Corporate Governance Specialist

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK's leading Wealth & Investments group. Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry's best talent. Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society. We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments, and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients' evolving needs:

• Interactive investor, the UK's second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
• Our investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

The role of Corporate Governance Specialist is to support the Secretariat team in delivering effective corporate governance services to Aberdeen's subsidiaries particularly the regulated and/or trading subsidiary boards operating in the UK and certain EMEA regions. The role encompasses a wide range of responsibilities requiring a flexible, can-do attitude; a proactive approach; confidence in working with stakeholders across different teams; and the ability to prioritise workflow to get things done on time and to the required quality. As a specialist in your field, you'll be expected to share your expertise to support the delivery of corporate governance requirements whilst actively engaging in using systems, technology and AI to improve efficiency across governance processes.

Key responsibilities:

• Drafting board meeting documents including agendas, action logs, minute templates; and written resolutions for review by the Company Secretary and taking forward any follow-up actions.
• Preparing board packs and ensuring timely publication on the board portal (currently Board Intelligence).
• Maintaining accurate statutory registers, via an entity management system (currently Diligent Entities) and undertaking regular reviews of the information for accuracy, producing reports for compliance and other purposes as required.
• Taking a 'digital first' approach being proactive in identifying opportunities to make effective use of systems, technology and AI solutions to improve efficiency and reduce manual activity.
• Supporting with statutory and regulatory filing; including filing of statutory accounts, confirmation statements, director appointments/resignations, minutes and other information as required ensuring all filing is completed within the required timescale and is accurate.
• Assisting with ensuring that the group's entities comply with relevant statutory obligations and codes of governance which will include helping coordinate a periodic attestation process.
• Assisting with the management of the report and accounts approval process for the group's entities, which will require a close working relationship with the finance teams.
• Acting as Secretary for some board meetings, such as meetings to approve report and accounts, being responsible for the end-to-end process.
• Supporting on drafting board papers on corporate governance topics undertaking research as required.
• Contributing to the annual planning of Secretariat-led governance activity taking responsibility for tracking completion of some activities and for delivering others.
• Being responsible for the effective functioning of the Company Secretariat mailbox being proactive in prioritising, researching answers to and responding to queries from the business with the input of other team members as required.
• Playing an active role in promoting the role of the Secretariat function including, for example, through contributing to the enhancement of the teams' self-service hub.
• Actively contributing to the team's continuous focus on enhancement including across governance processes and service standards, taking a lead on projects from time to time.
• Other work as required within the Secretariat team.

About the candidate:

• Strong collaborator and team player.
• An excellent communicator.
• Someone who thrives on change and can manage varied work.
• A creative and dynamic thinker.
• Commercial acumen i.e. someone who understands the business opportunities and challenges.
• Company secretarial experience ideally in the financial services sector although strong entry level candidates will be considered.
• Strong demonstrable interest in utilising systems, technology and AI solutions to improve efficiencies - hands on experience of using entity management systems such as Diligent Entities and board portals such as Board intelligence ideal but not a pre-requisite.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits:

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported. When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days' annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits - including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal.

An inclusive way of working:

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we'd like to hear from you. At Aberdeen we've adopted a 'blended working' approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements - for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability - please let us know and we'll be happy to help.

We're committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense - this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.