Post number is: CRE001
Salary : £52,413 to £59,688 per annum plus benefits
Location : Lake View Bereavement Centre
Closing date for completed applications is Monday 6 October 2025
The selection process will be held week commencing Monday 13 October 2025
Description:
Join us for a unique opportunity to manage our new Crematorium and Bereavement Centre
Lake View Bereavement Centre, near the beautiful cathedral city of Ely, opens next summer and we’re seeking an entrepreneurial Service Manager who will help us deliver a special experience for those saying goodbye to loved ones.
If you are a highly motivated, compassionate individual looking for an exciting role to showcase and be rewarded for your business acumen and marketing skills, we want to hear from you.
At Lake View we recognise that death is very much a part of life. Saying farewell to a loved one in a meaningful way is as much about providing love, care, and support for the living, as it is to bid a respectful farewell to the person who has died.
That’s why at Lake View we won’t rush people attending funerals, we’ll hold coffee mornings, counselling sessions and memorial events, and we’ll open our doors to anyone who wants to walk around our beautiful, natural grounds, overlooking the lake, which have been designated as a County Wildlife site.
As Service Manager you’ll join us at a pivotal time, so will have a unique opportunity to help us set up and establish this much needed community facility. What matters most to us is the energy and talent you can bring to establishing this new service. You may not have direct experience of managing a crematorium or working in the funeral industry, but we want to hear from you if:
- you are a compassionate and customer focused Manager, with experience of delivering high quality services or experiences for customers
- you can build strong relationships with key stakeholders such as funeral directors and charities
- you have the business acumen to develop new products and services, and you are able to communicate our vision and offer to communities and stakeholders
- you have an eye for detail and passion for adopting best practice to ensure services are delivered in a legally compliant and efficient way
With overall responsibility for the business development and operational management of the site, you’ll be committed to:
- setting out a three-year business plan for the site, to include business development, marketing, stakeholder engagement, and developing new services and products
- setting up the operation of the bereavement centre, to include drafting policies, overseeing IT, recruitment, permits and legislative procedures
- delivering a high-quality customer experience for funerals, cremations, natural burials, and memorialisation
- managing a team of up to six people and embedding a compassionate, customer focused and proactive culture as a whole
- overseeing a budget of c£800,000 and developing income strategies with supporting marketing materials
- developing and nurturing relationships with external stakeholders and customers, such as the bereaved, general public and funeral directors
- taking responsibility for the care and disposal of the deceased in accordance with current legislation
- completing the relevant training and qualifications in your first year
Come and join us at this exciting time and help make your mark on a unique community facility with real and lasting impact.
Please set out in your supporting statement how your experience and skills will help you succeed in this role.
Benefits
In return, the council offers a range of benefits including:
- flexible working
- childcare scheme (in approved cases)
- training and development
- occupational health programme
- holiday and sickness scheme entitlements
If you are looking to work for an organisation that prioritises environmental sustainability, the Council has made a clear commitment to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner and has recently been awarded the silver accreditation of the Investors in the Environment scheme as well as coming 43rd (out of 164) on the latest national council climate scorecard.
For an informal discussion regarding the post please contact Isabel Edgar on 01353 616301.
Please note that only candidates selected for interview will be contacted by the HR Department with the confirmation of an interview. If you have not been contacted by that date, please assume your application has not been successful on this occasion.