JOB TITLE: Governance & Compliance Officer

Part 1: JOB PROFILE DEPARTMENT: Finance & Infrastructure

WORKING BASE: Samaritans’ General Office, Ewell, Surrey

LAST UPDATED: January 2011

1. MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB

 To provide proactive and on demand support to branches on legal, compliance, governance and Custodian Trustee matters.  To maintain Central Charity records for Custodian Trustee and other branch related governance areas.  To provide support in Company Secretarial issues.

2. POSITION IN ORGANISATION

 Reports into Planning Manager.  Works closely with Assistant to Director of Finance & infrastructure.  Works collaboratively and supportively with Branch Directors/Chairs (Chairmen/ Secretaries in Scotland) of branches.

3. SCOPE OF JOB

 Development of relationships and provision of first line of support to branches.  Maintenance of registers, records and other data to enable the Central Charity’s support of branches.  Statutory compliance.  General duties of a Samaritan’s staff member.

4. DIMENSIONS AND LIMITS OF AUTHORITY

 To provide advice on G&C matters, or having discerned a more appropriate internal provider, actively engage to ensure a high quality, responsive service to branches.  To ensure that Central Charity records in areas such as Custodian Trusteeship are kept up to date and to provide senior management with regular reports as to status.  To engage external experts/advice within delegated authority parameters.

5. QUALIFICATIONS

 Educated to A Level standard or equivalent  Would suit someone with experience in any of the following volunteer roles: Director (Chairman in Scotland), Committee Chair (Secretary in Scotland), Regional Representative, Visitor, Committee Member.

1 6. SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE

 Experience of providing support within a federated model of governance.  Demonstrable experience of providing technical/intricate advice to individuals who may not have professional experience in such areas.  Demonstrable experience to manage work in a changing environment and to ensure delivery of service.  High level of administrative competence, maintaining, improving and interrogation of complex and expansive records.  Excellent interpersonal skills.  Experience of working with volunteers.  The job description will be subject to periodic review with the post-holder to ensure it accurately reflects the duties of the job.

PREFERRED

 Understanding of Samaritans organisation and empathy with branch service delivery.  Previous experience in a Not-For-Profit Sector organisation.  Experience of working successfully as a team member.  Experience of committee work.

7. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

 High level of trust, integrity and commitment.  Strong personal drive and “can do” attitude.  Confident administrator and aptitude for detail.  An ambassadorial approach to owning a branch’s issue and ensuring an effective Central Charity response.

2 Part 2: DUTIES & KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Development of relationships and provision of advice

 To help build and maintain the Central Charity’s reputation, particularly with Samaritan branches, Regional/National officers, with regard to G&C matters.  To provide assistance with Branch issues in relation to their constitutional, insurance, building, health & safety issues, etc.  To provide timely response to queries on such matters from branches, seeking advice as necessary, but personally answering the majority of routine matters.  Maintaining an FAQ area of the intranet for branches’ reference.

Maintenance of Registers, etc

 To ensure that records are maintained and updated with regards to legal branch matters, e.g. lease/deeds, constitutions, insurance etc.  To keep all direct and associated records and maintain data on Trustees, Directors (Chairmen in Scotland), and Regional Officers.

Statutory compliance

 To assist in compliance by Samaritans with its Memorandum and Articles of Association, with statutory reporting and filing requirements to Companies House, the Charities Commission and similar organisations.  To assist in the administration of Trustee recruitment.  To maintain a register of contractual commitments, renewal dates, etc.

Reporting

 To provide regular management information on volume, and nature of branch queries, drawing management attention to potential needs for alterations to model documents or policies.  To produce by exception reports for regular management review of matters such as branch insurance arrangements, constitutional discrepancies, etc.

General duties of a Samaritans’ staff member

 Contribute to the effective and efficient running of the General Office as appropriate.  Participate, as appropriate, in staff forums and meetings.  Adhere to all Samaritans’ Polices and Procedures.  Represent the General Office appropriately across the organisation and Samaritans to the wider community as appropriate.  Treat all colleagues, volunteers and members of the public with dignity and work within and adhere to Samaritans’ equal opportunities statement and polices.  Carry out any reasonable requests made that are within the broad remit of the role.

This job description is a statement of requirements at the time of writing and is not contractual. It should not be seen as precluding future changes after appointment to this role.