Company Secretary
Citizens Advice Epsom and Ewell is seeking a trustee to act as Company Secretary. You will have ace administrative skills and feel passionate about helping local people who need advice, information and advocacy in the current challenging times. The Board needs assistance to carry out its duties effectively and legally to enable staff and volunteers to continue delivering a high quality service.
What will you do?
We are looking for a Company Secretary trustee who will:
- Maintain records legally required for a limited company and charity registered with the Charity Commission
- Ensure that all documents such as annual returns, accounts and trustee changes are filed with Companies House and the Charity Commission within the required deadlines
- Co-ordinate meetings of the Board of Trustees, book rooms, circulate papers and take minutes of the meetings
- Keep records and archive documents
- Keep a calendar of Citizens Advice and Board requirements such as insurance cover and trustee re-election dates and ensure these are covered at the right time
- Ensure that Board business and trustee appointments and resignations are in accordance with the law and Articles of Association
- Maintain a list of policies with review dates to be brought to the Board as required
- Help to organise the AGM, ensure legal requirements are met and manage communications with members
- Support the Chair and CEO with the annual strategic awayday
- Aid the Chair and CEO regarding possible mergers with other local Citizens Advice offices
- Lead on other governance projects, as required
Legal knowledge, company secretarial experience and/or a governance qualification (or working towards this) are desirable for this role.
What do you need to have?
You’ll need to:
- understand and agree with/accept the responsibilities and liabilities of trustees
- be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
- exercise good independent judgement
- demonstrate good leadership and inter-personal skills
- have good listening, verbal and written communication skills
- have good numeracy skills
- be able to think creatively
- be able to work effectively as part of a team
- be willing to follow the aims, principles and policies of Citizens Advice Epsom & Ewell including confidentiality and data protection
- be willing to undertake training in your role
- desirable: to support the Board with an interest and/or knowledge or experience in one of the following areas: finance and fundraising, mergers, influencing and stakeholder management, service delivery, social media
As a Trustee you will also need to work with all trustees and ensure that the board:
- guides and governs the service, shapes strategy and sets targets and evaluates the performance of the organisation
- monitors the financial position of charity ensuring it operates within its means and objectives, with clear lines of accountability for day to day financial management
- seeks the views of all sections of the community and monitors how well the service meets the needs of the local community
- ensures that the service plans for the recruitment and turnover of staff and volunteers
- reviews its performance and effectiveness including action for improvement
How much time do you need to give?
The trustee board usually meets in the daytime and you’ll need to spend between 10 and 15 hours per month of your time. Expenses will be reimbursed.
Valuing inclusion
Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people, and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
Interested?
If you’d like further information before applying, or an informal discussion with our Chair, please use our online form to express your interest. There is an option to submit your CV.