Company Secretary / Governance Lead

Part-time: 20 hours per week

Salary: Competitive plus excellent benefits package

Northampton

Are you an experienced governance professional who enjoys combining strategic influence with hands-on delivery? We are recruiting a Company Secretary to act as the Governance Lead for a well-established, member-owned financial services organisation. Following significant growth and change, the organisation is looking for someone to strengthen its governance framework, support the Board and help ensure decisions are informed, compliant and effectively followed through. Reporting to the Chair, you will work closely with Board members, the CEO and senior leadership team. This is a varied role combining strategic governance leadership with practical Board administration.

Key responsibilities:

• Review the current governance position and implement an improvement plan.
• Support compliance with relevant regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate Board meetings, including agendas, papers, minutes and action tracking.
• Keep meetings focused, productive and aligned with agreed priorities.
• Review and update policies and key governance documents.
• Coordinate Fit and Proper assessments and associated checks.
• Support Board recruitment, succession planning and onboarding.
• Arrange Board evaluations, peer reviews and development activity.
• Identify training needs and support an annual Board development plan.
• Work closely with senior stakeholders on governance and regulatory matters.

About you:

You will be a credible, organised and confident governance professional who can build strong relationships while offering constructive challenge and influence.

We would like you to bring:

• Experience and qualifications in governance or company secretarial work in a regulated environment.
• Experience supporting Boards or senior leadership teams.
• Strong knowledge of governance and regulatory frameworks.
• Excellent written communication and attention to detail.
• The ability to interpret legislation and guidance.
• Confidence influencing senior stakeholders.
• Strong planning, organisation and Microsoft Office skills.
• Experience within financial services, insurance, pensions, mutuals, membership bodies or another regulated organisation would be particularly relevant.
• Direct sector experience and governance qualifications would be advantageous, but are not essential.

Working arrangements: The role is 20 hours per week with some flexibility around working patterns. Attendance is required at a monthly Saturday afternoon Board meeting, alternating between in-person and online.

To apply, please submit your CV, we look forward to hearing from you.

Please note, should your application reach interview stage, the personal information collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found by https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn