Job Title: Governance and Local Engagement Officer

Responsible to: Director Wales

Department/Division: Wales

Contract: Perm

FT 5 days a week (35 hours) Max 6 weekends a year and some evening work

Purpose of Role:

• Supporting the Director Wales in the management of governance issues
• Providing efficient and effective governance and administrative support to the Welsh Council Executive Committee (WCEC) and Welsh Council, ensuring they operate efficiently and effectively in accordance with our constitution
• Support Ramblers Cymru Area and group leaders to take on change
• Develop new groups from enquiry to full engagement into Ramblers
• Work with groups & areas as they grow, close or reconfigure
• Support developments to upskill our volunteers

Key Responsibilities:

Governance

• Guiding the Director Wales, the chair and WCEC members on their responsibilities under the Ramblers Cymru constitution and how they should be discharged.

• Organising and administering WCEC (and sub-committee) meetings as directed, including drafting simple reports, preparing agendas, physical and electronic production and distribution of papers, preparation of minutes, ensuring decisions at meetings are enacted and dealing with any follow up activities.

• Coordinating the organisation of Welsh Council (our annual general meeting of members), including all related administration.

• Overseeing the election processes and induction programme for new members of WCEC (and sub-committees).

• Developing and overseeing systems to support Ramblers Cymru and WCEC in meeting its legal and regulatory requirements, and in managing its policies and procedures in line with best practise.

• Acting as the central point of enquiries for staff and members about governance across Wales. Act as the central point of enquiries for Area and group volunteers.

• Developing and maintaining the WCEC wiki (intranet) and related sections of the Ramblers Cymru website, ensuring membership lists, records and documentation are kept up to date.

• Liaising with the GB governance manager and Scottish area and governance administrator to ensure coordination of key governance activities, share best practise and monitor changes in legislation and the regulatory environment.

Local Engagement

• Building strong relationships with area chairs and secretaries to ensure they understand what is expected in their roles and feel confident in fulfilling these expectations – by providing a professional induction, ongoing training, coaching etc. 

• Provide proactive engagement of areas and group chairs and secretaries – to support change – working with progressive areas and groups to move to more flexible ways of working, widen engagement and work as one team to deliver the Ramblers mission

• Support the development and delivery of regular Area meetings and other appropriate governance and engagement activities to maximise opportunity and mitigate risk.

• Assist Areas in succession planning and recruiting volunteers into Area roles.
  
  
• Act as first point of contact for problem solving in collaboration with area and group leaders to realise opportunities and support local decision making, including undertaking local mediation. 

• Co-ordinate area AGMs to ensure smooth delivery of strategic goals.

• Delegated responsibility for managing the WCEC (Welsh Council Executive Committee) budget

• Maintain professional relationships on behalf of Ramblers both internally and externally, acting as the primary contact with Area Chairs, Secretaries, and other area volunteers.

• Work closely with Ramblers’ staff / stakeholders to inform policy and help lead change across the organisation.

Knowledge, skills and expertise (person spec)

• Experienced company secretary or similar work, able to manage annual councils/conferences
• Experience of working in governance for an organisation with a branch/devolved structure

• Experience of working with and managing volunteers across a variety of situations

• Ability to employ tact and diplomacy
• Project management experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with demonstrable attention to detail and

the needs of different audiences

• Ability to analyse data and present reports
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Willingness to travel and to spend evenings and weekends away from home
• Interest in knowledge of walking or engaging people with the outdoors

• Proven track record of delivering and leading and evaluating change, including appropriate training and support.
• Experience of developing strong relationships including ability to influence and negotiate with different levels within an organisation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with demonstratable attention to detail and the needs of different audiences
• Experience of delivering and facilitating learning and training (in person and online)
• Ability to work collaboratively and create a ‘one team’ approach.
• Microsoft Office Suite experience

Key Contacts

Internal: Director Wales, Chair WCEC, Governance Manger GB, Area Support Manager GB, Data protection Officer, Complaints and disputes officer

External: Regulatory bodies, Conference organisers, legal advisers

Other essential requirements for the role-holder

Every member of staff is expected to show respect to their colleagues and to understand and adhere to the Ramblers dignity at work policy; they are also expected to work collaboratively and to support all the divisions with which they have contact in achieving the Ramblers’ objectives.  Every member of staff is expected to follow the Ramblers code of conduct which applies to all members, volunteers, trustees and staff. The code sets out the basic principles of how everyone involved in the Ramblers should work together in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding.

All duties and responsibilities must be carried out with due regard to the Ramblers Health and Safety, Equalities & Diversity, ICT Acceptable Usage and Data Protection policies.

The details contained in the job description particularly the key responsibilities, reflect the content of the job at the date the job description was prepared. It is inevitable that over time the nature of individual jobs will change; existing duties may be lost and other duties may be gained without changing the general character of the duties or the level of responsibility entailed. Consequently, Ramblers will expect to revise this job description from time to time and will consult with the post holder at the appropriate time.