice with a range of groups
• Practice professionally within recognised boundaries within pastorally diverse settings (as per the Code of Conduct)
• Supportive of the Trust's values
• To participate in the on-call rota and respond to urgent referrals within 60 minutes
• Car owner/driver or suitable alternative transport to enable you to travel between sites and respond to on-call referrals.
• Willingness to respond to urgent need and unexpected events, including Major Incidents.
• Resilience and adaptability in complex, challenging and unpredictable situations

Our vision is to provide One Culture of Care for one another in order that we can provide compassionate care for the people who use our services. We are passionate about creating a workplace where we work together to get results, encouraging colleagues to have their say, in order to co create the change we want to see. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce that’s why we encourage applications from all. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants.

We understand that more applicants are using AI technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It's important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.

Please ensure your application is submitted with referees who can verify your employment/education history over the last three years and include valid email addresses for them. We will request electronic Factual Employment References from your previous employers. These references will be requested before you are issued with an unconditional offer of employment letter.

Candidates who require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the United Kingdom can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this position by assessing their circumstances against the criteria specified on the Check if you need a UK visa - GOV.UK website. We encourage all applicants to review these criteria carefully to understand their eligibility for sponsorship.

If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system. The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

You may be required to undertake a DBS. The Trust will administer the DBS check on your behalf and will recover the cost (Enhanced £46.40, Standard £25.40 or Basic £25.40) from your salary when you commence in post (including Internal staff). You will also be required to participate in the DBS Update Service and pay the £15 cost per year. This is a condition of your employment.

CHFT is part of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), a collaborative of the NHS hospital trusts from across West Yorkshire and Harrogate working together to provide the best possible care for our patients.

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.