St Paul's Cathedral - Training and Development Officer

Overview

St Paul’s draws together a very diverse set of activities, projections and aspirations.  It is the Cathedral of the Diocese of London and the seat of its Bishop, a national church and an international spiritual focus, a space for worship and holiness, a place of debate and challenge, an icon of resilience in the face of adversity, an architectural heritage centre, a partner in the City of London, and a commercial enterprise.  In addition to holding four services every day (five on Sundays), St Paul’s is open for sight-seeing six days a week, and last year welcomed over 850,000 paying visitors.

Introduction

The Training and Development Officer plays an important part in enabling St. Paul’s to deliver its Mission-Directed Business Plan by co-ordinating the training and development for all staff (including clergy) and volunteers in line with the Plan and supporting the Vision and Values and the Cathedral’s priorities of Diversity and Engagement.  The post-holder ensures staff and volunteers are equipped and motivated and for their roles within the Cathedral whilst ensuring that they are delivering the best service internally and externally, befitting the status of the Cathedral.  The role is crucial in delivering our aim of at least 3 days’ training per person per year, with a current priority being the training of staff and volunteers on the welcome given to all visitors to the Cathedral. There are more volunteers than there are paid staff and so ensuring the training plans and delivery fully encompass all volunteers is an important part of the job. The Canon Pastor is the Chapter member with responsibility for this area of work.

Main Responsibilities

1. Plan training and development

• Assist the Head of HR in working with the Heads of Department, clergy and line managers to develop an annual training plan and budget;
• Identify training needs from a varied range of sources such as: responding to organisational priorities including Welcome, Safeguarding, Security and Accessibility; co-ordinating with Heads of Department and line managers regarding the training requirements of their departments and individual staff; evaluating training requests arising from appraisals; conducting Training Needs Analyses;
• Own and work with Heads of Department to keep up-to-date the information on mandatory and optional training for each job role.
• Plan training in line with agreed training needs, ensuring all training is appropriate and well managed and consistent with Cathedral’s policies and current legislation; and
• Ensure the approved annual training plan is delivered while remaining agile, responsive and flexible to emerging needs.

1. Organise and deliver training and development

• Research, identify and commission suppliers based on the activities and volumes in the annual training plan;
• Develop and maintain a team of in-house trainers;
• Communicate training opportunities;
• Organise the logistics for training events delivered by external suppliers;
• Assist the in-house training team in designing and organising training events; and 
• Design and deliver training within own areas of expertise.

1. Inductions

• Assist the Head of HR with the induction policy and processes:
• Be responsible for inducting staff and volunteers, on a one-to-one and/or small group basis and organising and hosting regular Cathedral-wide induction events, liaising with other colleagues as necessary;
• Assist line managers with designing induction programmes for new staff and volunteers;
• Develop and maintain appropriate plans and guidance; and
• Lead on the organisation and delivery of initial training and information provision for new staff and volunteers.

1. Recording and Reporting of Training

• Use the HR information system to plan, record and report on all training and development activities within the HR information systems;
• Maintain lists of staff and volunteers awaiting training;
• Regularly report on the dashboard targets for training activities, evaluations, budget performance and appraisal completion rates as required;
• Maintain systems for identifying training/certification expiry dates; 
• Oversee CPD hours and record as necessary.

1. Manage the training budget and resources

• Assist the Head of HR in delivering within the agreed annual training budget, liaising with Heads of Department and Finance where necessary;
• Carry out on-going monitoring of the annual budget and approvals within own authorisation limit and in line with Cathedral procedures; 
• Identify, acquire, budget for and maintain training resources such as training spaces, equipment and resources, including e-learning; and
• Obtain and manage any relevant available grants.

1. Evaluate training and development

• Evaluate training and development for staff members and departments within the Cathedral to ensure consistency of training. 
• Respond to evaluation as appropriate, including reporting, and feeding into supplier selection, feedback to in-house trainers and planning for the future; and
• Identify and take forward issues that impact on other practices and policies across the Cathedral or that impact training content and delivery to enhance our success.

1. Performance Management Policy and Appraisals

• Assist the Head of HR on performance management policy and practice across the Cathedral with the aim of integrating training and development with enhanced performance;
• Support Heads of Department, line managers and other senior staff in implementing performance management and the regular appraisal cycle;
• Maintain records of appraisal completion as agreed in HR systems; and
• Review the content of appraisals for training needs and career development issues and to monitor quality.

1. Support to Head of Human Resources on Training and Development Planning and Policy

In addition areas identified above:  

• Assist in the development of new systems/procedures or improving current systems relating to training and development to maximise operational efficiency;.
• Keep abreast of and research specific developments such as e-learning, mobile technology;
• Assist in achieving external standards such as Investors in People;
• Assist with setting policies and procedures regarding training and development and associated aspects such as study leave, paid and unpaid leave for training; and
• Assist with other related activity such as internal communications and staff surveys.

1. Line management

• Line manage the Receptionist to deliver an excellent welcome and as an integral part of the HR team carrying out administrative tasks to support the Training and Development Officer and the HR team more widely.

1. Administrative Support

• Carry out advisory and administrative tasks in the HR department, both as they relate to training and to the wider responsibilities of the Human Resources Department.  

1. Other

• Any other appropriate duties that the line manager, senior management or Chapter may request from time-to-time.

The Ideal Candidate

We are looking for someone:

• with graduate-level intellect to be able to see the bigger picture, understand and apply the training and development cycle, research new developments such as e-learning and support the high expectation at the Cathedral on the commitment to training;
• with proven experience at designing and successfully delivering group and one-to-one training across a range of subjects, ideally with previous experience in a context of similar scope, diversity and complexity;
• with the confidence and influencing skills to work with colleagues across the Cathedral and the determination to make a step-change and deliver on our aim of at least 3 days’ training per person per year;
• who is a well-organised self-starter with proven excellence at administration probably gained through a significant period of employment in a similar office-based role, and ideally with skills and experience in process improvement, and writing procedures and policies;   
• able at and who enjoys organisation, logistics and liaising with and coordinating a range of people, internally and externally;
• able to commission and organise appropriate external training courses;
• fully conversant with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, e-mail and internet use and with the potential rapidly to learn and become skilled in the HR database;
• who has proven creativity and flexibility in a training context and can adapt their approach to changing circumstances and work with limited resources;
• with excellent inter-personal skills and who is able to deal appropriately with people in all walks of life, who is robust and has a calm and friendly disposition, is a good team worker and has total discretion – good judgement and the ability to keep sensitive information confidential.

The successful candidate will be in sympathy with, and in their work support, the Christian aims and mission of St Paul’s Cathedral.

For more information about this application process, please use this link

About us

Our Mission Statement

St Paul’s Cathedral seeks to enable people in all their diversity to encounter the transforming presence of God in Jesus Christ.

Our Vision

• St Paul’s is seen primarily as a living Christian Church
• We will be a centre for welcome, worship and learning, and though our care and imagination, will inspire successive generations to engage with the richness of the Christian faith and its heritage.
• Working with the Bishop and Diocese of London and the wider Church, we will be a spiritual focus for people across London, the nation and a broader international audience.
• Our work will promote dignity and justice for everyone.

Our Values

Welcome – we all offer a warm inclusive welcome to everyone: our colleagues, volunteers and each and every visitor

Responsible – we are all responsible for each other and for part of the whole of the Cathedral’s work, not the whole of a part

Effective – we are professional and do what we say we are going to do

Nourish – we have a learning culture, not a blame culture