Find the full role profile here
Find the diversity monitoring form to be completed here

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THE ROLE

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Key duties:

•To lead the Board of trustees, ensuring the charity remains accountable, sustainable and highly impactful, working within our charitable objects and charity law;

•To contribute to the strategic direction of the charity;

•To support the directors to manage the organisation as effectively and efficiently as possible, including optimising the relationship between the Board and staff; •To hold the director team to account;

•To be an advocate for our charity, helping to raise our profile and attract new supporters.

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Term of office: Three years which can be extended for a second term.

Time commitment: You will need to attend four Board meetings per year, actively participate in the sub-groups of the Board as required and attend occasional all staff meetings as required. Additionally, the Chair will be expected to attend the annual residential and annual festive gathering. The Chair is also expected to have regular meetings with the Executive Director, represent the charity at selected events, and generally act as an ambassador for the charity. This will all amount to, on average, two days per month.

Remuneration: The post is voluntary, although travel and subsistence costs will be covered.

Closing date for applications: Monday 14th August 11:59pm

Informal conversation with existing Trustee: scheduled at your convenience weeks commencing 21 and 28 August

Interview dates: Tuesday 5th September and Wednesday 6th September

Preferred start date: The successful candidate will Chair their first Board meeting in December, with the view to having a gentle transition into the role and handover from the current Chair over the autumn, allowing the incoming Chair to get to know the staff team and other Trustees in that time.

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BACKGROUND AND GOVERNANCE

SOS-UK is registered charity that was founded by the students and staff at NUS in 2019 so they could go further and faster with their sustainability work in response to the climate emergency and ecological crisis.

Our three founding aims are:

•To get more students leading on, and learning about, sustainability;

•To weave sustainability through the formal education, like a golden thread;

•To make sustainability more inclusive, so it is for everybody

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We have four workstreams:

•Engagement and education programmes;

•Transformational campaigns;

•Professional development and training through our Learning Academy;

•And our research programme.

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You can read more about our amazing charity, incredible staff and transformational work on our website and by reading our latest impact report.

Our trustee board is made up of ten volunteers, a mix of experienced professionals and dedicated students. The trustees have responsibility for the governance of the charity, ensuring that it is run effectively and managed in accordance with our policies, charitable objects and charity law.

As our Chair, you will expertly lead the trustee board, supporting the trustees to shape and implement our strategy, ensuring we remain impactful and that we retain a positive culture.

Our trustees work closely with both the director team and our trade union representatives, as well as being accessible to all staff across the organisation. You will be passionate about tacking the climate emergency and ecological crisis and delivering climate justice, fit with our values and have a clear commitment to our aims.

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DIVERSITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

We’re totally committed to equality of opportunity for all. We welcome applications from individuals regardless of their age, disability, ethnicity, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.

At SOS-UK, our team is currently under-representative of people of colour, LGBTQIA+ people and disabled people. We strive to ensure we are representative and inclusive, so we particularly encourage you to apply if you represent these characteristics. We have an opt-in guaranteed interview scheme for candidates who declare a disability and/or are a person of colour and meet the essential criteria of the role profile.

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TO APPLY Please submit your cover letter, CV, and diversity monitoring form to jobs@sos-uk.org with the email title: “Chair Application – YOUR NAME”. Please download the diversity monitoring form here and attach to your email.

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