Chair of Trustees

We are working with Canine Partners, a registered charity that transforms the lives of people with physical disabilities by partnering them with assistance dogs. Their amazing dogs bring a greater independence and quality of life to their partners, offering security, companionship, and practical help with everyday household tasks. These life-changing dogs also provide psychological and social benefits including increased independence, confidence, social interaction, and self-esteem.

With the planned departure of the current Chair, the Board of Trustees are now seeking to appoint a new Chair of Trustees. The new Chair will foster an environment of consensus and collaboration, ensure Canine Partners' mission and vision is met and provide inclusive leadership to the Board of Trustees, ensuring that each trustee fulfils their duties and responsibilities for the effective governance of the charity. The Chair will also work in partnership with the Senior Leadership Team, helping them achieve their vision for the organisation, while serving as a line manager to the CEO.

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate:

• A strong and visible passion and commitment to the Charity, its strategic objectives and cause.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building abilities and be comfortable in an ambassadorial role.
• Experience operating at a senior strategic leadership level within an organisation, with a knowledge of charity governance and working with or as part of a Board of Trustees.
• Significant experience in chairing meetings and events.
• Broad knowledge and understanding of the Disability and/or Assistance Dog sectors.

The Chair is expected to attend quarterly Board meetings, the AGM and 1-2 strategy days per annum. The Chair can also participate in sub-committees. The Chair's time commitment is likely to be around 2 days a month. Trustees are elected to serve terms of three years with an expectation that they will service no more than 2 terms of three years (6 years in total), with the exception, that service as an Officer might over-ride this.

Canine Partners particularly welcomes applications from people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds who are currently under-represented within the organisation.

For more information, please contact Katherine Anderson-Scott, Associate Director, Charisma Charity Recruitment, or . Your expression of interest should be submitted through the Charisma website and include your CV and a supporting statement.

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or other category protected by law.

Should you require any support or adjustments during the application process, please contact Charisma who will be happy to discuss this with you.

Closing date: Sunday 2nd March 2025

Interviews with Canine Partners: w/c 10th and 24th March 2025

Charisma vetting interviews must be completed by lunchtime on Friday 7th March 2025, prior to shortlisting.

Internal candidates ONLY are requested to make their expressions of interest known by Friday 31st January 2025 for inclusion into the process.

Please note, this earlier closing date for internal candidates won't affect the governance of the overall campaign. All candidates will receive an equal opportunity to be considered for this role.