Head of governance jobs
Want more results?
Add job titles:
We are seeking an experienced Head of Governance and Compliance to lead and strengthen our governance framework, both strategically and operationally.
This is a senior, influential role with responsibility for corporate governance, Board effectiveness, risk management, compliance and regulatory assurance. You will bring sound judgement, credibility and the ability to translate governance requirements into practical, proportionate solutions that enable confident decision-making.
Working closely with the Chair, Board of Trustees, Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team, you will ensure the MND Association has the structures, policies and ways of working needed to operate with clarity, accountability and confidence.
Hybrid working: based from our London office, with attendance one day per week across either London or Northampton.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop, implement, and maintain robust governance frameworks aligned with the Charity Commission’s guidelines and relevant legislation.
- Provide strategic advice and guidance to the Board of Trustees and senior leadership on governance, compliance, and risk management matters.
- Ensure compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements, including data protection, safeguarding, and financial controls.
- Lead internal audit and assurance processes, coordinating with external auditors and regulators as necessary.
- Manage the organisation’s risk management framework, identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks effectively.
- Prepare and present clear and comprehensive governance reports and compliance updates to trustees and senior management.
- Promote a culture of integrity, transparency, and continuous improvement throughout the organisation.
- Collaborate closely with legal advisors, finance, and other departments to ensure cohesive governance and compliance practices.
- Stay abreast of changes in legislation, regulatory standards, and best practices affecting the charity sector.
About You
- Substantial experience leading a governance function, ideally within a charity or membership organisation.
- Proven experience working with Boards, Trustees and senior leaders, handling confidential matters.
- Degree level education or equivalent, with ongoing professional development in corporate governance.
- Strong expertise in governance frameworks, policy development, risk and compliance.
- Confident presenting complex governance and compliance issues at Board level.
- Excellent report writing, communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
What we Offer
- 28 days holiday, increasing to 33 days after 5 years, plus Bank Holidays.
- Access to UK Healthcare, including dental, eyecare, health screenings, and therapies.
- 24/7 GP access via phone and video.
- Life assurance and confidential counselling helplines.
- Salary sacrifice schemes (Cycle to Work, Buy/Sell Annual Leave).
- Access to Benefit Hub for discounts on everyday shopping.
- Enhanced pension scheme.
- Opportunities for training and personal development.
- Hybrid working.
About Us
Motor Neurone Disease moves fast. It takes away time, it takes away independence and it has no cure. Every day we support people affected by MND. We fund ground-breaking research. We campaign for better care. We’re here for everyone who needs us. Because with MND, every day matters.
We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusivity. We work to remove barriers for everyone affected by MND, employees, volunteers, and stakeholders.
As part of the Disability Confident Scheme, we guarantee interviews for disabled applicants who meet the role's requirements.
We support people affected by Motor Neurone Disease, campaign for better care and fund ground-breaking research. Because with MND, every day matters.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The Head of Clinical Governance will lead and enhance the organisation’s commitment to delivering high-quality, safe care for children. This role is pivotal in overseeing clinical governance frameworks, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, managing clinical risks, and implementing quality improvement initiatives. The postholder will work collaboratively across teams to promote a culture of safety and continuous improvement, aligning with The Children’s Trust’s strategic objectives. Whilst the post directly reports to the Director of Nursing and Quality, the remit of the role spans the whole organisation and works across all clinical directorates.
Interview date: to be confirmed
This role is not open for sponsorship.
Duties and Responsibilities
Clinical Governance
- Develop and maintain an effective clinical governance framework that supports safe and high-quality care.
- Facilitate regular clinical governance meetings to discuss performance, incidents, and quality improvement initiatives.
- Ensure that clinical pathways and practices are aligned with best practice guidelines and evidence-based standards.
Patient Safety
- Lead initiatives to enhance patient safety across all services, promoting a culture of transparency and reporting.
- Implement and maintain the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), ensuring that learning from incidents is captured and shared.
- Monitor and report on patient safety metrics, identifying areas for improvement and ensuring appropriate action plans are developed.
Clinical Risk Management
- Identify, assess, and manage clinical risks within the organisation, ensuring effective risk mitigation strategies are in place.
- Conduct regular reviews of incident reports and risk assessments to inform organisational learning and development.
- Oversee the management of serious incidents, ensuring thorough investigations and appropriate follow-up actions are completed.
Quality Improvement
- Develop and implement quality improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing patient outcomes and experiences.
- Lead quality impact assessments for new initiatives or changes in practice, evaluating potential risks and benefits and manage the organisational governance in relation to these.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to promote a culture of continuous quality improvement.
Regulatory Compliance
- Ensure compliance with relevant legislation, standards, and guidelines, including CQC regulations and national safety frameworks.
- Maintain an up-to-date understanding of regulatory changes and ensure organisational policies and practices reflect these updates.
- Coordinate and draft the annual organisation quality account.
Clinical Audit
- Design and implement a comprehensive clinical audit program that evaluates the quality of care and compliance with clinical standards.
- Analyse audit findings to identify trends and areas for improvement, facilitating the development of action plans.
Incident Management
- Oversee the incident management process, ensuring that incidents are reported, investigated, and learned from effectively.
- Develop strategies to communicate learning from incidents across the organisation to promote a culture of safety.
Professional Standards
- Promote adherence to professional standards and best practices among clinical staff, ensuring high levels of accountability and professionalism.
- Monitor compliance with organisational policies and procedures, implementing corrective actions as needed.
Policies and Procedures
- Develop, review, and update clinical policies and procedures to ensure they align with current best practices and regulatory requirements.
- Ensure all staff are trained and knowledgeable about relevant policies and procedures.
Medical Records
Ensure that medical records are maintained accurately and confidentially, supporting patient safety and care continuity.
Medicines Management
- Line manage the lead pharmacist and wider pharmacy team
- Oversee medicines management processes, ensuring compliance with best practices and safe medication administration.
Complaints and Patient Experience
- Manage the complaints process, ensuring that concerns are addressed promptly and appropriately, and lessons learned are disseminated.
- Work to enhance patient experience through feedback mechanisms, ensuring that patient voices are heard and acted upon.
General
- Undertake other or additional duties that are within your skills and abilities, as the organisation may reasonably require from time to time.
- Act as a critical member of the Nursing and Care senior leadership team.
Health and Safety
Adhere to all Health and Safety guidelines, principles and regulations required to perform your role and comply with The Children’s Trust policies and procedures.
Wellbeing and Emotional Resilience
- Maintains a positive approach and outlook when dealing with change and overcoming challenges and problems.
- Recognises own limitations, develops realistic goals, and uses support network resource when or if necessary.
- Treats challenges and problems as a learning experience.
- Remains organised and focused when under pressure.
- Responds appropriately and effectively to all constructive feedback.
- Motivates self and other.
Education & Qualifications:
- Active NMC membership
- Educated to Masters degree level in a relevant area (or relevant experience), and / or with relevant post graduate teaching or leadership qualifications.
Experience:
- Evidence of significant operational leadership experience at AfC band 8a equivalent or above
- Experience working with children with learning disability
- Experience of working within quality and clinical governance dedicated roles
- Experience within training/education/practice-based education and presenting effectively to a variety of audiences
- Experience managing significant budgets
- Experience writing business cases for service proposals
- Experience of effective partnership working with internal and external stakeholders
- Management of change
Skills & Abilities:
- Dynamic, passionate, open, participative, and supportive leadership style
- Strong influencing skills
- Ability to develop and deliver innovative training programmes
- Clinically credible in own area of practice
- Able to deliver a multi-faceted service balancing the capacity of each area to meet service needs and priorities.
- Effective communicator
Knowledge:
Strong understanding of:
- Health care educational framework and of developing training strategies
- Clinical and operational audit data and analysis/presentation methodology
- Multidisciplinary team working
- Care of children with learning disabilities
- Safeguarding
- Quality improvement programmes and methodologies
Personal Qualities:
- Commitment to the vision and values of The Children’s Trust.
- Flexible and ‘can do’ attitude to competing commitments in workload.
- Highly motivated and reliable.
- Ability to cope working in a demanding environment.
- Commitment to maintaining personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of colleagues.
About Us
The Children’s Trust is the UK’s leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, providing expert rehabilitation, education, therapy, and care at our national specialist centre in Tadworth, and to children and their families across the UK, via our Brain Injury Community Service.
Boasting a beautiful 24-acre site in Surrey, we are located just outside of London, close to the M25 (accessible via Junction 8, A217 to Tadworth) and easily accessible via National Rail, by way of: Clapham Junction, Sutton, and Epsom.
Staff Benefits
The work we do is highly rewarding, and in addition to an attractive salary, we offer a valuable range of benefits on our staff flexible benefits platform, on-site nursery, free eye tests, enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay, time out days for those experiencing menopause symptoms and time off for gender reassignment.
We also offer additional annual leave days for those with long service, with entitlements ranging from 35 to 41 days (including bank holidays) depending on your length of service.
Other benefits include free on-site parking; a staff shuttle service from Epsom and Sutton train stations to Tadworth Court, subsidised cafeteria, on-site staff accommodation (subject to availability), the ability to retain your NHS pension (where applicable), Teacher’s pension (where applicable) or the opportunity to join an alternative scheme, and the opportunity to develop your career in a supportive and collaborative environment.
Rehabilitation of Offenders
Many roles at The Children’s Trust are exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013 and 2020) and as such, are subject to an Enhanced DBS check. Successful applicants will be required to complete an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, which will disclose all unspent convictions and adult cautions and any spent convictions or adult cautions that would not be protected. The exceptions to this are our retail roles within The Children’s Trust shops, which are subject to Basic DBS checks which will disclose unspent convictions or adult cautions.
Equal Opportunity Employer
To help us achieve our ambition to give children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability the opportunity to live the best life possible, we want to accurately reflect the UK’s diverse population. We want equity, diversity, and inclusion to be at the heart of everything we do, and our people, services, and culture to reflect the diverse needs of all. Through our diversity and inclusion strategy, we have made a commitment to increase the diversity of our charity and create an inclusive culture. We have networks across the organisation working to ensure that these aims are met - including an LGBTQIA2S+ group, Ethnic Diversity Group, and Spark – our broad EDI group. Read more about our EDI work here. We welcome applications from all who share our ambition regardless of background. We will strive to ensure that any reasonable adjustments are made in respect of interview and working arrangements.
Online Searches
In accordance with statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance, online searches will be conducted for shortlisted candidates before interview. The online searches will be conducted by a person who is independent of the interview and selection process and will focus on relevant information returned via searches of the candidate’s name (and variations thereof). Social media searches will be limited to professional platforms such as LinkedIn. Any concerns relating to suitability for work with children and young people will be forwarded to the interview panel, for discussion during the interview.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The Role
The Law Society is seeking an experienced Head of Governance to lead our governance and executive office functions into a modern, smart and efficient future.
This newly created and pivotal leadership role is responsible for strengthening our governance capability, embedding best practice across the organisation, and ensuring the highest standards of oversight, transparency and strategic alignment.
Reporting to the General Counsel, the Head of Governance will combine advanced leadership capability with excellent communication, technological and risk-management skills. You will shape how our Board, Council and committees engage with the organisation, ensuring they are supported to deliver robust oversight and drive our strategic priorities.
This is an exciting, career-defining opportunity to make a significant impact by building a governance function that adds real value to decision-making and champions continuous improvement across the organisation.
Please refer to the job description for further information.
What we're looking for
We're seeking someone with proven leadership and line-management experience, with the ability to motivate and develop high-performing teams.
You will have extensive experience leading governance functions in complex organisations, alongside thorough knowledge of formal governance rules, frameworks and best practice.
You will also have significant experience working with senior leaders, Office Holders, Board Chairs or equivalent, and managing Boards and committees. You will be adept at balancing competing priorities and experienced in leading organisational change.
As a key stakeholder for the Governance team, you will bring a strong strategic mindset and play a central role in strengthening relationships between the Governance team and the wider organisation.
What's in it for you
This is an excellent opportunity to join an organisation that has recently achieved Gold accreditation from Investors in People, recognising our commitment to being an employer of choice for people who want to make a meaningful difference.
You will join an organisation with a strong reputation for excellence, a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and a culture built on clarity, trust and respect.
We offer hybrid working (two days per week in our London office), a generous flexible benefits package, a positive working environment and opportunities for career development within a professional and supportive organisation.
The Law Society has partnered exclusively with Mackie Myers to recruit this role.
To apply, please visit:
Job Title: Head of People & Governance
Responsible To: Chief Executive
Location:Remote, but with flexibility to travel for in person meetings
Salary: £38,336 - £44,427 pro rata, per annum (dependent on experience) plus 8% pension contribution
Duration: Permanent established role
Hours: 0.8 FTE (29 hours 36 minutes per week), flexible
Job Purpose:
The Head of People & Governance will provide leadership to the CEO Office team and serve as a key advisor to the CEO and Senior Leadership Team (SLT). This role will be responsible for the three specialist areas which form the CEO Office: People Services, Governance and Executive Support.
This role is responsible for delivering the People Services function for the organisation, including the development and implementation of People Services strategies, plans, policies and processes. You will lead the People Services team in delivering high quality support and advisory services.
This post requires the individual to understand, anticipate and react to the organisation’s changing needs, to think critically, make decisions, and offer solutions to problems with expert professionalism, sensitivity, and confidentiality. To implement Butterfly Conservation’s (BC) objectives through leadership of the CEO Office team, setting and managing budgets, targets and workplans while inspiring and enabling staff to achieve their best.
Specific Tasks:
- Delivering the People Services function
- Responsible for delivering a high-performing People Services function ensuring all interactions adhere to BC’s inclusion and organisational values. To lead, manage and be accountable for the function, including:
- Aligning workload with BC’s Strategy and annual business plans.
- Advising, coaching, and enabling the People Services team to deliver effectively and create an engaging, supportive, and empowering environment.
- Ensure monthly workforce reporting systems are in place and actions followed up where required.
- Lead on Employee Health and Wellbeing initiatives, promoting a culture of engagement and self-responsibility.
- Implement, monitor and evaluate performance management systems and processes.
- In conjunction with the CEO and SLT, procuring external specialist support and/or legal advice as needed to minimise risk to the organisation.
- Act as the escalation point for complex employee casework, including dispute resolutions, disciplinaries, grievances, absence, retirement and redundancy, ensuring that the SLT members’ roles remain objective and that safe formal processes can occur if required.
- Account management for providers of BC’s People Services Workforce Systems, ensuring Service Level Agreements are met and partnership opportunities are maximised including Occupational Health, EAP services, Hireful and BreatheHR.
- Oversee and manage ‘Charity Learn’ BC’s online learning management system, to include setting up annual statutory training for all staff and creating bookable in-house training sessions as required.
- In conjunction with the CEO and SLT, develop and implement a People Strategy to include areas of succession planning, talent management, change management, and staff engagement.
- Governance, Risk and Management Information & Reporting
Accountable for the smooth running of BC’s core governance activities and trustee meetings, including:
- Overseeing the risk and audit process for the CEO Office, bridging as needed between the Finance Directorate and the CEO Office Directorate.
- Ensuring all core legal requirements are met and that the trustees comply with their duties in accordance with the Articles of Association.
- Ensuring relevant statutory returns are submitted to Charity Commission and Companies House.
- Executive Support
Ensure the support function to the CEO and SLT is delivered efficiently and effectively, including direct line management of the Executive Assistant to the CEO and SLT PA’s.
- Management and Development of Team members
Responsible for managing a team of five direct reports and undertaking all People Manager duties, including:
- Setting objectives, workload planning, holding 121 meetings and regular reviews.
- Conducting Performance Development Reviews and giving timely direction and feedback.
- Building engagement within the team and creating an environment of trust and wellbeing.
- Coaching and developing team members to ensure professional and personal growth and career development and supporting any training needs.
- Role modelling people management in line with BC’s values and competency framework, setting a good example from the CEO Office.
- Strategy, Planning and Budgeting
Working with the CEO and SLT on the annual and long-term business cycles, including:
- Supporting with the creation of BC’s Strategy as required.
- Creating annual Directorate work plans to deliver actions and outcomes in line with BC’s strategic priorities ensuring teams within your responsibility have clarity and direction.
- Working with Finance to ensure that the function has adequate budget to match the work plans and supporting with budget refresh and reforecasting.
- Supporting the Directorate with workforce planning and resource management as required.
- Responsible for the CEO Office budget.
- Relationship building, partnering and culture development,
Operating as a strong ambassador for BC and the CEO by:
- Cultivating and nurturing excellent working relationships both internally with all colleagues and trustees, and externally with branches, volunteers, partners, suppliers, funders, and sector networks.
General:
- Promoting and exemplifying BC’s values (Excellence, Passionate, Inspiring, Collaborative) ensuring they are adopted in all aspects of the role.
- Aligning with the mission and strategic goals of BC; commitment to species conservation, the environment and nature recovery.
- Undertaking any other reasonable duties as required and commensurate with the grade of post.
- Undertaking all duties and responsibilities in compliance with BC policies, processes and code of conduct, role modelling inclusive behaviour to enable a diverse workforce.
- Be cost conscious and respectful of funders’ money. Make good financial decisions to minimise cost and maximise impact by the charity.
- Actively participating in on-going professional development activities, committing to personal and professional growth and development.
Candidates must have the right to work and be resident in the UK.
We reserve the right to close the vacancy early before the advertised closing date and time.
Closing date:Sunday, 15 February 2026 at 23:59.
REF-226 149
