Application Guide
How to Apply for Project Specialist (Young Voices)
at Church Of England
🏢 About Church Of England
The Church of England is a unique institution that combines centuries of tradition with contemporary social engagement, particularly in environmental justice and youth inclusion. Working here offers the opportunity to influence national policy from within a major faith organization while addressing pressing issues like climate change and intergenerational equity. This role specifically supports the Church's commitment to becoming 'younger and more diverse' while pursuing its Net Zero Carbon 2030 target.
About This Role
This Project Specialist will lead two distinct but related initiatives: the Net Zero Carbon Young Adult Voices Project and the General Synod Young Voices project, both focused on amplifying youth perspectives (ages 18-30) within the Church's environmental and governance structures. You'll bridge communication between young adults and diocesan/central Church leadership, ensuring their input directly shapes decarbonization strategies and broader environmental programs. The role is impactful because it addresses a strategic gap in youth engagement while advancing both climate action and institutional renewal.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve virtual meetings with diocesan colleagues to plan local youth consultation sessions, followed by designing digital content to communicate NZC updates to young adult audiences. You could spend time analyzing feedback from previous engagements to draft recommendations for the Church's Environment Programme, then join a cross-departmental call to align your work with broader 'younger and more diverse' initiatives.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Church Of England Is Looking For
- Has demonstrable experience designing and facilitating youth engagement programs, particularly with young adults (18-30), in either faith-based, environmental, or social justice contexts.
- Understands both climate policy/net-zero frameworks AND the unique governance structure of the Church of England (dioceses, General Synod, national church bodies).
- Is a skilled communicator who can translate complex environmental initiatives into accessible messaging for young audiences while also synthesizing youth feedback into actionable recommendations for Church leadership.
- Can work autonomously in a remote setting while building collaborative relationships across dispersed diocesan teams and central departments like the Environment Programme.
📝 Tips for Applying to Church Of England
Explicitly link any past experience to the dual focus of this role: youth engagement AND environmental/climate work—even if from separate roles or volunteer positions.
Demonstrate familiarity with the Church of England's specific structures: mention dioceses, General Synod, or the NZC 2030 target to show you've researched their operational context.
Highlight remote collaboration skills, as you'll need to engage stakeholders across England without in-person meetings; provide examples of managing distributed projects.
Address how you would approach engaging young adults who may be skeptical of institutional religion, showing cultural sensitivity to the Church's 'younger and more diverse' priority.
Tailor your examples to show you can both 'gather voices' (listening/consultation) and 'enable pathways' (practical involvement), as both are specified in the job description.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your specific strategy for engaging young adults (18-30) on environmental issues within a faith context, referencing the Church's NZC programme.", "How you would build relationships with diocesan colleagues to amplify youth influence locally, showing understanding of the Church's decentralized structure.", 'Examples of past work where you successfully bridged communication between youth groups and organizational leadership to inform decision-making.', "Your approach to ensuring this new project aligns with the broader Church priority to be 'younger and more diverse,' linking it to your values or experience."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → The Church of England's Environment Programme and its Net Zero Carbon 2030 strategy, including recent reports or announcements.
- → The structure of General Synod and its current priorities related to youth or environmental issues.
- → Existing youth initiatives within the Church (e.g., Youth Evangelism Fund, Young Leaders) to understand the landscape you'll be joining.
- → Diocesan environmental efforts—look at 1-2 specific dioceses' climate action plans to grasp local contexts you'll engage with.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Submitting a generic application that doesn't address the unique intersection of youth work, environmental action, and faith-based context.
- Overemphasizing personal faith beliefs without demonstrating professional skills in project management, stakeholder engagement, or youth consultation.
- Failing to acknowledge the remote nature of the role or lacking examples of effective distributed collaboration.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Church Of England!