Independent committee member jobs in Bristol
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Chair (Non-Executive) – Board of Directors
South West Wildlife Fundraising Ltd (‘SWWFL’)
Remuneration: £12,500 per annum (plus expenses)
Location: Home-based, with some travel across the South West
Time commitment: Approximately 4 days per month
Do you care about the work of the Wildlife Trusts and want to make a real difference to the future of our treasured wildlife?
About the role
SWWFL, a wholly-owned trading subsidiary of 8 regional Wildlife Trusts, is seeking an experienced and strategic leader to take on the role of Non-Executive Chair of the Board. This is a pivotal leadership position, providing direction to the Board of Directors, supporting the Chief Executive Officer, and strengthening relationships with our owning Wildlife Trusts and partnerships with client Trusts.
You will also serve as a Company Director of SWWFL, sharing responsibility for the oversight, stewardship, and long-term success of the organisation.
This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a purpose-driven organisation supporting the work of The Wildlife Trusts across the extended South West.
Key responsibilities
As Chair, you will:
· Lead the Board of Directors, ensuring effective governance, decision-making and accountability
· Work closely with the CEO, providing both support and constructive challenge
· Ensure strong strategic alignment between SWWFL and its owning Wildlife Trusts and client Wildlife Trusts
· Oversee financial performance, risk management and regulatory compliance
· Chair Board meetings and ensure effective participation from all Directors
· Act as an ambassador for SWWFL with external stakeholders and partner Wildlife Trusts
· Lead the annual appraisal and development of the CEO
Governance and Director responsibilities
In addition to Chair duties, the postholder will fulfil the responsibilities of a SWWFL Company Director, including:
· Acting in accordance with the SWWFL Memorandum & Articles of Association and Members’ Agreement
· Exercising independent judgement, care and diligence
· Ensuring robust governance, financial oversight and risk management
· Supporting long-term sustainable success of the business
Terms of appointment
· The Chair is appointed by majority vote of the Board
· Term: normally 3 years, may be renewed, with annual performance review by the Board and owning Trusts
· The Chair role is remunerated, via a contracting agreement, in recognition of additional responsibilities
· The person appointed must, therefore, have appropriate and genuine self-employed status (or equivalent) to receive payment
· Where a Trustee of an owning Wildlife Trust is appointed, they cannot receive remuneration in line with SWWFL governance arrangements
· All Directors (including the Chair in their Director capacity) are subject to SWWFL governance requirements
About you
We are looking for someone who brings:
Experience
· Significant Board-level experience
· Proven experience of chairing meetings
· Senior strategic leadership experience (ideally in a commercial environment)
· Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building experience
Skills & knowledge
· Strong understanding of governance and regulatory requirements
· High level of financial literacy
· Commercial awareness
· Experience in risk management and organisational oversight
Personal qualities
· Strategic, decisive and emotionally intelligent
· Collaborative and diplomatic, with strong interpersonal skills
· Confident in an ambassadorial role
· Committed to the mission of The Wildlife Trusts
Time commitment
The Chair is expected to commit around 4 days per month, including:
· Regular meetings with the CEO and Finance Manager
· 6 Board and Stakeholder meetings annually
· 4 Finance & Remuneration Committee meetings
· Meetings with auditors and owning Trust CEOs
Some travel across the South West will be required, although many meetings are held remotely.
Eligibility
The Chair does not need to be an employee of an owning Wildlife Trust. However, they do need to be a member of their local Wildlife Trust, and they will operate within a Board that includes Directors who are drawn from the owning Trusts:
Avon, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire & Isle of Wight, Somerset, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire Wildlife Trusts.
Why join us?
This is a unique opportunity to play a key leadership role in a values-driven organisation, helping to support vital conservation work across the South West and beyond.
How to apply
An application pack and form can be downloaded from the SWWFL website. A copy of your CV, plus the application form detailing your skills and experience relevant to this role, must be included in your application.
The deadline for applications is 7th June 2026.
Interviews will take place on 30th June 2026 at Avon Wildlife Trust, Bristol.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Ready to define what “good” looks like and make it real across our services?
Hft has turned a corner. After navigating a period of significant financial and operational challenge, we have delivered a major turnaround, reducing a £17 million deficit, stabilising our workforce, and restoring confidence across every level of the organisation.
Now, with a new and focused Executive Team working closely with our Senior Leadership Teams, clear governance, and a collective understanding of the need to embed sustainable improvement across all areas of the organisation, we are moving from recovery to transformation.
The Opportunity
You will lead the development and delivery of an integrated, organisation-wide approach to quality, safety, safeguarding and great practice. Your focus will be on ensuring people are supported to live safe, meaningful and aspirational lives. This role brings together quality assurance, safeguarding, safety and practice into a clear and consistent approach across a complex, national organisation.
You will drive and oversee quality, safety and governance systems that support them. You will maintain clear oversight of performance, risk and compliance, and provide assurance, insight and challenge to the Executive Team and the Board. You will ensure regulatory compliance, safeguarding, and health and safety systems are robust, responsive, and consistently upheld, but, importantly, rooted in the understanding that all of this is to make sure that the people supported have great lives.
Working closely with operational leaders, you will identify underperformance and support improvement. You will use data, audits, incidents, and feedback to generate insights and drive continuous improvement. You will also help shape a shared understanding of what great practice looks like across services.
If you have senior leadership experience across quality, safety, safeguarding and practice within a learning disability charity or social care provider, we would love to hear from you. Please refer to the candidate brief attachment for full details of the role.
Please note: This role is a Home-based position (travel 3 times per month to Bristol/other locations)
What you will bring to succeed in this role
Essential
- Senior leadership experience across quality, safety, safeguarding and practice within a large learning disability charity or social care provider
- Accountable experience of leading operational health and safety within a multi-site, CQC regulated care environment
- Ability to lead and develop high-performing teams
- Experience of providing clear assurance and reporting on health and safety performance, risks and compliance to senior leadership and/or Board
- Communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work across organisational boundaries
- Experience embedding co-production and lived experience into organisational approaches
- Highly developed analytical skills and ability to use data to drive decisions
- Confident in leading change, improvement and cultural development
Selection Process
We will be shortlisting applications on an ongoing basis. If your application is shortlisted, we will invite you to a pre-screening interview with a member of the senior hiring team. If you are successful at this stage, the final assessment process will include a competency-based interview, a presentation, and the opportunity to meet with key stakeholders to get to know the team and Hft.
As part of our recruitment process, we are proud to include the voices of people with learning disabilities. You will meet them throughout the process, and they will play a key role in the final stages of selection. Their perspective shapes how we lead, listen and make decisions at Hft.
We anticipate the following timelines:
- Closing date: 9 June 2026
- Pre-screening interviews: 12, 15 or 16 June 2026
- Final assessment: 30 June 2026
We may close this role early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
We are committed to recruiting people from diverse backgrounds and believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce helps us better support the people we work with to live their best lives. If there is anything we can do to support you to do your best during the application and selection process, please contact our recruitment team at Hft.
Registered Charity
More than 1000
To improve the lives of learning disabled people by providing personalised support that promotes independence, choice, and inclusion.
Thank you!
We are looking for a highly motivated and organised individual with the ability to manage teams, build strategic relationships with employers to grow the Living Wage network, and develop projects that will grow our accreditations schemes and proactively influence change across a broad range of stakeholders in public life.
- Develop and deliver strategies, working collaboratively across the organisation.
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Direct a team and line manage multiple staff and freelancers, supporting them to deliver projects and contribute to the LWF business plan.
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Monitor and evaluate the impact of our work to refine our strategy, deliver projects effectively and demonstrate the value of the real Living Wage.
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Clearly communicate the evidence for positive change to grow the Living Wage movement. Encourage employers and key stakeholders to become champions of the Living Wage movement.
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Oversee accreditation processes, identify and implement improvements to make our work more efficient.
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Build and manage relationships with key stakeholders, policy makers and employers to support them to pay the real Living Wage and seek accreditation.
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Create, develop and employ the tools and knowledge available to inform and advise employers on implementing the Living Wage throughout their organisation.
Remote role with travel across the UK particularly to Birmingham.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.