Chair of governors volunteer roles in edinburgh
Use your expertise to shape education, influence communities, and grow as a leader. Roles available at colleges England.
Are you a business leader or corporate professional looking to make a meaningful impact outside the boardroom?
By becoming a volunteer governor at a further education (FE) or sixth form college, you’ll help shape the strategic direction of an organisation that transforms lives through education and skills—while strengthening your own governance experience and leadership credentials.
Why it’s relevant to professionals like you
Further Education colleges train over 1.6 million learners annually, preparing the skilled workforce that keeps our economy moving—from engineers and IT specialists to healthcare professionals and construction experts.
As a college governor, you’ll sit on the board of an FE institution (and registered charity), where your insight into strategy, risk, people, or finance will have a direct impact on how public funds are spent, how performance is measured, and how learners are supported to succeed.
This is an opportunity to:
- Apply your corporate skills in a charitable leadership role
- Gain board-level experience and enhance your CV
- Contribute to local economic growth and social mobility
- Support a vital sector during a time of transformation
What you’ll do
As part of a governing board, you’ll:
- Set strategic direction: Help define the college’s mission and goals
- Hold leadership to account: Monitor finances, performance, and outcomes
- Ensure governance excellence: Make decisions in the best interests of learners and stakeholders
- Act as a charity trustee: Ensure financial sustainability and legal compliance
You’ll also engage with senior leaders and external stakeholders, including local employers, regulators, and community partners.
Who we’re looking for
We welcome professionals from a broad range of sectors, including but not limited to:
- Finance, Audit & Risk
- HR, People & Culture
- Strategy, Transformation & Operations
- Technology, AI & Digital
- Legal, Governance & Compliance
- Marketing, PR & Communications
- Education, Apprenticeships or vocational courses
What matters most is your strategic thinking, commercial awareness, and commitment to helping others succeed.
Prior education experience is not required. Full induction and training are provided, with access to DfE-funded development and peer mentoring where needed.
Time commitment
Expect to give approximately 1–2 days per month, including:
- Attending board and committee meetings (in-person or remote)
- Reading papers and preparing questions
- Participating in training and occasional college visits
The time commitment is manageable alongside a full-time role—and many employers actively support staff to take on governance roles as part of their professional development.
Where you’ll be needed
Some colleges offer remote governance and meetings take place online. This may suit you best, or we may suggest a role where you volunteer on a hybrid basis at a college within a reasonable distance from you. We are recruiting governors for colleges across England, with new opportunities added regularly.
What’s in it for you?
· Enhance your board-level and governance experience
· Develop strategic oversight and leadership outside your day-to-day role
· Expand your professional network
·Give back in a way that creates long-term, measurable impact
· Gain exposure to the education, charity, and public sectors
Ready to step into a strategic, purpose-driven leadership role?
If you’re ready to bring your corporate insight to the education sector and help shape the future of skills, opportunity, and social mobility—we’d love to hear from you.
Apply now to become a volunteer college governor.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
As a member of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, the Trustee will have the expertise to ensure the strategic oversight of Foothold’s finances and to support appropriate decisions and good governance by the Board. This includes:
· overseeing and presenting budgets, management accounts and annual financial statements;
· providing advice and information to the Trustees on their financial responsibilities;
· leading in the Board’s duty to ensure that proper accounting records are kept and financial resources are properly managed, controlled and invested, in line with good governance, legal and regulatory requirements;
· acting as the link between the Trustees and the management on financial matters;
· keeping under review the effectiveness of all internal control systems, including financial operational and compliance controls;
· liaising through the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee with staff, including CEO and Head of Business and Volunteering and with Foothold’s accountants and independent auditor.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Our trustees are the people that have overall oversight of Foothold. They are not involved in running Foothold on a day-to-day basis as we have a team of staff and volunteers that do this. However, our board of trustees collectively make decisions about the approach the Foothold will take and its future direction. They make sure that, as an organisation, we have the policies and procedures we need to ensure we’re complying with our legal obligations. They provide support, ideas and constructive challenge to our staff team to test our thinking and help Foothold to achieve the best it can for our community members and demonstrate the difference that we make.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (the Institute or NIESR) is one of Britain’s leading independent policy and research institutes dedicated to understanding the economic and social forces that shape people’s lives.
NIESR has a long-standing reputation for accurate, authoritative analysis founded on excellent research, and for bringing its insights to bear on the issues of the day. As such, it acts to bring together an array of policymakers, academics, the media and other research institutes, and plays a pivotal role in both national and international policy debates.
We are seeking to appoint up to three trustees to join the Institute’s Council of Management and are seeking individuals with backgrounds in HR, leadership within an SME professional services context, or economic research.
Our Trustees are responsible for overseeing the management of the Institute, including approving strategy, operational plans and budgets, monitoring organisational performance, managing the Institute’s principal risks and ensuring the fulfilment of the Institute’s charitable objectives. The time commitment for a trustee is the equivalent of between half a day and a day a month. The role is not remunerated.
Full details of the role and responsibilities of a trustee can be found in our Trustee Candidate Pack attached.
The skills and experience that we are looking for are:
Experience
- An individual with senior HR expertise, preferably in a context where professional staff are the key asset of an organisation; OR
- Someone with leadership experience in a small-to-medium sized organisation, preferably within a professional services context and in an economics-related field; OR
- An internationally-renowned academic with research interests aligned to the work of the Institute.
Skills and abilities
- An understanding and appreciation of the work of NIESR and its importance to public policy.
- The ability to act with credibility and authority in the role as trustee, preferably with experience of working in a governance or board context.
- Fully able to commit to attendance of Council meetings and relevant sub-committee meetings.
- Objectivity, fairness, independence of mind, integrity, wisdom, discretion and good judgement.
- Strategic vision and the ability to focus on practical issues.
- Readiness to make and be accountable for decisions.
- A willingness to attend other NIESR events and engage with NIESR publications and output.
To apply
To apply for a trustee position at NIESR, please send:
- A tailored CV of no more than two pages; and
- A supporting statement of no more than one side of A4 setting out how you meet the skills and experience criteria outlined above.
Your statement should detail your relevant experience, ensuring it is aligned with the role description and person specification above, and providing specific evidence demonstrating how you meet the criteria. Your statement should also highlight your interest in the work of the Institute and your motivation for joining our Council of Management.
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our board to ensure the Institute benefits — at board level — from a broader range of perspectives, more creativity in generating ideas and solutions, and to improve decision-making. In addition to finding individuals with the specific skills outlined above, we would especially welcome applications from women, who are under-represented on our board.
Registered Charity
21 - 50
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.