Job Details

Job Description:

Our client is a trustee body responsible for implementing and overseeing a new national scheme.

The Secretariat’s objectives include supporting the Chair, Trustee Members and Committee Chairs in their work to ensure that the body complies with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements, regulations and guidance. They work in partnership with the Risk and Compliance functions to help ensure effective decision making and accountability across the organisation. They are also responsible for ensuring that the body adopts and maintains exemplary standards of corporate governance, and engenders a robust corporate governance culture across the organisation. A large part of their function is providing support for internal executive committees and governance structures.

It now seeks to recruit an Interim Corporate Secretary, for at least 3 months. The role will involve both strategic and hands on work around the Secretariat function. Line management of the Secretariat is central to the role, ie line management of the five members of the Secretariat Team, including objective setting, development, technical support and the provision of day to day support and direction.

Key activities include:

Effective leadership and utilisation of the Secretariat Team to ensure that:
• a full Secretariat service is provided to the Trustee Member, Committee, Member and Employer Panels and Executive Team meetings (100+ meetings per annum). This includes leading the planning of meeting schedules and agenda, co-ordinating contributions from business areas, ensuring that high quality meeting papers are issued on time and that accurate and timely minutes are produced. It will also be necessary to take ownership for the planning and delivery of regular two-day offsite strategy meetings.

• the Secretariat contributes to and supports governance activities across the organisation, including ensuring that:

- the organisation will be considered to be an “exemplar of good governance” operating to the highest standards of practice applicable to occupational pension schemes and similar businesses

- best practice in governance and decision making is understood and engendered across the business

- there are good information flows into and across the various internal committees and between executives on all aspects related to corporate governance

- the organisation keeps up-to-date with corporate governance standards and best practice

• the organisation meets its responsibilities in respect of the Freedom of Information Act, including providing advice, guidance and quality assurance on responses.

• risks within the Secretariat are identified and actively managed as well as contributing to the overall management of the risks within the General Counsel directorate.

• the full range of Secretariat services are provided, including maintaining Registers, arranging Trustee indemnity insurance, processing expense claims, use of the Corporate Seal, maintaining the corporate governance section on the website and intranet

• organising and delivering Trustee Member on-going development and training including statutory trustee knowledge and understanding training


The successful candidate will have relevant formal qualifications, preferably at Fellowship level.

He/she will be able to demonstrate the following personal attributes:
• a highly motivated, astute and confident attitude to problem solving
• the tenacity to cope with a high workload in a fast paced and challenging environment
• the ability to think and operate at a strategic level as well as the ability to take a hands on approach to sharing the day to day workload (i.e. managing the service to the Trustee Member meetings)
• highly developed relationship building and stakeholder influencing skills
• strong planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage a varied workload and capable of meeting multiple deadlines
• an aptitude for discretion when handling sensitive and confidential information and able to exercise judgment where no precedent has been set
• a keen eye for detail and good knowledge of corporate governance principles
• first rate written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts and conclusions into language applicable to the target audience


This is a demanding role and it is therefore essentail that the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate previous experience in a company secretary role for a comparable and complex, high profile organisation.

Apply for this job:

For further information on this role or to apply, please contact:

• Deborah Kirkman -  020 7778 1606
• Sonya Rayner - 020 7778 1635
• Nicola McLean - 020 7778 1621