5 Governance manager jobs

The Charity Governance Secretariat Manager is a full-time hybrid role based in Letchworth, with the flexibility to work from home for part of the week. The role involves managing governance processes for charity clients, including coordinating board and committee meetings, preparing agendas and papers, maintaining accurate records and minutes, and tracking actions to completion. The manager will ensure compliance with charity regulations and best practice, oversee key governance documents and policies, and support trustees and senior leaders with timely information and guidance. Day-to-day responsibilities include liaising with stakeholders, organizing meeting logistics for both digital and physical events, maintaining governance calendars, and supporting the continuous improvement of governance procedures. The role also requires close collaboration with internal teams to align governance activities with overall event delivery and client expectations.

Qualifications

• Experience in charity governance or company secretariat functions, including organizing board and committee meetings, preparing papers, and recording minutes.
• Strong administrative and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines, maintain accurate records, and coordinate complex schedules.
• Knowledge of charity law, governance frameworks, and regulatory requirements (e.g., Charity Commission guidance), or a willingness to develop this expertise.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with attention to detail and the ability to produce clear, concise, and accurate documentation.
• Proficiency with digital tools and platforms used for meetings and events (e.g., videoconferencing tools, document management systems, office productivity software).
• Ability to build effective relationships with trustees, senior leaders, and external stakeholders, demonstrating discretion and professionalism.
• Experience in or exposure to healthcare, medical meetings, or non-profit sectors is beneficial.
• Relevant professional qualification or degree in a related field (e.g., governance, law, business, public administration) is desirable but not essential.

About The Role

Would you like to put your governance expertise to work supporting a charity that makes a difference to the Armed Forces community?

We are looking for a Governance Manager for a 6-month fixed term contract, to help keep effective decision-making at the heart of the Royal British Legion. Working closely with our Senior Governance Manager, you will provide high-quality secretariat support to committees, sub-committees and UK and overseas subsidiaries, helping ensure they have the information, coordination and support they need.

Come and be part of the leading Armed Forces charity, making a difference to the lives of those who have served to keep us safe and protect our way of life.

As Governance Manager, you will take ownership of the full meeting cycle for your allocated committees, building effective relationships with Chairs, Trustees and Executive Directors. Your work will include:

• Planning meeting agendas and forward calendars, coordinating papers and ensuring reports are accurate, consistent and delivered on time.
• Attending meetings, producing clear and meaningful minutes, and working with action owners to track progress.
• Maintaining committee records and papers on our board platform, Diligent, ensuring information is well organised and handled confidentially.
• Supporting national elections and the governance of RBL’s Annual Conference, alongside projects and cross-committee support within the Governance Team.

You will bring experience of providing end-to-end secretariat support and advising senior colleagues on governance, alongside experience of working for a public body or charity and an understanding of its governance arrangements. An excellent organiser and confident communicator, you will be comfortable balancing competing deadlines, producing accurate minutes and building collaborative relationships.

This is an opportunity to work closely with those who help shape RBL’s direction, gaining exposure to a broad range of committees and governance activity. Your expertise will help turn discussions into clear decisions and actions, supporting the effective running of an organisation with a lasting commitment to the Armed Forces community.

Interview Date: 18th September

You will be contracted to our Haig House hub with a minimum expectation of two days per week working in person at the hub and flexibility for working remotely/at home when not on site. The role also includes attendance for the duration of the Annual Conference weekend to provide governance support.

Employee benefits include -

• 28 day’s paid holiday (plus bank holidays) increasing with service, with optional annual leave purchase scheme of up to 5 working days
• Enhanced paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Generous pension scheme with employer contributions ranging from 6% to 14%, depending on length of service
• Range of flexible working options may be available, depending on your role
• Employee Assistance Programme providing confidential counselling, financial and legal advice
• Range of courses delivered by learning specialists to support your development goals and objectives
• Opportunities to volunteer
• Travel loans, Cycle to Work, and more!

For more detailed information about the role, please see the Job Description attached to our direct advert. Our teams take a personalised approach to shortlisting, which is carried out without the use of AI and is based on the evidence provided in your application against the essential and desirable criteria in the Person Specification.

RBL is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive organisation, reflecting the diversity of the armed forces community and of wider society. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and personal characteristics.

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer interview schemes for candidates who declare an Armed Forces connection and/or a disability. However, candidates are only eligible for this scheme if their application clearly demonstrates that they meet all of the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification for the role.

Just Finance Foundation (JFF) is looking for an experienced Governance and Operations Manager to join us at an important point in our development.

We are a national charity working to change how children grow up with money. Every day, children are learning about money - through what they see, hear, and experience - but not all of it builds confidence or choice. By supporting parents, carers, and educators to teach money in ways that are simple, practical, and engaging, we make financial learning part of everyday life. This means children can grow up confident in making choices and equipped with skills that support their wellbeing now and into the future.

JFF currently operates within the Church Urban Fund (CUF) group, which has supported our development and provides a number of shared services. We are now preparing to become an independent charity and this new role will play a central part in making that transition work.

Working closely with our Director and trustees, you will help coordinate the move to independence while building the governance, systems and ways of working we need as a small, well-run charity.

This is a broad, hands-on role for someone who enjoys making organisations work better. You might be keeping a complex transition plan moving, supporting effective Board governance, improving an operational process, working through an issue with a supplier or adviser, or helping the Director make sense of a complex organisational question.

You won’t need to be an expert in everything. What matters is that you have strong operational judgement, can bring clarity to complexity, know when to involve specialist expertise, and are comfortable taking responsibility for getting things done.

We are particularly interested in people with significant experience in governance, operations or organisational management who can work confidently with senior leaders, trustees, advisers and external partners. Experience in a charity or purpose-led organisation, or of organisational change or separation, would be an advantage.

For full details of the role, responsibilities and person specification, please read the accompanying Job Description.

The role is home-based for three days per week, with occasional travel and approximately six evening Board meetings each year.

How to apply

Please submit a CV and supporting statement explaining how your experience meets the role requirements to email address provided by 11.59 on 13th September 2026. If your experience covers most, rather than every, point in the person specification, we still encourage you to apply.

JFF is an inclusive organisation and we welcome all applications. We want our workforce to be truly representative of the communities we serve. Diversity is an asset to our organisation and helps us create an inclusive, welcoming environment for all.

KEY INFORMATION

Location: Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester or London

Hours: 37.5 hours

Start date: We will work with notice periods

Duration: Permanent

Salary: £35,175 - £40,675 per annum if based in Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham or Manchester. £37,905 - £43,405 per annum if based in London

Application deadline:Thursday 10th September, 11:55pm

Application Process: written applications > assessment centre (interview & written task)

ROLE SUMMARY

upReach is seeking to hire an Organisational Initiatives and Governance Manager. This is an exciting opportunity to work directly with upReach’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) on strategic projects, internal communication, governance, and other internal and external initiatives.

The role will provide direct support to the SLT, building their capacity and enabling the charity to continue to grow and increase its impact. They will support the collection of key data for strategic decision making and take responsibility for regular and accurate reporting to our Boards, whilst also leading on the planning and delivery of several key projects. Projects they work on will include exploring how to best to deliver on upReach’s national development, and coordinating the cohesive delivery of work that falls under the umbrella of our ‘Double Benefit’ approach.

Whilst Governance and the support provided to the SLT will remain consistent in this role, organisational initiatives will change over time, depending on where it is agreed with the SLT that the ROI is greatest and can best achieve upReach’s overarching mission.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

The Organisational Initiatives and Governance Manager will report to the Director of People and Strategy and work on initiatives and projects that the SLT believe will help us to best achieve our mission. In addition to this, the Organisational Initiatives and Governance Manager will also work closely with the SLT to provide governance and operational support. This will include coordinating with Trustees to organise the yearly calendar of governance events and preparing papers for Trustees, Advisory Board and Services meetings, including the Annual Report. 

This role will require influencing and collaboration in order to deliver upReach’s mission through a range of stakeholders across the team.

Core responsibilities will include: 

1) Strategic Projects & Organisational Initiatives

• Be the operational driver of organisational initiatives, as agreed on by SLT, that have an impact on the success of upReach’s mission and our impact on Associates across the country. 

  • Projects may be outward facing or operational in scope, depending on what is deemed to be of most importance at the time. They may also be at different stages in their life cycle, and as such, the role may require initial exploration phases, creation of implementation plans and the coordination of different teams to complete and assess success, as required by the specific initiative.

• Attending meetings and following up with key stakeholders to ensure the completion of relevant projects to a high standard.

• Collaborating with a variety of stakeholders to gather and report key information, along with recommendations, to the SLT or other senior managers.

2) Governance & Leadership Support

• Preparing papers and required documents for Trustees, Advisory Board and Services meetings, including the yearly Annual Report. 

• This may also include supporting internal communications and calendar management for the SLT (for example, organising the yearly governance calendar). 

3) National Development & Expansion

• Be the champion for upReach’s national development strategy, ensuring there is understanding and buy-in across the team regarding the importance of upReach’s growth outside of London with respect to social mobility coldspots and existing regional presence and tracking OKRs related to this.

• Drive plans regarding how best upReach can expand its work in Scotland. Having recently successfully registered as a Scottish charity we are exploring what expansion could and should look like, and this role will work on the practicalities regarding how upReach can sustainably support more students in Scotland. Pending approval of plans from the SLT and Board, the role would lead on enacting the agreed upon approach.

  • Liaison with relevant departments to collaborate on prospect fundraising, university and employer partnerships, as well as student attraction and onboarding activities, will be required as part of this initiative. 

4) Double Benefit Approach

• Have oversight of a cohesive, deliberate programme of Double Benefit effective practice at upReach, working across teams to do so. This will include:

  • Supporting the Events team in the creation of the agenda and delivery of the annual Championing Change event in collaboration with Bank of America, bringing together employers across industries to promote inclusion and social mobility.

  • Support work on policy being led by the Marketing and Communications Team to ensure it is cohesive with our wider Double Benefit approach.

  • Coordinating with the Partnerships team regarding use of our Employer Engagement Toolkit and any bespoke consultancy or training requested. 

This role will also provide line management for 1-2 members of our Future Charity Leaders Programme one day per week, as they work on a six month ‘rotation’ in the areas described above. 

Please note that it is not possible for the job description to cover the exhaustive list of responsibilities of your role due to the varied nature of the role, especially given the nature of this role to work on a range of projects and initiatives. As such, the job description aims to provide an overview of your remit and core responsibilities.

EXPERIENCE

To be successful, it is anticipated that you would have experience:

• Working in a project management role, ideally within a charity

• Working with a variety of stakeholders and a demonstrated ability to influence and coordinate with different teams

• Researching and the ability to create a business case based on the research results

• Creating project plans and completing end to end project work

• Working in a fast-paced environment and working independently

Previous experience working in charity governance or supporting senior leaders would be desirable, but is not essential. 

COMPETENCIES

upReach have created a Behaviours and Competency Framework to ensure the team have full visibility on the key capabilities required for effective performance, how these connect to our organisational values, and the level required for each band within the organisation. We would expect this role to be demonstrating mainly level 3 competencies, with some level 4 competencies displayed.

Below you will find a detailed summary of the key attributes required:

Essential skills and competency level:

• Motivation – 3

• Leadership – 3

• Continuous improvement – 3

• Planning and organising – 4

• Problem solving and decision making – 3

• Innovative – 3

• Management – 3

• Commitment to social mobility – 4

• Communication – 3

TEAM CULTURE & BENEFITS: 

By joining the upReach team, you will be joining a team who are committed to supporting you in your career journey and fostering an inclusive culture. 

We offer: 

• Flexible and hybrid working

• Statutory Holiday Entitlement of 25 days, plus bank holidays. This increases to 27 days 2.5 years and then to 30 days after 5 years of working with us.

• Birthday leave and volunteering leave

• Enhanced Parental Leave beyond statutory requirements for all team members. 

• 3% Pension Contribution, which increases to 5% after 5 years of working with us. 

• Cycle-to-work and tech buying schemes.

• Monthly socials

• Dedication to Staff Wellbeing through our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aid Training and annual wellbeing days

• Summer Hours (early Friday finishes from June to Aug)

• Personal Development Budget, activated after 6 months in the role

• The opportunity to participate in our fantastic staff networks: 

  • Disability and Inclusion Network

  • Diverse Roots Network 

  • Green Network 

  • LGBTQ+ Network

  • Mindfulness Network

  • Parents and Carers Network 

  • Socio-economic Background Network

  • (Im)Migrants Network 

READY TO APPLY?

We are committed to making our recruitment process inclusive. All applications will be blind screened, and our job packs are available in Braille, large text or another format upon request. We can provide reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment application process and on the job, and we'll always endeavour to be as accommodating as possible. 

Applications close on: Thursday 10th September 2026, 11:55pm

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

At upReach, we are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and do not discriminate in employment matters on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, social background or any other protected class. We celebrate and value the diverse perspectives that people from all backgrounds bring to our team. We are passionate about creating a workplace that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of communities across the UK. Diversity in the workplace creates dynamic and effective organisations and we are actively working to build a more inclusive workforce by continuously improving our recruitment, retention, and development practices. We  particularly encourage applications from individuals from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds, those with disabilities , those who are care-experienced, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those who are LGBTQIA+.