Assistant Company Secretary

JOB TITLE - Assistant Company Secretary CAREER DEVELOPMENT PATH - managing or being an expert (RL3) REPORTING TO - Head of Secretariat

Role Purpose

The Assistant Company Secretary will support the Group Company Secretary and Deputy Company Secretary in providing the full range of company secretarial & governance services to the Group.
- management of the Group's Executive Committee governance and associated meetings.
- ongoing management of the Group's subsidiary companies (including regulated companies);
The role will be responsible for providing advice to, and be in regular liaison with Directors, meeting support, drafting minutes and ensuring statutory records are maintained whilst working with committee chairs, members and other stakeholders to supportthe embedding of HL's governance framework.

You will proactively look to emerging best practice to deliver high quality support, actively managing the expectations of senior leaders and communicating with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. You will also provide ad -hoc support forthe Group Company Secretary and Deputy Company Secretary in respect of listed company secretarial work.

Accountabilities

The role holder will support the wider team in delivering a full company secretarial & governance service to the Group, including subsidiaries. This will include:

- Close liaison with Chairs, Board / Committee members and business partners on all aspects of effective decision making
- Assisting with assessing technical and soft skills training needs for Board / Committee members and looking for ways and collaborating with the business to enhance the governance journey
- Assisting with the collation, production and distribution of Board and Committee papers in both electronic and paper form
- looking for ways in which to proactively improve the service offered by the Secretariat team to provide a best in class service toits stakeholders
- Primary involvement with the production, approval and filing of the subsidiary company Annual Report and Accounts
- Supporting internal Group transactions (eg capital injections and dividends)
- Ensuring appropriate controls are in place and actively managed particularly with regards to compliance with Market Abuse Regulation (MAR)
- Assisting with the organisation of the Group's Annual General Meeting (AGM)Releasing Regulatory News Service (RNS) announcements to the market
- Maintaining UK statutory company records, making filings to Companies House ensuring all information held is correct and filings are made in a timely manner-this will require an excellent understanding of current legal requirements and also the abilityto horizon scan for impending changes and proactively looking for efficient ways to implement any changes, responding to change positively and constructively
- Maintaining Company Secretariat records using both physical and electronic filing systems including Diligent Entities (formerly Blueprint)
- Preparing minutes of subsidiary company Board and Committee meetings to a consistently high quality as required

Key skills & experience
- Experience of managing subsidiaries (if interested in subsidiary focused role)
- Knowledge of Companies Act, UK Listing Rules and UK Corporate Governance Code and working with Companies House and the Financial Conduct Authority
- Experience of working in a listed environment
- Experience of working in financial services, or another regulated industry
- Excellent IT, written and verbal communication skills - with the ability to adapt to situations and individual's preferences
- Experience of supporting Committees / Boards and taking minutes
- Ability to work in a team or alone and effectively collaborating throughout the business, plus the ability to self-manage competing workloads & effectively prioritise
- Problem solving skills - with the ability to use own experience to develop innovative solutions and resolve complex issues
- Regularly looking to continually improve own, and wider team's performance actively promoting change and continuous improvement.
- A willingness to learn as well as contribute - be able to provide constructively challenge and be open to challenge - responding positively
- Proactive and positive, looking for how to develop team and self - actively seeking out how to add value
- ICSA qualified or an interest in studying