Cleaners Volunteer Roles

What does a Trustee look like?

Look in the mirror!

Right now, less than 3% of charity Trustees are under 30, 8% are people of colour and 36% are women. We are looking for people from across the UK and are keen to recruit trustees from all nations in the UK.

We value the many skills and experiences that you can bring to the Marine Conservation Society. We are committed to a Board culture that enables everyone to be their authentic selves and to enjoy the Trustee experience.

We believe that becoming a Trustee with us will be a rewarding journey for you – we want you to share your experience, your fresh perspectives, and we will listen to your views.

It’s a critical time for our ocean. There is not a moment to waste. Our goal is to recover the health of our ocean so it can help with healing our climate; to make seas protected in law to be protected in practice; and to stop the tide of plastic that’s getting into our waters.

Our Board needs people with a range of backgrounds, life stages, experiences, and skills who come together as a team to offer challenge and energy to one another, and to boost our ability to deliver for our ocean.

By joining as a Trustee, you will help navigate us through the risks and opportunities that we meet.

We want our organisation and Board to be reflective of our society. We recognise that we should all have the opportunity to take responsibility to protect our ocean for the future, so we are particularly interested in applications from groups which are typically under-represented on Boards. You can read our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement here.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are essential to achieving ocean recovery so everyone can expect to be treated with consideration and respect in an atmosphere without prejudice, discrimination, harassment or violence.

What we’re looking for 

We’re looking for people to join our Board with expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Finance – you might be a qualified accountant and have a background in finance and audit so that you can provide vital skills to help the Board oversee our financial management. An understanding of charity accounts and regulations would absolutely be an advantage. 

• Marketing & Communications – we want to reach new audiences to ensure a diverse and inclusive approach, and we are aiming to do that at scale. You may have experience of providing strategic support for increasing our reach and visibility. 

• Marine Conservation - you might have environmental knowledge, ideally on the marine environment, with policy and/or practical experience of conservation. A network of contacts across the marine sector, particularly with business or government, would be an advantage.

What you can bring to our Board can be just as interesting as where you’ve been working. You do not need to have previous charity trustee experience, but you will need to be comfortable participating at a senior level with complex discussions and the need to be comfortable making pragmatic but key decisions. 

Why join our board? 

Being a Trustee can be a challenge, but it’s also a brilliant opportunity for you to develop your skills, work as part of a team that shapes the direction of our charity in making tangible changes for the future of our ocean and planet. If you’re passionate about what we do, then you’ll feel the same excitement we have in making those changes happen. 

You don’t need to understand everything that we do or know the Latin names of fish, or in most cases, even to have experience of the charity sector. As a Trustee, you’ll develop your personal and professional knowledge, work on strategy and develop an approach to managing risk and broaden your influencing and negotiation skills in a new context. 

You’ll also gain insight and knowledge from your fellow Trustees, with everyone’s skills being recognised and valued. 

Trustees are volunteers, so the role is not paid but we will cover your costs for travelling and any overnight stays to attend meetings or events. 

Application and selection process 

We value the knowledge and experiences that you will bring to Marine Conservation Society, and they may have been developed in a range of ways, and by many routes.

We understand that the application process can be difficult if you have a condition or disability that you live with. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to shine during your application process, so please let us know what we can do to accommodate you.

Key dates 

Closing date: 31 May 2024 

1st Interviews June 2024 

2nd Interviews End of June/Early July 

Are you passionate about taking action on climate change, biodiversity loss and social equity?

Do you believe that it's possible to meet today's needs without compromising those of future generations?

If you combine these beliefs with leadership skills and governance experience, we want to hear from you. Our Board of Trustees needs you to help us put Sustainability First in the UK.

Who we are

We’re a small, highly regarded think-tank and charity that promotes practical, sustainable solutions to improve environmental, economic and social wellbeing.

What we do

Sustainability First works towards real environmental and social change. Primarily

focussed on the energy and water sectors, we:

• undertake research

• initiate policy discussions

• make complex issues accessible to the public

• promote under-represented voices

• develop solutions to influence Players in the sector

The opportunity

You will be joining Sustainability First at a critical time, when we are stepping up our ambition to drive change in the energy and water sectors in a way that benefits people and responds to the urgent need to transition to a more sustainable future. You will work collaboratively with our Executive Director in meeting our ambitions to scale our work, drive change across the sector and embed the representation of people into decision-making.

This will include six primary responsibilities:

1 Ensure that Sustainability First has a clear strategic direction aimed at fulfilling its charity objectives and that the Strategy is regularly reviewed.

2 Oversee the governance of the Charity with:

     a. an effective, diverse and relevant Board of Trustees.

     b. appropriate policies, processes & financial management such that the Charity operates within the law, in pursuit of its Strategy and demonstrating good practice.

     c. regular and effective liaison, reporting and oversight of the Executive Director, Company Secretary and, as necessary, staff and panel of experts in order to ensure effective and proportionate planning, use of resources, monitoring and reporting by the Board of Trustees.

3 Set the agenda for and chair Board meetings to ensure engagement of, and discussion amongst Trustees based on the best possible information, input from the Executive Director and team, leading to clear and accountable decision-making.

4 Appoint, support and manage the Executive Director on behalf of the Board.

5 Ensure that the charity has an income generation strategy which is monitored and actively supported by trustees and Chair, in order to achieve the Board’s stated objective to build resilience and capacity for Sustainability First to successfully fulfil its charitable objects.

6 Represent the charity externally as required.

Skills

After many years of service to our charity, our current Chair is retiring. At a time of opportunity and challenge for our organisation, we’re looking for someone with a proven track record of leadership at board level, ideally in the UK charity sector. Your experience of running and growing a small but impactful organisation in a professional or voluntary capacity will be crucial to the work of our Board, dedicated staff and expert associates.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, you will draw on your experience of collegiate collaboration, positive decision-making and effective problem-solving to help ensure funding, organisational excellence, and ultimately environmental and social change.

PERSON SPECIFICATION FOR CHAIR

The ideal candidate will have proven knowledge/ skills/ experience in the following areas:

• Governance and board experience (essential) and in a chairing or leadership role (desirable)
• *Demonstrable leadership skills consistent with Sustainability First’s values and charitable purpose (essential)
• *Ability to both manage and support the Board and Executive Director to help achieve the best outcomes (essential)
• Support the vision and mission of the charity (essential) with experience, networks and profile in one or more of our areas of operation (desirable)
• *Sufficient time and energy to fulfil the role (essential)
• A growth mindset* (essential) and income generation experience (desirable)
• *Experience of small organisations and their particular challenges in a professional or voluntary capacity (essential)
• Experience of working within the UK Charity Sector (desirable)

In addition to preparing for and chairing the Board, the Chair will be an ex officio member of all Board Panels, will line manage the Executive Director and will represent the charity externally as requested.

The commitment is likely to average around two days per month. The appointment is for an initial three-year term with the option to renew.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is 13th May. You can read our recruitment pack in full on our website. Please send a cover letter explaining your reasons for applying, the skills and experience you would bring to this role, and a copy of your CV plus a completed EDI Monitoring Form to our Company Secretary and Head of Finance, Claire Williams.