Governance Officer

The Law Society

About the Organisation

Law Society represents solicitors in England and Wales. From negotiating with and lobbying the profession's regulators, government, and others, to offering training and advice, we're here to help, protect, and promote solicitors across England and Wales. An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit for a role at the heart of the Law Society's campaigning and political influencing activity.

The Law Society is the independent professional body for over 200,000 solicitors in England and Wales. A year into the new government, there is a significant opportunity to influence the political debate, driving important issues such as access to justice, the rule of law, and supporting a thriving legal business sector up the agenda and influencing policy on behalf of our members.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Governance Team at the Law Society and play a key role in supporting the effective operation of our Council, Board, committees and governance groups. Working at the heart of our governance function, you'll help ensure that meetings and decision-making processes run smoothly, enabling our elected members, volunteers and colleagues to deliver the Society's strategic objectives.

You'll provide high-quality governance support by coordinating meetings, preparing and managing committee papers, producing accurate minutes and action logs, and acting as a trusted point of contact for a wide range of stakeholders. While you'll primarily support our Member Advisory Committees, you'll also have the opportunity to work across the wider governance structure, supporting different governance bodies and projects as business needs evolve.

This is a varied and rewarding role where your organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to build effective relationships will make a real difference. You'll join a collaborative team committed to delivering an excellent governance service, with opportunities to broaden your experience, work with senior stakeholders and contribute to the continuous development of governance across the organisation.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Schedule and make all necessary arrangements for meetings of allocated committees or member volunteer groups
• Liaise with a broad range of colleagues and Elected and Appointed Members (‘EAMs’) on the preparation and presentation of papers 
• Ensure that reports are collated in a timely fashion and are in the required format to be clearly presented
• Produce accurate, concise and timely minutes, prepare action sheets after meetings and track actions taken
• Distribute, retain and file meeting papers appropriately 
• Collaborate with relevant communications teams to keep related information on the Law Society intranet and website up to date
• Keep related meetings, membership and distribution information up to date
• Keep Governance team colleagues, business stakeholders, meeting chairs and other members informed of developments between meetings and respond to related enquiries in good time and to a high standard 
• Support and administer the recruitment and appointment of Council and committee members including drafting membership reports
• Participate in or lead on team initiatives as may be requested from time to time
• Respond to queries from members and staff
• Provide ad hoc cover for Governance Officer colleagues in the event of sickness or other absence

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Knowledge, Skills & Experience Essential:

• Experience of providing credible and reliable administration type work within in a complex organisation
• Excellent minute-taking skills
• Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to work flexibly in response to changing priorities
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to deal with sometimes demanding individuals and competing priorities
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to write accurately and clearly
• High level of attention to detail
• Ability to understand a complex organisational environment and work well with a range of senior stakeholders
• Discretion to handle confidential or sensitive information appropriately
• Experience in using Microsoft Office, including Teams and SharePoint, and the ability to become familiar with new systems quickly
• Ability to deal with a demanding workload and be able to judge priorities and respond to competing work demands creatively and flexibly, while ensuring standards are maintained, and deadlines met 
• Ability to complete own work on time and to standard while also supporting other at times of peak activity 
• Ability to raise and highlight issues of wellbeing with line management during busy and pressurised moments at work, and to be proactive in managing own wellbeing.
• A proactive approach to supporting the Law Society with its commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at work, to include proactively supporting a respectful, welcoming and supportive working culture

Desirable:

• Some knowledge of and/or interest in the subject matter of the Law Society's work
• Some experience of working in a membership / representative organisation

Compensation & Benefits

• 3% flex fund after 3 months, plus comprehensive benefits
• Generous flexible benefits package
• A friendly working environment and the opportunity to develop your career within a professional organisation.

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely

How to apply

• Apply to our website
• Please note: if you are an internal applicant, the Pay Policy will apply.

Policies

This is an excellent opportunity to work with contemporary thinkers in a progressive membership organisation. The successful candidate will join a strong brand with a reputation for excellence and legal expertise, committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, and a culture of trust, clarity, excellence and respect. The Law Society represents solicitors in England and Wales. From negotiating with and lobbying the profession's regulators, government and other decision makers, to offering training and advice, we're here to help, protect and promote solicitors.

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