Chair of the Board of Trustees

ShareAction London United Kingdom Trustee
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Company Description

ShareAction

This is an exciting time to join a growing organisation already established as a leading voice in the responsible investment space, and to play your part in helping shape a fairer, healthier, more sustainable future. The global investment system has an oversized impact on challenges from the climate crisis and biodiversity loss to poverty and inequality. We want to make sure that impact is positive. At ShareAction we work with investors, policymakers and individuals to unleash the positive potential of the investment system. We aim to build a world where our financial system serves our planet and its people.

ShareAction is widely recognised as a thought leader in the field of responsible investment (RI). The organisation’s mission is to define the highest standards for responsible investment and to drive change until those standards are adopted worldwide.

Background and Role Purpose

ShareAction’s impact and profile have grown significantly in recent years as a result of delivering a number of bold campaigns to improve social and environmental performance in the corporate sector with the support of some of the world’s largest investors. The organisation continues to produce highly regarded research evaluating and publicly ranking global asset managers, banks, and insurers on their sustainability performance. ShareAction enjoys significant opportunities and needs visionary leadership from its Board of Trustees to realise those opportunities in the coming years.

The term of our current Chair ends in August 2023. We are therefore looking to appoint a new Chair to support ShareAction in delivering an ambitious new strategy and in championing its mission and values. The selected individual will be appointed in January 2023 to serve initially as Deputy Chair/Chair Designate, taking over as Chair of the Board of Trustees from August 2023.

ShareAction’s team and funding are growing rapidly. We are looking for a person with the ability to guide and support the organisation in the context of rapid internal and external change.

Our Board is composed of to up to ten Trustees. The Chair of Trustees is expected to:

  • Provide leadership and direction to the Board of Trustees

  • Facilitate the Board in undertaking efficient and effective discussions and decision making

  • Work in partnership with the CEO and the Leadership Team to help them deliver the overall mission of the organisation through annual business plans

  • Enable a strong relationship between the Board and the staff

Time Commitment

The Chair of the Board of Trustees is expected to be committed and engaged, devoting, on average, a minimum of 2/3 days per month, spread across different activities and requirements. More details available in the Recruitment Pack.

Recruitment Pack

For more information on the role and the organisation, you can download the attached Recruitment Pack.

Position

Key Responsibilities:

  • Chairing and attending regular meetings of the Board and its sub-committees (where appointed)

  • Contributing actively to and leading the Board in setting ShareAction’s strategic direction in line with its charitable objectives, in setting overall policies, and in evaluating the executive team’s performance against agreed plans

  • Ensuring that the organisation complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and all other relevant legislation and regulations

  • Ensuring that management and administration are undertaken responsibly

  • Ensuring that the organisation uses its resources well and exclusively in pursuance of its charitable objects

  • Acting in the best interests of ShareAction while exercising independent judgement

  • Safeguarding and protecting charity assets (investments, cash, intellectual property, staff and reputation) and ensuring the charity’s financial stability

  • Acting as an ambassador for ShareAction and using networks to promote its work and, where appropriate, to seek funding

  • Assessing and scrutinising Board papers, setting the agenda for Board meetings and contributing to the work of sub-committees

  • Representing ShareAction internally and externally as and when required

Requirements

Knowledge, skills and experience

Essential:

  • Commitment to and track record of demonstrating ShareAction’s values of courage, persistence, independence, inclusivity and respect for others

  • Experience of board governance in the charity or SME sector, ideally chairing a board or board committees

  • Deep understanding of responsible investment practice

  • Strong know-how of the international financial services sector

  • Working knowledge of how public policy is developed and financial supervision applied

  • Experience of stakeholder management, ideally including management of funder relationships

  • Interest in organisational design and development as well as management of a growing organisation

  • Willing to act as an ambassador and influencer on behalf of ShareAction, ideally tapping into a network in relevant sectors and fields of activity

  • Evidence of Diversity & Inclusion experience/achievements

  • Experience relevant to the mission of ShareAction and a willingness to champion its values

Expected:

  • Strong leadership, governance and change management experience

  • Firm and well-evidenced commitment to the aims and work of ShareAction

  • Collaborative and emotionally intelligent

  • Ability to lead a team and work as part of a team, in a culture of learning and change

  • Willingness to support, directly or indirectly, ShareAction’s fundraising and other income generation activities

  • Ability to think creatively

  • Assertive, willing to exercise independent judgment, while facilitating a balanced discussion where everyone involved feels free to speak up and has the opportunity to join in

  • Understanding, or willing to learn about, the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship

  • Willingness to support ShareAction’s executives and staff in their work as appropriate

  • Not be disqualified from being a trustee

  • Ability to make the time commitment to perform the functions of the role

Other information

Closing date for applications: 9am on Monday, 24 October 2022

Three rounds of interviews between November and December 2022:

  • First stage interviews with ShareAction Trustees
  • Second stage interviews with ShareAction’s Chief Executive and Leadership Team
  • Third stage interviews with ShareAction

Appointment date: 1 January 2023


ShareAction values and respects all differences in people (seen and unseen) and welcomes applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries. We are committed to having a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities and so if you are not 100 percent sure that you meet all the requirements but believe you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply and use the application questions to tell us about your experience and what you hope to bring to this role.

We have a London office and we actively encourage staff to work in ways that best suit their needs and our flexible working policy outlines many of the options available - such as part-time and term-time working, job sharing, home working and working compressed hours. Please talk to us at the interview about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

ShareAction’s London office is based in vibrant Bermondsey and a short walk from London Bridge underground and national rail. Remote working will remain the norm for many ShareAction staff as we continue to face the Covid-19 pandemic, with office space available as described in London for those who wish to use it.