Finance and General Purposes Committee - Committee Member

Finance and General Purposes Committee (Finance Committee)  

The British Geriatrics Society (BGS) is a medical society and registered charity with more than 4,500 members working across the UK as doctors, nurses, therapists, researchers, and pharmacists.  It has an annual turnover of around £1.2 million from three main income streams: membership subscriptions, income from professional development activities and events, and income from Age and Ageing Journal.  It also has an investment portfolio of around £4 million.  

The Finance Committee discusses and scrutinises financial, human resource, governance and general matters and identifies the salient points to bring to Trustee attention. Major areas of the committee’s remit are

• The Society’s and Trading Company’s budgeting and financial control, including financial policy, investment policy and risk management Human resource strategy including remuneration and other HR policies Information Technology strategy and policies

The Finance Committee is a friendly group of doctors and other health care professionals who are drawn from our membership.  They are all interested in helping BGS manage its resources effectively but do not have extensive financial experience.

The role

We are looking for an independent committee member from a financial background to contribute to the Finance Committee, supporting its ability to make timely, informed decisions and advise the Trustee Board on BGS financial and operational matters.  

The candidate

You will have a financial background, perhaps working in the public, private or voluntary sectors. You may also have broader management experience in areas such as governance, IT and digital strategy. You might be a qualified accountant with 2 to 3 years’ experience or at an early stage in your career and wish to expand your charity Governance experience. Your previous experience might include work as an auditor or as an accountant in a charity or other not for profit organisation and it will have given you a grounding in financial legislation and Charity Commission guidance.

You will bring sound judgement and insight to the Finance Committee and will be prepared to contribute to the Committee’s responsibility of scrutinising the work of the BGS on a range of topics

What you might gain

You will have an opportunity to contribute to ensuring a strong sustainable footing for the charity's important work in older people's healthcare.  You will gain an insight into the workings of a highly effective and solvent charity whilst developing your financial, governance and managerial skills which may be of use to you in decision-making processes elsewhere.

You can expect a full induction and will be offered training if required.  You will receive a comprehensive induction pack and will meet with key officers and staff to become familiar with the Society’s policies and practice, its aims and activities, management, and governance, and also what is expected of the charity under charity law and company law.

Time commitment

Members serve for three years; the committee meets four times a year (currently virtually) and is chaired by the BGS Honorary Treasurer.  Each meeting lasts around two hours and committee members need to allow some time beforehand to review papers, which cover financial matters, HR, IT infrastructure and other governance issues.

Expenses

The role is unremunerated, but any travelling expenses will be covered in accordance with BGS expenses policy if the committee meet in person (at the BGS London office in Farringdon).

Application process

To apply please send a CV and a covering statement of around 400 words about your suitability for the role to Mark Stewart at BGS: m.stewart@bgs.org.uk. The deadline for applications is 10 am on Thursday 15 September 2022.

Interviews will be held online on 20 September 2022. The start date for the role is likely to be October 2022 with exact details agreed with the successful candidate.

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role beforehand Janet Sarll, Director of Business Support will be very pleased to speak with you and answer any questions.  j.sarll@bgs.org.uk