Income Generation & Industry Partnerships Trustee

Scope and purpose

MEI seeks a Trustee with senior commercial, corporate partnership or industry philanthropy experience to join its Board.

Alongside the standard responsibilities of trusteeship, this Trustee will bring commercial insight, external perspective and relevant networks to help MEI strengthen its relationships with employers, industry bodies, foundations, corporate partners and philanthropic supporters.

This is an opportunity to use your experience and connections to open doors, provide strategic advice and help MEI build high-impact partnerships aligned with its mission to improve lives through mathematics education.

Main duties and responsibilities

The Income Generation & Industry Partnerships Trustee will:

• Bring senior commercial insight and external perspective to Board discussions about MEI’s income generation and industry engagement.
• Help MEI identify where its work is most relevant to employers, industry bodies, corporate foundations and other strategic partners, and support the development of senior relationships through their insight, networks and external perspective.
• Serve as an active member of the Finance, Audit and Risk (FAR) Committee, helping ensure that partnership activity is aligned with MEI’s wider financial strategy and risk framework.

Trustee Responsibilities

As a trustee of MEI, you will share collective responsibility for ensuring that

The charity:

• Complies with its governing documents and all relevant legislation and regulation.
• Pursues its charitable objectives effectively.
• Uses resources only in furtherance of those objectives.

The board:

• Provides strong strategic leadership and direction.
• Safeguards MEI’s reputation and values.
• Ensures effective and efficient administration.
• Maintains financial sustainability and organisational resilience.
• Appoints and oversees the Chief Executive.

Trustees are expected to:

• Attend Board meetings and strategy sessions.
• Participate in committee work.
• Provide advice and support between meetings when required.
• Contribute to working groups where appropriate.
• Complete MEI's induction programme within the first three months of appointment.

Key relationships

You will work closely with the Chair of Trustees and a trustee who will act as your mentor, as well as with all the other trustees in Board or committee meetings. You will occasionally meet with the Chief Executive, other members of the Senior Leadership and other staff. You may be a ‘Link Trustee’, working more closely with a particular team of MEI staff, learning about their work and keeping the Board informed about it and sharing your experience and perspectives.

You will act as an ambassador for MEI to the wider world, occasionally representing the charity and its mission to other stakeholders in the education landscape.

Person specification

Specific Responsibilities

Paticularly Valuable Experience

We are looking for an individual who can demonstrate: Senior strategic leadership experience or previous trustee experience. A strong understanding of governance and trusteeship. Sound judgement and the ability to contribute effectively at board level. Experience managing organisational change and complexity. Broad business and financial understanding. Strategic thinking and collaborative leadership. The ability to take collective responsibility for organisational success.

We are especially interested in candidates who bring: Senior experience and commercial leadership in industry or business. An understanding of corporate partnerships, corporate philanthropy or social impact funding. Credibility and networks within business, industry or philanthropy. Insight into skills, workforce development, numeracy, social mobility or mathematics education.

Personal attributes, values and behaviours

In carrying out their roles, MEI trustees should: act solely to promote public benefit avoid any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their role as a trustee make choices based on merit ensure that everything that MEI does can stand the test of scrutiny by its stakeholders be open about all the decisions and actions they take be truthful at all times

Additional information

Trustees should prepare for and attend four board meetings per year, of which two are likely to be in person and the other two online. Board meetings are typically three hours long. In addition, there is an in person strategy day each year. There may also be occasions when an overnight stay will be required in order to attend a strategy day or trustee event.

A trustee typically serves on one or two committees, each of which will meet 4-6 times per year for about two hours online.

Trustees also attend online training or other development activities, and there will be some induction sessions in the first three months.

MEI has a large and popular annual conference and all trustees are encouraged to attend at least some part of this.

Travel

Travel is limited to required events, such as Board meetings and the strategy day. These are currently held in Bristol. Costs are reimbursed.

More information

Please review the Pack.

See more, including our Annual Reports and Accounts at www.mei.org.uk. Registered charity number 1058911.