About Christ Church
Christ Church is a unique institution – a Renaissance college and cathedral now looking forward to its sixth century. The Human Resources Director will be at the heart of a very diverse community, working with professionals and academic trustees from all disciplines.
Christ Church (Aedes Christi or simply ‘the House’) is a Royal Foundation dating from 1546, originally founded as Wolsey’s Cardinal College in 1525. Cathedral and College together make up a unique institution committed to education, learning and religion. The Head of House is the Dean, the Very Revd Professor Sarah Foot. The Visitor is His Majesty the King.
Christ Church is made up of the members of the Governing Body (the Dean, Cathedral Canons and Students – mostly Tutorial, Research or Professorial Fellows), as well as lecturers who help the tutors with teaching, Junior Research Fellows, undergraduates and graduate students. Authority lies in the Governing Body, which is chaired by the Dean. Academic matters are dealt with by the Senior Censor, assisted by the Junior Censor, the Tutor for Graduates and the Tutor for Admissions. The Cathedral’s operations are led by the Dean and Sub-Dean, and Christ Church Cathedral School, which provides choristers for the Cathedral Choir, is in close proximity to the main site. The CFO and Treasury team look after the finances, the general accounts, buildings and grounds, and report to the Governing Body. The ‘hotel’ side of Christ Church, whether to do with the accommodation and feeding of members, tourism or the vacation-time conference business, is the responsibility of the Steward. The Alumni and Development team is currently engaged in a campaign to raise funds to support exciting major infrastructure projects as well as to protect our core functions, for example by endowing graduate scholarships.
Christ Church is a busy, hard-working and co-operative community. Although it is one of the four or five wealthiest Oxford Colleges, its spending on its primary purposes of education, research and the Cathedral, including the maintenance of its many historic buildings, stretches its resources to the limit.
A centralised Human Resources function is relatively new in Christ Church. HR plays a central role, working with all the different teams within the institution, providing advice and support to the departmental leads and managing personnel processes. The Human Resources Director has a key part to play in making sure that Christ Church is a place where staff, as well as students, can thrive.