Job description

Role purpose

To work with the Head of Governance and Company Secretary, and the Assistant Company Secretary, to provide administrative support with all arrangements for the Board and some of its Committees, and general meetings of the Charity and its subsidiaries including: attendance; preparation of agendas; collation and circulation of reports; taking accurate minutes; record keeping; disseminating actions; and drafting templates.

To provide administrative support to the Governance Team with key processes such as document signing, monitoring progress with internal audit recommendations, updating key Committee Reports, gifts and hospitality records, shared inbox management, collection and review of information for activity relating to the Chairty and its subsidiaries.

Main contacts

Internal contacts

• Head of Governance and Company Secretary
• Assistant Company Secretary
• Chief Financial Officer
• The Chief Executive
• Members of the Executive Leadership Team
• The Chair of Scope
• Trustees and Independent Committee Members
• Report authors (senior colleagues) across the organisation
• Members of the Executive Support Team
• IT support Team

External contacts

• Board and Committee Members
• Scope’s Members and the Assembly

Main responsibilities  

• Supporting, organising and attending well run and accessible Board and Committee meetings with agendas agreed, papers collated and distributed, and meetings managed.
• Taking minutes at Board and Committee meetings, preparing draft minutes after the meetings in a timely manner for approval, and reviewing minutes before distribution.
• Overseeing the implementation of technology solutions for in-person and hybrid meetings in the Here East office for use in Board and Committee meetings, coordinating with Technical Support Team and Executive Support team over set-up, testing and logistics support to ensure the technology used in meetings is working correctly and ready to use ahead of the meeting starting.
• Using and maintaining the annual Corporate Calendar and Forward Planner to meet critical Board and Committee deadlines, updating as needed, and generating timely actions, while also providing administrative support for forward planning processes to ensure forthcoming Committee business aligns with the Board’s work programme.
• Managing pre and post-meeting tasks for Committee and Board meetings, including reading Board and Committee Reports, recording meeting attendance, distributing post-meeting documents and actions, and maintaining Action Logs to track pending items.
• Working with the Chief Financial Officer to oversee the payment schedule of the internal audit including, chasing for updates from colleagues, saving and uploading evidence against risks, processing invoices, attending progress meetings and liaising with the internal audit company. Monitoring the progress made by colleagues with recommendations, and using the information to update key Committee Reports.
• Liaising with Trustees and Independent Committee Members to deliver their monthly Tuesday Broadcast Question and Answer session.
• Helping our Trustees and Independent Committee Members get set up on Concur to self-administer their expenses.
• Supporting with the signing process of key documents and adhering to a high level of confidentiality and data protection regulation at all times.
• Monitoring the gifts and hospitality notification inbox and record items reported on the register. Ensuring the register is reviewed annually.
• Providing cover for Governance team members when the need arises, to ensure continuity and consistency of governance support. Working seamlessly across department or team boundaries in a collaborative and constructive manner to implement Scope’s strategic direction.
• Demonstrating a commitment to customer service excellence and delivering against the requirements of Scope’s quality framework.
• Working within Scope’s policies, processes and procedures at all times. 

These duties may be added to or deleted from and may be subject to change.

Person specification

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• 2 years of experience providing secretariat support for Board and or Committees including agenda management, minute taking, maintaining records, resolutions, orders, and other Board-related documents.
• Experience of working with Board and Committee members on sensitive and confidential issues.
• Knowledge of the cycle of Board and Committee meetings and how that effects and dictates the pressure points, and understanding of the end to end process.
• Experience of working with a wide range of senior stakeholders.
• Understanding of corporate governance issues; for example, providing secretariat support for Committees, undertaking projects, taking forward issues and exposure to risk management and internal audit.
• Experience of working under the pressure of deadlines.
• Experience of performing responsible administrative work involving the use of independent judgment and personal initiative.
• Experience of working as part of a team and coordinating team activity.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Experience of IT skills covering standard applications such as MS Word, Teams, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and using office equipment including computers and supporting applications.
• Experience of using templates to draft reports.

Desirable

• Ability to use Microsoft Co-Pilot.
• Knowledge of charity regulation.
• Lived experience of disability.
• Understanding of the social model of disability.
• Understanding of accessibility.

Skills and competencies

Essential

• Builds and maintains effective internal and external relationships and resolves conflict where necessary. Comfortable working with those at a senior level; able to exercise tact and sensitivity and challenge constructively.
• Open to feedback.
• Ability to follow a process.
• Evidences meticulous attention to detail, but checking work is accurate.
• Ability to manage time and prioritise tasks, working flexibly, autonomously or within teams to challenging deadlines.
• Proactive problem-solving skills seeking to continuously improve ways of working.
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills - able to build trust and credibility.
• Ability to engage and communicate effectively, demonstrate sensitivity, and influence and negotiate with a range of stakeholders.
• Demonstrable collaboration, listening and communication skills with the ability to adapt to a diverse range of people and colleagues across levels of seniority.
• Logical, practical and structured approach.
• Maintains strong team ethic and culture of continuous improvement.

This role has the potential to develop into an Assistant Company Secretary position if the successful candidate can demonstrate they have the necessary skills during their time at Scope.