Lead Chaplain
Role: Volunteer Lead Chaplain
South Yorkshire Police
Are you a compassionate and experienced faith leader with a heart for service? South Yorkshire Police is seeking a Volunteer Lead Chaplain to lead our chaplaincy team and provide spiritual, emotional, and pastoral support to officers, staff, and their families across the force.
This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of police chaplaincy at a local level, aligned with national standards set by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Chaplaincy UK.
About the Role:
As Lead Chaplain, you will:
Coordinate and mentor a team of volunteer chaplains across the region
Provide confidential care to individuals of all faiths and none
Support the force’s wellbeing strategy, trauma response protocols and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
Represent chaplaincy at ceremonial, civic, and community events
Promote moral resilience, ethical leadership, and interfaith understanding
Liaise with national chaplaincy networks to ensure best practice as well as other key stakeholders such as the Federation.
What We’re Looking For:
Experienced and active in leadership in ministry
Ordained or accredited faith leader with active ministry experience
Strong leadership, listening, and interpersonal skills
Ability to work inclusively across diverse belief systems
Commitment to ethical service, confidentiality, and public trust
Willingness to engage with national chaplaincy development initiatives
What You’ll Gain:
- A profound opportunity to serve those who protect and serve—supporting officers, staff, and volunteers through the challenges of policing.
- Leadership experience in overseeing wellbeing and pastoral care within a complex and high‑pressure operational environment.
- Practical exposure to police culture, safeguarding responsibilities, and organisational wellbeing practices, strengthening your professional chaplaincy expertise.
- A respected position within a diverse, multi‑faith chaplaincy team, helping to shape its strategic direction and service delivery.
What support is available:
Support is available through the HR and Learning team and an allocated lead will support the onboarding process for new recruits and any other administrative tasks.
Location and Commitment:
This voluntary role is based within South Yorkshire Police. Hours are flexible, with an expectation of occasional on‑call availability and attendance at key events across the force area. The position typically requires a commitment of two days per week—one day dedicated to visiting assigned stations or facilities, and another focused-on leadership, coordination, and engagement activities, working closely with officers and staff to support and strengthen chaplaincy services.
Eligibility:
Applicants must meet the minimum requirement checkable history criteria, which must be taken into account for individuals applying to work with South Yorkshire Police in any capacity. A minimum checkable history of 5 years is required for this role and successfully undergoing recruitment vetting procedure is a pre-requisite of employment with South Yorkshire Police.
Appearance & Standards:
South Yorkshire Police is committed to striking a proportionate balance between self-expression and the need to maintain role sensitive professional standards in dress and appearance. Officers, staff, and volunteers of South Yorkshire Police are permitted to have tattoos visible whilst on duty provided the tattoo is not considered to be unacceptable or otherwise inappropriate. Tattoos will be reviewed as part of the recruitment and selection process.
South Yorkshire Police’s overarching aim is to deliver an excellent police service to support safer communities. The public’s assessment of our excellence is influenced by the level of trust and confidence in us, as an organisation and as individuals. In comparison to the general public, police officers and police staff are held to a higher standards of behaviour and accountability. In applying to join the police, applicants are accepting of these higher standards and understand the implications on their right to privacy.
South Yorkshire Police’s Key Values:
At South Yorkshire Police we have 3 key values which run through everything we do Fairness, Integrity & Trust, the attached document details the key behaviours we expect all employees to adhere to.
Contact details:
For further information about the role, please contact: Teresa Griffiths via email at Teresa.Griffiths@southyorkshire.police.uk
How to apply:
To express your interest, please send your CV and a brief (no more than 1 page) statement outlining your reasons for applying along with any relevant experience.
As part of the application process, you will be required to meet the pre-employment checks that apply to anyone joining the force. This includes vetting clearance to the standard of management vetting, medical clearance, references and endorsement from your sending faith organisation.
Closing Date: 1st March 2026
Closing dates are not normally extended, other than in exceptional circumstances and agreement is made between the Recruitment Manager and the Line Manager for the role.
Diversity & Inclusion:
Applications are particularly welcome from female and ethnic minority candidates.
It is really important to us that the department represents the community we serve, in order for us to provide the best service, utilising a range of backgrounds, experience and skills. We support and value all officers and staff and the unique experiences they bring to the role. We strongly encourage and welcome applications from these valuable underrepresented groups.
If you are from an underrepresented group and want to find out more about the support we can offer, please contact our dedicated team on positiveaction@southyorks.pnn.police.uk
In addition, we will look to support anyone who requires Part Time/Job share working hours.
Documents to Review:
For the Police Staff Recruitment Vetting Handbook - Please Click here
For Application Guidance and Tips - Please Click Here
For the FIT Values of South Yorkshire Police - Please Click Here
View our recruitment video: