Leadership & Governance Assistant

**Starting Salary: £30,354 - £31,878 p.a**
**Location: Romero House, London**

**Job Profile**
The L&G Assistant provides high quality administrative support to the Leadership & Governance roles across CAFOD, including the Executive Director and other Directors. The assistant will also work closely with the Organisational Governance and Performance team supporting a range of shared tasks.
The post reports to the Leadership & Governance Officer but will work closely with the Head of Organisational Governance and Performance and the Directors. This role is key to following the detail of everyday tasks as well as thinking and planning ahead for the Executive and Board.
The Assistant is also an important point of contact for staff and volunteers and for external stakeholders in contacting the Director.
The role will also ensure CAFOD’s relationships with senior Church stakeholders are well managed and coordinated.
**Key Responsibilities**
- Under the guidance of the L&G Officer, this postholder ensures that Executive and Board meetings are well coordinated, with all papers provided and high-quality minutes taken.
- This involves supporting the L&G Officer in scheduling meetings, drafting agendas and ensuring minutes and follow up actions are monitored.
- Supporting the L&G Officer in planning the schedule of meetings, ensuring the arrangement of input and practical details; this may involve doing some research into governance issues and best practice.
- To ensure internal and external working relationships, speaking events and meetings involving the Executive Director are well planned and coordinated.
- To organise and maintain the Director’s diary and meeting arrangements, to ensure the Director is well briefed by providing appropriate papers and information for both internal and external meetings managing the input from the appropriate specialists within CAFOD.
- To support the management of flow of papers and documents through the Exec Director’s office, ensuring the effective management of actions.
- To facilitate good communications between the Directors with staff and volunteers, face-to-face and via CAFOD’s intranet. Providing support in preparing blogs, articles and other corporate messages.
- To provide practical support for any Board or Executive events, hosting and coordination, drawing on volunteers from across the organisation.
- In collaboration with the Leadership and Governance Officer, develop and maintain the Performance and Governance SharePoint site, ensuring that documentation and performance information is easily accessible. Provide guidance and coaching in the use of on-line tools as necessary.
- To ensure relationships are in place with senior stakeholders (Bishops, Bishops’ Conference and Nuncio), monitoring any relevant announcements from the Catholic Bishops Conference and maintaining up to date contact details. Acting as a source of information on such matters for the organisation.
- The Performance and Governance team share the following tasks:

- Act as a point of enquiry for internal information, taking external calls when appropriate, and ensuring requests for information are followed up.
- Maintain and develop filing, retention and archive systems for the Directors/Trustees
- Provide hospitality for the Director’s external meetings, and key visitors.
- Provide cover for each other as necessary.
- When necessary, help with external mailings to the Board and other key stakeholders.

**Safeguarding for Children and Vulnerable Adults**

**Person Specification/ Essential Criteria**:

- Working together_
- Managing ourselves: Can organise self, processes and people, especially when under pressure
- Managing ourselves: Recognise what needs to be done and takes action to deal with it.
- Working with others: Supports others to make decisions and achieve results
- Communicating: Can succinctly and accurately summarise discussions both verbally and in writing
- Making change happen_
- Managing Resources: Looks out for the cost-effective options seeking the best value for CAFOD.
- Achieving results: Has a clear sense of purpose and priorities and can focus on achieving agreed outcomes
- Managing our performance: Is able to ask for help and seeks support for own development.
- Understanding CAFOD_
- Understanding Catholic identity: Demonstrating an understanding how our work with the Catholic Community enables us to further our Vision and Mission
- Understanding CAFOD: Can describe and communicate what is distinctive about CAFOD as a Catholic development agency and how this supports us to achieve our Vision and Mission

Job-specific competencies
- Excellent written communication skills, with an eye for detail and proven ability to write clearly, concisely online and offline.
- Ability to build rapport, in order to deal amicably with people at all levels both inside and outside CAFOD
- Thinks ahead and plans work to avoid pile-ups during the busiest times.
- Displays sound judge