Head of Governor and Membership Office

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Joining #TeamNELFT means you'll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We're CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

The Head of Governor and Membership Office will work closely with the Chair, Chief Executive Officer, the Board of Directors, the Council of Governors, and senior staff by developing mutual respect and building constructive and trusting relationships - and at times using refined negotiation and interpersonal skills, particularly in respect of any contentious and/or sensitive information being discussed.

In conjunction with the Chair, the post holder will provide support to the lead and deputy lead governors in discharging their responsibilities, ensuring good working relationships are developed and maintained.

Main duties of the job

In addition to the above, the Head of Governor and Membership Office will serve as an ambassador for the Trust, positively representing the organisation as an authoritative key contact and point for action for national/local organisations and individuals.

The post holder will provide advice and pastoral support to members of the Council of Governors to allow them to best fulfil their role, including supporting governors in translating regulatory requirements into meaningful ways to deliver their responsibilities and ensuring an appropriate focus on strategic matters rather than operational detail.

The postholder will ensure that meetings of the Council of Governors and committees thereof run in accordance with the regulatory framework, and that council members receive appropriate guidance and support in their operation.

The postholder will provide a comprehensive management service for the Trust's membership, including the development of plans and strategies for membership recruitment and engagement.

Working for our organisation

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focussing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

High Cost Area Supplement

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,313 to a maximum of £5,436).

COVID-19 Vaccination

We continue to encourage all staff to ensure that they have been double vaccinated and received their booster. We recognise that taking the vaccine provides the best defence against COVID 19 for our patients, our staff and their families.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application.

We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Any development needs to help you succeed in the role, can be discussed at the interview stage.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to Master's Degree level or other post-graduate qualification, or equivalent by virtue of experience

Experience

Essential criteria

• Extensive experience of communicating with and persuading a variety of stakeholders to plan, manage, and collaborate including across different organisations
• Extensive experience of building confidence and positive relationships, and engaging and negotiating with stakeholders, including in senior positions

Desirable criteria

• Lived experience as a governor or member of an NHS Foundation Trust
• Experience of operating at Board/committee level

Skills

Essential criteria

• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to be clear and persuasive in speech and in writing. Able to produce high quality and coherent reports and materials in a range of media
• Able to present complex, sensitive, and/or contentious information to a variety of groups including large groups and at Board level
• Able to demonstrate excellent persuasive, empathetic, and influencing skills as well as a strong commitment to partnership working

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Strong analytical and critical reasoning skills and capable of making informed decisions and judgements under pressure and/or where no obvious solution exists

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

• A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a 'Top 10 Family Friendly Employer' from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.

Supporting our Armed Forces

We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans. reservists and military spouses and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.

Equal opportunities employer

We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.

We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities. If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on or email .

Correspondence with us

You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.

In the event of a high number of responses to any advert, NELFT reserves the right to close the vacancy early. If you do not hear from us within three weeks of the closing date then please assume you have not been successful on this occasion.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Documents to download

• JD and person spec - Head of Governor and Membership Office (PDF, 488.4KB)
• NELFT Application - Hints and Tips (PDF, 38.4KB)