Work with us

The Salvation Army International Headquarters (IHQ) has a unique organisational structure which involves two distinct groups of people who work together to achieve our mission – officers of The Salvation Army and employees.

Employees at IHQ are recruited on the basis of greatest suitability for a role and are governed by a Contract of Employment Terms and Conditions. Employees are not required to wear a Salvation Army uniform, nor are they expected to be a Salvationist, though of course empathy with the aims and ethos of The Salvation Army is essential. Both employees and officers join together in their work to create a truly familial working environment.

Officers are ministers of religion – they operate under a covenant of sacred calling rather than a Contract of Employment and are appointed to their roles by the Officers Appointments Board. They do not apply for roles specifically but are placed in roles that best suit their skillset and spiritual gifts. Officers can be appointed to roles all over the world, though roles at International Headquarters are mostly based in London, UK.

Officers have ranks much like a military unit, such as lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel, commissioner and General. These are denoted by the style of the epaulettes on their uniforms.

There are five departments at IHQ, each of which have an experienced officer as Head of Department, all of whom report to the Chief of the Staff, who in turn reports to the General. The five departments are:

• The General’s Office, which is made up of the Office of the General, the Office of the Chief of the Staff, the Office of the World President of Women’s Ministries and the Office of the World Secretary for Spiritual Life Development.
• Administration, which is made up of Legal, Human Resources, International Personnel, the International College for Officers, Human Sexuality, the International Social Justice Commission and the Administration team.
• Business Administration, which is made up of IT, Finance, Facilities, Property, Audit, Travel and the Business Administration team.
• Programme Resources, which is made up of Communications, Emergency Services, Health Services, International Development Services, Literary/Editorial, Schools, Youth and Children and the Programme Resources team.
• Zonal office, which has five teams who work directly with the Africa, Americas and Caribbean, Europe, South Asia and South Pacific and East Asia zones.

Our mission at International Headquarters (IHQ) is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without discrimination. IHQ supports the work of The Salvation Army around the world with this mission in mind and all the work we undertake at IHQ contributes to this. All departments have a global reach and as such, there is a great deal of diversity within the office environment and beyond.

Travel is an everyday occurrence at IHQ, with many roles demanding frequent overseas travel – this makes for a fluid and dynamic office environment, where no two days could truly be considered the same. We provide a challenging yet incredibly supportive environment in which employee’s flourish and can see how impactful their work is. Respect is paramount at IHQ and we recognise the part that each of us has to play in working towards our mission.

A traditional and historical organisation with fascinating origins and developments, we are also forward thinking and modern in the way we operate at IHQ. Due to our global work, we are a digital, tech-savvy organisation and embrace updates to our working life in order to better support the people who need our help most.

There exists a distinctive family aspect at IHQ which is central to our culture – we meet together as a family as often as we can, and again utilise the latest technology to help embrace our global family too. Openness and willingness to participate is central to the employee life at IHQ which can be achieved via occasions such as The General’s Forum, departmental meetings and The Employee Council. IHQ leadership values employees’ feedback and input and will endeavour to do all it can to continuously improve the employee experience.

IHQ oversees, coordinates and supports the work of all 134 countries globally with activities ranging from our IT team who support the global IT infrastructure to our finance team who support local territories to understand and submit budgets and expenditure, using this to forecast future spends and ways we can widen our financial support.

IHQ also coordinates a large number of global projects, from planned community development projects to emergency responses to crises all over the world. For example, IHQ supports the work of more than 2,000 schools run by local Salvation Army territories, helping children to gain quality education provision regardless of their background. Additionally, a great deal of work is being undertaken around the topic of sexuality and relationships around the world via Faith-Based Facilitation which encourages conversations around a variety of topics including divorce, remarriage and partner abuse. The Salvation Army is not afraid to delve into tough topics using a sensitive and faith-based method.

Ultimately, all employees at IHQ can identify how their work contributes to our overall mission and to the work of The Salvation Army across the world.

IHQ is committed to rewarding our employees fairly and commensurate to their performance in post and remain a competitive employer in the not-for-profit sector. Benefits include:

• All staff in receipt of at least the London Living Wage as set by the Living Wage Foundation
• Travel to work allowance of up to £3,600 per annum (yes, you read that right – we help with the travel costs to attend the workplace. We recognise working in London can attract significant additional expenditure for employees, so we do what we can to help with this)
• Discounted café food and drink for those at Queen Victoria Street and a food allowance for those based at Faith House
• Employee Assistance Programme which offers a huge variety of resources to help support the well-being of employees and their immediate family including free counselling sessions
• 25 days annual leave plus eight bank holidays
• Four days special leave per annum which can be used for a range of reasons including attending medical appointments or moving house
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave pay policies
• Generous pension scheme
• Access to monthly massage therapy appointments
• Department team building/away days
• Weekly department and whole building prayer meetings
• Monthly departmental coffee mornings
• Flexible working opportunities available after successful completion of probation period

101 Queen Victoria Street

This is the central hub of the work of IHQ, housing the majority of teams who work for IHQ including the office of the General and Chief of the Staff, zonal offices and Communications. The Salvation Army has occupied this site since 1881 and has been a prominent feature of the City of London ever since. A beautiful glass-fronted building with panoramic views of the city, it’s hard to find a seat in this building without a view! Café 101 is based here which offers a wide variety of hot and cold freshly prepared food and drinks for staff and members of the public. Staff enjoy a discount on food and drink prepared on site from Café 101 and are welcome to use the restaurant seating area for coffees, catch-ups and team lunches.

Faith House, Lovat Lane

Situated just down the road from Queen Victoria Street sits Faith House on Lovat Lane. IT are largely based on one of the floors here, sharing the building with The Salvation Army’s official banking partner, Reliance Bank.

International College of Officers (ICO)

The ICO is based at Sunbury Court in Sunbury-on-Thames, a purposeful location for officer’s spiritual training and leadership development. A Georgian mansion houses the ICO team including the principals of the college and is accompanied by a purpose-built conference centre for when the ICO is in session. The ICO also boasts ample accommodation and meal provision for overseas officers to stay when they are called to session. Historically, the ICO has been the venue of the High Council, the process in which a new General is elected, demonstrating its incredible significance as part of IHQ.

In addition to these UK locations, IHQ has offices overseas which include:

International Social Justice Commission (ISJC)

Based in New York City, USA, the International Social Justice Commission is The Salvation Army’s strategic voice to advocate for human dignity and social justice with the world’s poor and oppressed. Similar to the UK, the staff are made up of officers and employees who work together on a variety of campaigns including a focus on contemporary moral and social justice issues.

Salvation Army Leadership College (SALT College)

Based in Kenya, SALT College provides support to Salvation Army territories and commands across Africa, helping with policy and strategy setting as well as providing training opportunities for officers and local leaders.

Our application form can be found within our jobs portal. When you find a role that you are interested in applying for, you will need to create a jobs account with us and complete the application form following the instructions as you go. Below are some tips and hints of what is required on each page of the form.

Personal Details/Contact Details/Address Details

Please complete your personal information accurately, adding your preferred name if you would like to be known as anything other than your official name during the recruitment process.

You can provide as many different contact details as you would like, but as a minimum we would prefer an email and a mobile phone number where possible. Address details should be your main residence as this is where any postal correspondence will be sent to.

Membership/Training and Qualification Details

Please list any professional memberships you have (eg. CIPD, ACCA, CIPR) and the associated details.

Please provide all relevant qualifications you have, including any professional qualifications. Remember, the application form is the only document that the hiring panel will consider when shortlisting for interview, so make sure you list all relevant areas.

General Information

Understanding an applicant’s interests and hobbies is a good way for the hiring panel to understand the person behind the application and what makes them happy. Additionally, any community and volunteer experience should be added to demonstrate how you have impacted your community.

Employment Details

It is crucial that this is completed fully in order for the panel to understand your past experience. Please complete as fully as you can and add as many relevant employment experiences as you would like. Please note that any gaps in your employment will be noted and explored at interview.

Supporting Information

This is the most important part of your application and acts as your chance to demonstrate why you are suitable for this role. Review the person specification for the role carefully and ensure you address how you meet the criteria, giving examples where possible.

Confidential Personal Information

Health questions are asked so that we can assess whether we may need to make any adjustments for interview. This information is shared with HR only and is not seen by the hiring manager.

Some of the roles at International Headquarters (IHQ) may involve the management of services to our vulnerable people and therefore spent and unspent convictions/cautions need to be disclosed. Please use the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act area to declare this if needed.

Permission to Work in the UK

In order to work at IHQ you must have the existing right to work in the UK. This section allows you to confirm this and whether you need a work permit.

References

Please provide the details of two referees. One of these must be your line manager or similar from your most recent employer.

Declaration and Undertaking

This asks you to sign to confirm that you have provided true and accurate information on your application and that you agree to the processing of your personal data.

Once the above is complete and your application is submitted, it will automatically be sent to our HR team who will collate and transfer to the hiring manager.

We wish you every success in your application-should you have any questions about the process, please email IHQ-Vacancies@salvationarmy.org.