Chair of Trustees

About North East Law Centre

North East Law Centre provides both free and affordable legal advice to people across the North East. We fight for justice on behalf of those who need it, without prejudice.

What will you be doing?

We have achieved so much over the past five years and made great strides towards financial sustainability.  However, despite our successes, most of our income come from short term grants that do not enable us to plan ahead, with so much unmet demand, and expectation on our service to meet them, we still have so much more to do. We require the Chair to lead a great Board of committed Trustees, a great team delivering results every single day, to continue to enhance the progress we have made towards a diverse and sustainable funding base, harnessed by a strong governance structure.

The most suitable candidate will need to be a good leader with demonstrable strong interpersonal skills and empathy to engage with our diverse stakeholders including our beneficiaries who are some of the most vulnerable in society.

What are we looking for?

Essential Qualities

* Have empathy with people, and a developed understanding of issues relating to mental health and wellbeing

* Be committed to the charity's values, aims and success

* Be willing to devote time to carry out their responsibilities

* Have strategic and long-term vision in relation to the charity's objects and aims

* Have strong leadership skills, ability to motivate staff and volunteers and bring people together

* Have good, independent judgement, political impartiality and the ability to think creatively

* Have good communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to respect the confidences of colleagues

* Balance tact and diplomacy with willingness to challenge and constructively criticise.

* Be committed to the principles of inclusion, equality and diversity.

Essential Skills and Knowledge

* Experience of chairing meetings and team leadership

* Knowledge of third sector governance requirements

* Experience of analysing risk and benefit within a fast-paced environment, and ability to reassess priorities on a continual basis

* High levels of awareness in relation to inclusion and accessibility

* Financial management experience and a broad understanding of charity finance issues

* Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.

* An understanding of risk assessment and management

* A working knowledge of IT applications such as email, Whatsapp, Zoom and Microsoft products including Word, Excel, Sharepoint, and Teams.

What difference will you make?

The Chair of Trustees is a key role in our organisation. Your leadership and commitment will ensure we continue to provide and extend our range of much-needed support and services to our beneficiaries.  In addition, post holder will work closely with the Centre Director and the Senior Management Team, to help determine our strategic priorities and direction, as well as help us achieve our purpose of supporting and educating people about the law at scale, so that they understand what rights they have, thereby reducing their fears, confusions and distress.

Commitment:

Estimate of time needed: 3-7 hours per week.

How to apply:

To apply for this role, please apply via the Reach platform expressing your interest and outlining why you would like to be our Chair, demonstrating how you have the knowledge, skills and experience to match our role description.

Please ensure this is no longer than 1000 words. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted and given the chance to have a discussion with an experienced trustee about the role.

Deadline: 5pm, 30th November 2022.