Company Secretary

NPL plays a unique role in advancing science and engineering for the benefit of the UK. Join our leadership team to ensure that strong governance and full compliance continue to provide an essential foundation for our work.

You will take responsibility for the effective running of the secretariat for NPL Management Limited and for ensuring compliance with all relevant governance legislation and best practice.

This will involve expected Company Secretary duties around governance such as maintaining the company’s statutory books, filing annual returns and statements and managing the delivery of NPL Board meetings and committee meetings.

You will also be an ambassador for NPL with an important external relations role. You will build and maintain customer and stakeholder relationships that support NPL’s ability to sustainably deliver its mission and strengthen its reputation. It will be particularly crucial to develop a trusted working relationship with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the shareholding team, and to support NPL’s Non-Executive Board members.

It will be an influential position, as we want you to be a visible leader and champion of improvement and good practice.

You will also lead on the maturity of NPL’s Risk Policy and practices at both strategic and directorate level, including holding the Executive team to account on Risk and Audit issues. We also want you to build the sense of community in the secretariat function across NPL to share best practice and expertise and improve standards and consistency of corporate governance.

**We are offering **this role as either a 4 or 3 day** per week role**.**

We are now working in a hybrid way, with a mix of remote and office working. We strive to offer a great work life balance - if you are looking for flexible options, we will try to make this work where business possible.

We are looking for an experienced Assistant Company Secretary, Deputy Company Secretary or a qualified Chartered Company Secretary who will thrive within a mission-led organisation - experience within the science, technology or engineering sectors is not a requirement. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain valuable experience working in an exciting role within NPL's Executive Management team.

You will need exceptional interpersonal and communication skills to work autonomously with the NPL Board and ensure that employees and partners are excited by, engaged with and focused on successful delivery to maximise impact & growth.

Desirable qualifications

**Be a member of any of the following**:

- One of the recognised Institutes of Chartered Accountants in the UK
- The Chartered Governance Institute
- The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
- The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting

**Or**:

- Have held the office of company secretary of a public company
- Be a barrister, advocate or solicitor called or admitted in any part of the UK

**Including**
- Strong administrative skills and an aptitude for using IT software
- A comprehensive grasp of corporate governance issues
- A diplomatic approach and the confidence to support senior stakeholders and board members
- Commercial awareness
- Meticulous attention to detail
- Influencing skills
- Excellent organisation and time management #
- The ability to take the initiative and willingness to learn
- A flexible and practical approach to work
- Discretion and diplomacy

NPL offers competitive rewards and benefits. Flexible working and social activities are embedded in our culture to creative a positive work-life balance. Please see our careers website for more information.

**We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our work in specific departments means that nationality, residency and security requirements can be more tightly defined than others. You will be asked about this throughout the recruitment process.**

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that provides cutting-edge measurement science, engineering and technology to underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK.

At NPL, we believe our success is a result of the diversity and talent of our people. We strive to nurture and respect individuals to ensure everyone feels valued by treating everyone on the basis of their own individual merits and abilities regardless of their own or perceived identity, as part of our commitment to diversity & inclusion, we hold memberships and accreditations to ensure we’re creating an environment where all our colleagues feel supported and welcome, please see our Diversity & Inclusion page.

We are committed to the health and well-being of our employees. Flexible working and social activities are embedded in our culture to create a positive work-life balance, along with a broad range of benefits. Our values are at the heart of what we do, and they shape the way we interact, develop our people and celebrate succes