Chairman - Headway Surrey

Title: Chairman

Hours: Minimum of 2 days per month

**Salary**: Voluntary

Location: Surrey

**Overall**:

- Provides leadership and direction to the Board of Trustees enabling the Board to fulfil their responsibilities for the overall governance and strategic direction of the Trust to enable it to fulfil its purpose.
- Ensures that Headway Surrey pursues its objects as defined in its governing document, charity law and complies with other relevant legislation/regulations.
- To ensure an effective relationship between the Board, FinCom, Joint CEOs and staff, as well as the Board and the external stakeholders/community including clients and volunteers
- Acting as a spokesperson and figurehead at events as appropriate, representing Headway Surrey.
- To work in partnership with the Joint CEOs, helping them achieve the aims of Headway Surrey and to optimise the relationship between the Board of Trustees and the staff.

**Qualities**:

- A willingness to lead the charity, active interest and commitment to the work of Headway Surrey and a desire to effect positive change in the community.
- A willingness to devote time to carry out responsibilities.
- Understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of Trusteeship and adhering to Nolan’s seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
- Balancing tact, diplomacy and persuasive skills with willingness to challenge and constructively criticise.
- Possesses relevant knowledge and commits to regular training and development to support the role.
- Has the relevant skills to run a meeting well, ensuring decisions are taken in a timely fashion with all stakeholders fully involved.
- Committed to supporting all trustees to ensure they are operating effectively individually and as a Board.
- Requires experience as a Chair, Non-Executive Director or Trustee
- Requires Senior management and leadership experience with emphasis on strategy, governance, finance, HR, or fundraising.
- Good communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to respect the confidences of colleagues.

**Time Commitment**:

- The overall time commitment is difficult to fully define, but it is likely to be a minimum of 2 days a month, the Board meets at least six times a year, with attendance at Finance Committee meetings (monthly) as required, mainly on Zoom.
- It is important that the Chair is available to the Joint CEO on a regular basis and is able visit the organisation’s offices as and when required.
- In addition to Board Meetings, other contact - usually electronic or by telephone - will be necessary.
- The Chair role is for 4-year term of office and provided with a comprehensive induction and support programme.

**Specific Role**:
**1. Strategy - big picture, direction, and values**:

- Work with the Joint CEOs to ensure that HS has a 3-5-year business strategy in place, has current values, and that all work programmes tie into the strategic direction of the charity.
- Ensure development of organisational policies, goals, targets and evaluation of performance against agreed targets.
- Liaise regularly with the Treasurer to maintain a clear grasp of the charity’s financial position and to ensure full and timely financial transparency and information disclosure to the Board.
- Ensure adherence and compliance around key policies to e.g. Equality of Opportunity, Health & Safety and in all decisions and discussions of the Board and its sub-committees.
- Attend and be a member of other committees or working groups when appropriate in role as Chair e.g. FinCom.

**2. stop - when the unexpected happens**:

- In conjunction with Trustees, responsible for making arrangements to deal with emergency situations e.g. where restructuring is required, where long-term staff sickness is an issue or where a disciplinary situation arises. The Chairman’s role in these types of situation is to support the Board and Joint CEOs in making decisions. A Chair’s key role is to pick up the pieces when, for whatever reason, things go wrong.

**3. Pre-digester & Sounding board - for ideas and developments**:

- Plan and prepare the Board meetings and AGM with Joint CEOs as appropriate. Be available to Joint CEOs to discuss and refine ideas and developments that staff are thinking about and to give feed
- , support and wise counsel at an early stage.

**4. Scrutineer in chief - help the board hold staff to account**: Part of the nitty-gritty of board work is to hold staff to account - are they doing what they said they would do? - What is going right? What is going wrong? What plans are being made for things that might go wrong? Many boards have a wealth of wisdom, and it is part of the Chair’s job to try and harness that wisdom to improve the plans and activities of the organisation. Even the most qualified of boards may be unable to predict what might go wrong or put plans
- on track. Spotting prob