Parish Buying was established in 2011 to utilise the combined buying power of The Church of England’s 16,000 churches to negotiate competitive prices with suppliers across a range of different contracts, ensuring parishes have access to a suite of quality-assured products and services, while saving them time and money. Parish Buying operates as a trading entity within Church of England Central Services Trading Limited. Its principal activity is Energy, which currently accounts for over 80% of income, although we have negotiated a wide range of other contracts at discounted rates, including digital giving, furniture and church supplies.
The Head of Parish Buying is a new role, working with the Board of Church of England Central Services Trading Limited to develop and implement a business plan that delivers significant growth of Parish Buying’s activities. With responsibility for a £10m+ P&L, you will ensure Parish Buying has the sufficient resources and capacity to deliver against the plan, with robust financial models and meaningful KPIs that reflect the unique and changing needs of our work and the wider parish economy in which we are operating. This role will work with colleagues within the National Church Institutions (which undertake work for the Church of England), and engage with colleagues at all levels on the development of new products and services, as well as on the delivery of national priorities such as our commitment to becoming Net Zero by 2030.
We are looking for a leader who brings strong commercial expertise and a proven track record of successfully supporting organisational growth within either a private, public or charitable setting. With an enterprising mindset, you will have the ability to spot opportunities for further growth and diversification, backed up with excellent financial and business acumen. Ideally, you will have gained exposure to non-profit or purpose-driven sectors, or be able to demonstrate an awareness of running a commercial enterprise within a charitable setting. Strong negotiating skills that are sympathetic to the mission and ethos of the Church will also be important.
This role has now closed.
