A Governance Officer is needed to join one of Britain's most prestigious private members clubs on a Part Time basis (three days per week). If you are a Company Secretary, Head of Governance, or Government Manager looking for an interesting part-time role, this could be the perfect opportunity you've been waiting for!
The successful Governance Officer will provide comprehensive governance support by advising on and implementing appropriate policies, practices, and procedures, ensuring effective governance throughout the organisation.
Founded in 1869 and set in 42 acres of ornamental gardens, the Club is an exclusive private members club providing its 14,000 members with facilities for indoor and outdoor sporting and social pursuits. The Club is an un-incorporated entity owned by its members, constituted and governed by its rules and bye-laws, which were last updated at the October AGM in 2023. The management of the Club is deputed to the Main Committee who may then further delegate their powers to the principle sub-committees and to the Executive management team, with the Clubs Trustees representing the interests of the members. The management team, which complements the member committee structure, comprises ten Executives and around 20 Heads of Department.
The Governance Officer responsibilities will be to:
- Support the governance framework of the Club, ensuring adherence to established rules, bye-laws, and regulatory requirements.
- Keep abreast of any changes in relevant legislation and regulations affecting the Club's governance structure and recommend necessary updates or actions to maintain compliance.
- Advise on matters relating to the Clubs governance, rule implementation, and compliance.
- Provide guidance to sub-committees on matters relating to governance, including the development of terms of reference, meeting procedures, and reporting requirements, ensuring that each committee operates within the relevant internal governance framework.
- Co-ordinate the election and appointment process for committee members, ensuring fair and transparent procedures are followed.
- Establish an annual cycle for governance meetings, liaising across departments and with key stakeholders to ensure that deadlines are met with effective communication across the organisation.
- Plan, co-ordinate and prepare agendas, papers, board packs and reports for key meetings ensuring all documentation is accurate, timely and compliant.
- Draft governance related papers for committees, including terms of reference.
- Attend key meetings (when required) and prepare accurate and concise minutes, ensuring that they are approved and distributed in a timely manner. (Please note that some of these meetings will take place in the evening).
- Maintain accurate records, filing and documentation related to governance matters, making sure that confidentiality and data protection requirements are adhered to.
- Track and follow up action points from meetings as necessary within agreed timescales.
- Be responsible for maintaining and updating the governance area of the Clubs website.
- Lead on the development, maintenance and review of governance policies and procedures ensuring these are updated and in line with any current legislation and good practice.
- Support the CFO with the maintenance of the risk register and risk management process.
- Be able to identify and recommend improvements to existing processes, to align with developments in governance practice and improve effectiveness and efficiency.
- Provide other reasonable duties as may be required from time to time.
This role is 100% office based. Flexibility to attend occasional evening / early morning meetings will be required.
To qualify... You could be a Company Secretary / Head of Governance/ Governance Manager / Governance Officer or similar with a CV that can demonstrate:
- Experience of working in a governance role and providing high quality governance support to boards and/or committees, preferably within a membership organisation, private members club or unincorporated organization.
- You are highly organised and inquisitive; possess good time management skills, with the ability to multitask, prioritise and work under own initiative.
- The ability to interpret complex documents with a logical and methodical approach to disseminate effectively, in order to draft briefs and reports.
- Experience of successfully delivering general meetings, including AGMs and SGMs.
- Confidence to develop and build strong working relationships, (you will be working directly with a number of departments and teams, as well as members).
- You are resilient; comfortable in engaging with members who may have differing points of view.
- Excellent oral and written communications skills, with emphasis on attention to detail and proof reading.
- Ability to work proactively as part of a team and independently.
- Ability to work in a flexible and adaptable manner, with the capacity to deal with shifting workloads and conflicting deadlines, while still be able to produce work to the highest standard.
- Strong track record of secretariat support (experience of AGMs, preparing board packs, draft agendas, clear and concise minute taking, working with key stakeholders).
- Excellent IT skills (Microsoft 365: Teams, Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint) and experience with CRM/database systems.
- Take full responsibility and accountability for your own tasks, while seeking advice and assistance where necessary.
- Degree educated.
- You have the right to work in the UK.
Joining a team of talented and enthusiastic people you will get to work for one of Britain's most historical private members clubs, expect a great working environment, with excellent benefits.