Senior executive assistant to the ceo and chair jobs

Governance Manager

Permanent Opportunity

35 hours per week, how, flexible Working Patterns can be considered 

Location: Craven Street, London with hybrid working

Salary: £43,813 per annum (based on 35 hour week) plus competitive benefits

The College of Optometrists is the professional body for optometry. It qualifies the profession and delivers the guidance and development to ensure optometrists provide the best possible care. We promote excellence through the College’s affixes, by building the evidence base for optometry, and raising awareness of the profession with the public, commissioners, and healthcare professionals.

We are looking for a Governance Manager to join our Chief Executive’s team. This is a high profile management role which will lead and develop the governance and stakeholder management of the College and provide the support and insights to enable the Chief Executive to lead the College with maximum impact, effectiveness and efficiency. 

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, the key purpose of the role will be to: 

• Ensure the College’s governance arrangements support effective decision making, accountability and regulatory compliance.

• Provide strategic governance support to enable the Chief Executive to lead the College with maximum impact, effectiveness and efficiency.

• Ensure the effective governance and efficient operation of the College’s Council, Board and Committees, in line with its Royal Charter, charity law, regulatory requirements and good governance principles.

• Establish and maintain effective business systems and procedures within the Chief Executive’s Department including supporting the development, monitoring and reporting of the College’s business plan and strategic plan.

• Build and maintain effective relationships with those within the College’s governance structure to support delivery of its strategic objectives.

The main responsibilities for the role holder will be to:

• Ensure the College’s governance arrangements operate effectively and in accordance with its Royal Charter, regulatory requirements and recognised good governance principles.

• Develop, maintain and report on the Governance workstream key performance indicators and wider College KPI framework.

• Deveolop and maintain the College’s strategic plan reporting framework.

• Oversee the preparation and distribution of agendas and papers for Board and Council undertaken by the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive

• Manage the governance arrangements of the Annual Gneeral Meeting and election and appointment of Council members, Officers, Trustees, Committee Chairs and the early Career Representative on Council.

• Support and develop Council in their role as regional representatives and advocates for the College.

• Lead the co-ordination of the College’s stakeholder engagement, ensuring a consistent, responsive and professional experience across the College.

• Develop and manage the ongoing delivery of an effective cross-College stakeholder management process.

• Line manage and develop the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive.

• Manage the annual budget for the College’s governance activities.

To be considered for this vacancy, candidates will need to demonstrate:

• Excellent interpersonal skills including experience of working with senior level management

• Experience of managing election processes and governance procedures within a membership organisation

• Experience of managing organisation-wide projects.

• Experience of developing KPIs and operating procedures.

• Experience of stakeholder management.

• Good level of knowledge of relevant charity governance legislation

• Excellent time management and planning skills

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

• Experience of report writing, minute taking and processing numerical data

• Excellent MS Office; Teams, Word, Outlook, Excel and Powerpoint skills.

In addition you will be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

• Pro-activity

• Influencing & persuading

• Customer service 

• Confidentiality and integrity

• Attention to detail

• Reliablility

• Planning and organising – managing multiple projects and tasks. 

A copy of the full job description summarising the key activities and full list of essential requirements can be downloaded from the website.

In return, we offer a variety of benefits including a generous pension plan (10% employer contribution), life assurance and a health care cash plan. The College has a TOIL policy and provides time off for events taking place during the evening and weekends. There is also potential to progress to a range maximum of £53,038 under our performance based/market driven incremental scheme.

If you would like to apply for this role, please submit an up to date CV along with a brief covering letter that sets out the skills and experience you consider would make you suitable for this position, no later than 27 August 2026.

First Interview will take place on 04 Septemebr 2026 at our offices in Craven St.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview, which will include:

• A 10-minute presentation (details will be provided in advance). 

• A competency-based interview

Equality and inclusion 

The College is committed to providing equal opportunities in employment and to avoiding unlawful discrimination. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, valuing the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation. In support of this we follow a fair recruitment process in which shortlisting and other recruitment decisions are made on the basis of skills, competencies and experience demonstrated in the application and interview process. 

If you require a reasonable adjustment to be made to support your application due to a disability or other condition, please let us know. 

Additional Information

• Typical working hours at the College are 9 am to 5 pm (7 hours, excluding lunch) working five days a week. We operate a flexible working window from 8 am to 6 pm where you can vary your start and end time (working a 7-hour day). This role is flexible and can be worked over a variety of working patterns.

• The post holder may on occasion be required to work late and should therefore have some flexibility with regard to working hours. There will be occasional overnight stays for some meetings and events in London and across the UK.

• We also offer hybrid working (a mixture of home and office working). Typically, College staff will work around 20%- 40% of their time at the workplace (whether this is the office at Craven St, or a face-to-face meeting, exam or event at another business-related site or organisation) per week.