Lead Chaplain

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust; Warwick; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust invites an experienced Lead Chaplain to lead multi-faith chaplaincy across Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa. The post is based in the acute team and includes on-call out of hours duties.

You will supervise chaplains and volunteers, plan services with the Head of Patient Experience, and ensure compassionate religious, spiritual and pastoral care for patients, relatives and staff.

Job description

Go back South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

Lead Chaplain

The closing date is 04 October 2026

We are looking for an experienced healthcare chaplain of any faith tradition to lead our team andto work with us in providing spiritual, pastoral and religious care to patients, relatives and staff. This post will be based in our acute team and will work across our three hospitals (Warwick, Stratford and Leamington Rehabilitation Hospital).

You will join a well-established, creative and committed team in a Trust which is very supportive of the chaplaincy service. The wider team includes over 40 very well trained, active chaplaincy volunteers.

You will be expected to participate in our emergency out of hours on call provision, which also includes call-outs to the Myton Hospices at Coventry and Warwick. We anticipate this to require being on call one night a week and one weekend a month.

Main duties of the job

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 Head of Patient Experience, Volunteering & Chaplaincy 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 chaplaincy provision out of hours.

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

About us

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further. In addition our staff survey results have placed us 4th in the country for recommended place to work.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, inclusive, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

As part of our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Job responsibilities

Communication Skills and Working Relationships

Lead by example through presence, visibility and behaviours of compassion, inclusivity and the values of the Trust. Visit patients and staff in wards and departments regularly and offer appropriate existential/spiritual care as required.

Foster respect and understanding of the religious, spiritual and pastoral traditions and practices of the diverse communities the Trust serves and are represented in the workforce.

Liaise with other healthcare staff so that spiritual assessment and care form part of the continuum of care and attend multi-disciplinary meetings and department meetings as and when attendance is considered necessary.

Participate in disseminating information concerning healthcare to communities reducing obstacles, where religious and cultural considerations are involved.

Ensure the day-to-day continuity of services across all sites and the capability to maintain critical functions in response to unforeseen circumstances, unpredictable workloads, and staff shortages.

Represent chaplains at senior clinical, governance and strategic management meetings, and promote the role of chaplains within the Trust and in wider professional and health service networks.

Inform and influence relevant Trust-wide policies, guidelines and standards through contributing expert knowledge and professional experience.

Provide guidance and assurance to the Trust Patient Experience Group on matters relating to religious, spiritual and pastoral care for patients, families and staff.

Educate and advocate for the value of spirituality in health and wellbeing and the role of chaplains.

Educate healthcare staff in recognising and responding to patients spiritual needs and how to work effectively with chaplains.

Provide training and support to chaplaincy volunteers, students on placement and new chaplaincy colleagues as they join the team.

Ensure an inclusive approach to developing and delivering chaplaincy services

Develop and support a volunteering programme to enhance the experience of chaplaincy care and contributes to the relationship between Chaplaincy and local faith communities and belief groups.

Analytical and Judgement Skills

Prioritise workload of themselves and others, assess performance and provide clear constructive feedback to team members.

Drive professional development and service improvement and foster leadership at all levels to support excellence in patient care and service delivery.

Responsible for a total managed staff of 3.24 WTE

Manage the departments staff to high standards including the recruitment, induction, appraisal and development of staff.

Ensure that all aspects of staff management comply with Trust policies and relevant professional regulations including processes and procedures to ensure that staff are competent and safe practitioners.

Monitor, review and plan the departments workforce to meet the changing needs of the service and the strategic demands of the Trust.

Planning and Organisational Skills

Establish and maintain capable and resilient structures within the department that support staff in the delivery of services and provide clear lines of communication and accountability.

Promote staff wellbeing and chaplaincys 24/7 support in response to spiritual or emotional needs, especially in times of crisis (e.g. bereavement).

Nurture the chaplaincy team, providing opportunities for professional supervision and continuing professional development and training.

Conduct regular team meetings and regular reflective practice within the department.

Co-ordinate pastoral, spiritual and religious care across the Trust.

Make provision for the spiritual//existential/religious needs of all patients, family members, carers and staff, so that all are enabled to continue to practice their faith/beliefs in a health care setting.

Enable the Chaplaincy to act as a pastoral/spiritual/religious/ethical resource to the Trust, seeking opportunities to provide appropriate service and advice within the hospital.

Freedom to Act

Initiate and take responsibility for own work pattern within the parameters of national standards and Trust polices

Management Responsibility

Ensure that the Chaplaincy Service meets all relevant service and professional standards including NHS England NHS Chaplaincy Guidelines and the Council for Professional Chaplains and Pastoral Carers Standards for Healthcare Chaplaincy Services.

Lead the profession in sustainable innovation that is informed by current evidence, diffuses fresh thinking and new ideas, and supports staff in developing best practice.

Support a culture of professional learning, reflexivity, and the continuous development of practice.

Ensure all staff within the chaplaincy service receive an annual appraisal and fulfil the requirements of mandatory training and all other relevant training necessary for safe and competent practice. Appraise directly line-managed chaplains and support their on-going professional and career development.

Demonstrate commitment to own professional development.

Respond to complaints and implement remedial action as appropriate in accordance with trust polices

Responsibility for Patient Care

Be readily available and supportive to relatives and patients, particularly those who are bereaved or struggling with diagnosis, and those who are close to the end of life, to ensure that sensitive, efficient, and appropriate pastoral or spiritual care is given at all times.

Provide specialised advice, and make provision for complex pastoral/spiritual/existential/religious support to patients and their relatives

Respond to the practical and existential needs arising from the impact of illness, death and dying on individuals and families. This includes being part of the teams delivering care to palliative and end of life patients, and those experiencing pregnancy and baby loss at any gestation.

To facilitate, when requested, visits to patients by their own faith leader

To ensure that self and members of the chaplaincy team have the knowledge and skills to act as keyworker, when required, in the event of the sudden unexpected death of an infant or child (SUDIC)

Be a part of the chaplaincy response within the Trusts major incident plans and response.

Person Specification

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 practise 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
• Registration, or ability to be registered with the Council of Professional Chaplains & Pastoral Carers (formerly UKBHC). (It is not compulsory for Chaplains to be registered with the Council for Professional Chaplains and Pastoral Carers but the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care recommends choosing them from an Accredited Register.)
• Post graduate qualification or Masters, or equivalent post basic training or work experience with demonstrable outcomes of learning relevant to healthcare chaplaincy

Experience

• Minimum of 1600 hours of professionally supervised clinical practice as a designated healthcare chaplain that should include: on-call duties, pregnancy/baby loss, palliative and end of life care
• Experience of working with multi-faith and belief teams
• An understanding of the principles and practice of governance and/including safeguarding
• Engagement with audit, service evaluation or research

Skills

• Ability to offer spiritual care beyond own faith/belief boundaries with evidence of commitment to an inclusive approach to chaplaincy
• Experience of managing staff/teams
• Ability to handle complex, sensitive and sometimes contentious information appropriately and to respond with empathy, honesty and reassurance
• Evidence of excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and spoken
• Keyboard skills and computer literate
• Proven ability to lead by example, to drive culture change and seek continuous improvement
• Evidence of strategic planning to assist the Trust to develop the service which meets the current spiritual needs of those we serve
• Experience of budgetary management

Personal Qualities

• 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.
• Evidence of working collaboratively, contributing to team and sustaining positive working relationships with colleagues
• Evidence of establishing and sustaining relationships in pastorally complex and challenging environments, demonstrating empathy and compassion while taking personal responsibility and initiative
• Evidence of fluent and effective communication in speech and writing
• Evidence of practising professionally within recognised boundaries in pastorally diverse settings (as set out in the Code of Conduct)
• Ability to create and lead ritual or other spiritual process in a way that is sensitive to the pastoral context and faith/belief traditions of those present
• Possession of a professional chaplaincy identity rooted in one's one religious/spiritual/pastoral heritage that integrates professional values and behaviours, skills and specialist knowledge
• Emotional availability, cultural humility, and a positive use of power and authority, within clear and responsible boundaries
• A high degree of personal stability and resilience to cope with significant stress on a sustained basis
• Ability to apply theoretical knowledge or ethical issues relating to health care

Other

• Access to own transport
• Ability to attend an urgent on-call referral, out of hours, within 60 minutes

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

£49,387 to £56,515 a yearpro rata (Dependant on experience)