Board Member

Board Member

Location: Lewes, East Sussex

Salary: £3,873.96 per annum

Job Type: Initial Term: Board members will be elected at the December 2024 board meeting. The initial term is three years, with an expectation that a second term of three years will follow.

The Board comprises people with strategic and governance experience who also have a wide range of specialist skills and interests in the field of work. Collectively, they oversee the governance of the organisation and are paid for their personal service.

The governance framework also incorporates three Board committees: Audit and Risk, People Pay and Culture, and Service Quality. New Board members will be expected to sit on at least one of these Committees.

The Role

The Board meets quarterly using a hybrid model: two remote meetings and two in-person meetings at the Head Office in Lewes, East Sussex. Meetings are held once a month (excluding August) in the mornings from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., either as a full Board or as separate Committees.

In addition, they have two in-person Away Days each year to review the performance of the organisation and to work with the C-Suite to set the strategy for the organisation in the year to come and to monitor progress. Members are expected to attend all scheduled meetings during the year.

Board Members are collectively responsible for:

• Providing strategic direction to the business
• Governing, balancing responsibilities, risks and opportunities
• Working alongside the C-Suite, giving advice and support
• Ensuring accountability

All Board Members share responsibility for:

• The vision, mission and objectives of the Association
• Strategic and long-term planning.
• Assessing risks to the business and ensuring strategies are in place to address them.
• Compliance with the Regulator of Social Housing Regulatory Framework which seeks to ensure a viable organisation which is well governed and well managed.
• Compliance with the Care Quality Commission Regulatory Framework.
• Compliance with the law and accepted standards of performance and probity.
• Compliance with the NHF Code of Governance (2015).
• Approving the Association Business Plan, budget and accounts.
• Overseeing the framework of internal control and delegation to Committees and the Executive.
• Taking key decisions.
• Monitoring the Association's performance in relation to the agreed plans, objectives, budgets etc.
• Setting a positive culture with strong customer focus.
• The effective working of the Board and its relationship with the Executive Team.
• Appointment and, when necessary, dismissal of the Chair and Vice Chair; and
• Supporting the internal strategy for the Board's own renewal and reviewing this regularly whenever there are risks or new work is planned.

Skills and Qualifications

Knowledge and Experience - Commercial/Finance role:

• Senior leadership experience in a commercial or financial role.

Knowledge and Experience - Equality Equity Diversity and Inclusion role:

• Knowledge and experience in implementing EDI strategies and championing diversity initiatives across organisations.

Knowledge and Experience - Service Delivery:

• Senior leadership experience of service delivery or contract management in a mental health, learning disability or CQC regulated area.

Regulatory Requirements:

Board Members need to meet the requirements of CQC's Regulation 5: to be a fit and proper person as a director. These include:

• Being of 'good character'.
• Having the required skills, experience and knowledge the role requires.
• Having the mental and physical fitness the role requires.
• No personal bankruptcy, sequestration or insolvency.
• Not appearing on any barred list or being prohibited from holding directorships under any other law.
• Not having been involved or complicit in any serious misconduct, mismanagement or failure of care in any CQC regulated activity.

Board members are also required to have a DBS check pre-appointment.

Time Commitment:

• Attendance at all Board meetings and Committee meetings (four Board meetings and three Committee meetings a year - approximately one-third online and two-thirds in-person in Lewes)
• Attendance at two Board strategy days each year in person in Lewes or the surrounding areas
• Able to commit sufficient time to Southdown business (approx. 3-6 hrs per month to include preparing for meetings, being visible in the business and liaising with C-Suite and other senior staff members)
• Participation in an annual individual appraisal meeting with the Board Chair

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for this reputable organisation, please click apply to complete your application.