At a glance

Skills

Business development / Sales
Fundraising events
Fundraising strategy
Governance
Strategic development and planning

Where

London, EC1M 4AR

Remote opportunity

Time

Mostly during office hours Estimate of time needed:
0-5 hours / month, 1-3 hours / week, 3-7 hours / week or 7-15 hours / week

Deadline

31 Jan 2025

Visitors from Fifth Day

Welcome to Reach Volunteering. We are a community and registered charity that connects people, skills and good causes.

To apply for this role, and any other on our platform, you need to be based in the UK, have at least three years of experience using the skills you wish to volunteer in a professional capacity or have lived experience (for trustee roles). Read more about our criteria.

Save the Children UK has an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic individual with a background in international development expertise to join our Board of Trustees.

What will you be doing?

About Us

Save the Children UK believes every child deserves a future. In the UK and around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children's unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach.

About the role

Trustees of Save the Children UK (SCUK) play a unique role in delivery of our mission. They are collectively responsible for the governance of the organisation and for all decisions made by the Board. They set the strategic direction for the organisation, ensuring alignment to our values, and are responsible for setting organisational policy, defining targets, agreeing the financial plan, evaluating performance, and ensuring that strong relationships are maintained between the Trustees and the Executives.

As a Trustee of SCUK, you will:

Act in SCUK's best interests, ensuring the charity complies with its governance responsibilities, charity law, company law and other relevant legislation or regulations, and ensure the effective management of resources and of risk.
Provide support and constructive challenge to the Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team to ensure the delivery of SCUK's mission and implementation of its strategic plan.
Bring personal experience and professional expertise to the Board; contribute to key strategic debates within the organisation and to specific departmental and cross-team initiatives; and help to strengthen Board governance.
Help ensure that SCUK continues to maintain the highest safeguarding standards in line with legislation, statutory guidance and best practice, and organisation policy and procedure.
Ensure that safeguarding remains embedded in the culture of SCUK encouraging a safer environment for those we serve, our staff and volunteers.
Attend quarterly Board meetings at SCUK's Head Office in Farringdon, London as well as any ad hoc Board meetings that arise.
Represent SCUK at key functions, including fundraising and profile-raising events.

What are we looking for?

We are seeking to recruit a Trustee who:

Is engaged with, and excited by, SCUK's vision, mission and values.
Will work to guarantee the highest standards of integrity and governance and help ensure statutory requirements are met.
Has robust knowledge of international development and the INGO sector.
A strong understanding of the contexts within which SCUK works, with an appreciation of and strong interest in international affairs.
Has experience of working in the Global South.
Will champion shifting the power to children, communities and local partners within SCUK's structures, and as a part of the global Save the Children Movement.
Is willing to devote the necessary time to the role. Trustees are required to attend all Board meetings (four Board meetings and one or more Board calls per year) and quarterly Audit & Risk Committee meetings (you may be asked to join another Board Committee or take on another role (e.g. Whistleblowing Trustee)). Trustees may also be asked to participate in Board strategy days, telephone conferences, or travel on behalf of SCUK.
Has an understand of, or a willingness to learn about, the duties, liabilities and responsibilities of Trustees, and of the difference between governance and management functions.
Has a demonstrable commitment to championing diversity and inclusion, and a clear understanding of power, privilege, and how this affects everyone, particularly the children and communities.

Highly desirable capabilities:

Collaborative, with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Strategic thinker
Experience in the technology sector, digital development and innovation.
Willingness to build networks to make introductions for Save the Children UK, for example to facilitate fundraising, or advocacy and campaigning.
An understanding of corporate governance issues, especially those that might affect a large international not-for-profit organisation.

The knowledge and skills listed above represent “the ideal candidate”. Please do not be deterred from applying if you do not fulfil every highly desirable capability. We warmly welcome applications from people who have not served as Trustees before. To ensure our Board of Trustees represents the wider society we serve, we encourage applications from candidates based in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and regions of England outside

What difference will you make?

In particular, as a Trustee with expertise in international development, you will:

Bring knowledge and experience of international development including the INGO sector.
Bring a strong understanding of the contexts in which Save the Children works.
Use your experience to help drive SCUK's goal to advance children's rights by working alongside and building the power of children, communities and local partners.
Champion a focus on driving sustainable impact at scale.
Champion SCUK's ambitions to shift power and resources to communities, local organisations and champion local leadership.
Become a Member of the Audit & Risk Committee, which considers both external and internal audits, and advises the Board on financial control, risk management and organisational effectiveness.

Before you apply

Terms of Appointment:

This is a voluntary position, but reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.

Trustees are appointed for an initial term of 2 years, after which Trustees can be reappointed for two further terms of 3 years each, up to a maximum of 8 years.

To apply, please contact us via the Reach platform.

Closing Date: Friday 31st January 2025

About Save the Children UK

Causes

Children / families

Organisation type:

Charity

We are Save the Children, the leading independent children’s organisation. We believe that every child is full of potential, and work to help them have a fair chance in life, changing the future...

Trustee - International Development Expertise