funeral director jobs

Position: Senior Funeral Director
Location: John Kemp Funeral Directors, Whitstable
Job Type: Full-time, permanent
Salary: £34,342.15 per annum

We are looking for a compassionate and committed Senior Funeral Director to join our team at John Kemp Funeral Directors, as someone who takes pride in supporting families with care and professionalism. You will play a key leadership role in overseeing funeral arrangements, guiding and developing your team, and building strong relationships with local partners and the wider community to ensure every service is delivered with respect and excellence.

Why This Role Matters
As a Senior Funeral Director, you will be responsible for team performance, development, and operational leadership, supporting the Cluster Manager in achieving business objectives. This role ensures consistent compliance, client satisfaction, and staff excellence, fostering a culture of empathy, professionalism, and continuous improvement.

Your Impact and Responsibilities
As a Senior Funeral Director, you lead by example, guiding families with empathy and professionalism, while supporting your team to do the same. You’ll spend around 70% of your time delivering and overseeing services, and the rest managing the day-to-day operations of one or more branches, including the team.

You’ll be responsible for ensuring high standards of care, training, service delivery, and local marketing, creating a culture where your team is proud of the work they do and families feel informed, respected, and looked after.

As a Senior Funeral Director, you will:

• Deliver complex funeral arrangements with professionalism - ensuring all funeral arrangements are respectful, appropriate, and reflect the client's wishes.
• Oversee branch standards and ensure timely, high-quality care of the deceased.
• Participate in an out-of-hours on-call rota (including nights/weekends) to support families - providing out-of-hours support, including dignified collection and transfer of the deceased into care.
• Lead on recruitment, onboarding and ongoing performance reviews, undertaking regular 121s.
• Ensure back-of-house teams have responsibilities, and ensure seamless scheduling and service coordination.
• Support the Cluster Manager in overseeing branch performance, audits, and compliance processes.
• Identify service gaps and recommend improvements to processes and training.
• Take responsibility for ensuring funeral plan banks are replenished.
• Ensure all team members are Funeral Plan Consultant (FPC) trained.

Skills and Knowledge…

• Comfortable leading and motivating a team to uphold the highest standards of professionalism, presentation, and service delivery.
• Empathetic, service-oriented, and committed to excellent client outcomes.
• Understanding of the nature of the role and is prepared to assist families whenever needed, ensuring.
  continuous care and operational effectiveness.
• Able to follow strict procedures, maintain accurate records, and ensure adherence to legal and company regulations.
• Able to use a range of IT systems, including Microsoft Office, Outlook and internal databases (training provided).
• Confident working independently and thrives on delivering results.
• Flexibility to work evenings, weekends and on-call.
• Understanding of operational efficiency, service offerings, and financial considerations within the funeral industry.

What you can expect from us

We believe in rewarding our colleagues with a strong, supportive benefits package that helps you feel secure, valued and able to grow.

• Time to recharge – Up to 25 days’ annual leave (increasing with service) plus bank holidays, giving you the time you need to rest and reset.
• A little extra reward – Opportunity to earn a yearly bonus of up to £300–£500 in recognition of your contribution.
• Planning for your future – 4% matched pension to help you build long-term financial security.
• Peace of mind – Life assurance cover at 2x your salary to support your loved ones.
• Everyday savings and perks – Access to MyStaffShop, our employee rewards platform, offering savings across high street and online retailers, alongside eyecare support, flu jab reimbursement and lifestyle discounts.
• Support when you need it – Access to a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, occupational health services and confidential counselling.
• Learn and grow with us – Ongoing training and development, including internal learning pathways and apprenticeship opportunities.
• Making work easier – Free on-site parking available at most of our locations.

What are the next steps?

If this sounds like the right role for you and you’re ready to bring care and professionalism to an essential service, click the ‘apply’ button. A member of our Talent Acquisition Team will be in touch to guide you through the next steps.

Why Dignity

Dignity exists to help every family in Britain navigate the hardest moments of life with simplicity, dignity, kindness and exceptional care. Every day, our funeral teams across the country help families say goodbye to the people they love. It’s a responsibility we take seriously, and it matters.

Dignity is changing for the better. We’re investing in better training, better support and better tools for our funeral teams, so you can focus on what matters most: being there for families when they need us.

You’ll be part of a close-knit team who look out for each other and take real pride in their work. No two days are the same, and the work you do is noticed and valued.

If you want a job that is genuinely meaningful, helping families across Britain through one of the hardest times in their lives, this is a good place to build a career.

FCA Statement

Dignity is part of a group that includes FCA-regulated activities, and some roles may be subject to relevant training, screening, conduct, and regulatory requirements. This will be confirmed as part of the recruitment process.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

We know that diverse teams make better decisions, build better products, and create a more inclusive and better place to work. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your life looks like, we’d love to hear from you. If there’s anything you need to make the process more accessible, please let us know.

Any unsolicited submissions from agencies will be accepted as a direct application from the candidate, and no fees will be payable.

We reserve the right, depending on the number of applications received, to close or extend the closing dates for positions. Therefore, we recommend submitting your application as early as possible.