Company Secretary UK, Assistant Vice President in London

Company Secretary for the United Kingdom legal entities - the role will help deliver company secretarial services to a number of State Street UK legal entities and internal governance committees and will be responsible for ensuring adherence to relevant UK regulations and State Street governance policies.

Responsible for leading and delivering effective corporate governance arrangements for State Street UK legal entities. Act as a strategic business partner to inform and influence State Street UK Board and Committees on matters relating to corporate governance. Be an influencer and champion of best practice for company secretarial and corporate governance arrangements across EMEA. In addition, the role will be responsible for ensuring that the CSO’s policies, procedures and practices keep pace with changing regulatory and statutory requirements, in terms of Boards, Committees and individual Directors.

What you will be responsible for

• Board and Committee Support
• Management of the day to day governance requirements for boards and committees within the UK group.
• Develop a close working relationship with chairs and members of boards and committees.
• Act as first point of contact for these chairs and members in all matters relating to governance and company secretarial work.
• Support the process for appointments and elections of board and committee members.
• Contribute to meeting discussions as and when required and coordinate advice for members of the legal, governance, accounting and tax implications of relevant legislative changes.
• Oversee proper scheduling, coordination and operation of the board meetings and committee meetings.
• Organising and preparing agendas and papers for board and committee meetings, maintaining up to date records and distributing material via Diligent Boardbooks.
• Taking minutes and following up actions from meetings, including minute review process.
• Providing dedicated point of contact for all board and committee members.
• Oversee the maintenance of an annual calendar of board and committee matters, ensuring full compliance with relevant constitutional documents, terms of reference/charters, State Street’s Legal Entity Governance Standards, as well as all other statutory, regulatory and legal requirements.
• Leading board and committee effectiveness review.
• Compliance
• Overseeing the maintenance of statutory books and registers, including electronically via Blueprint.
• Overseeing the preparation and submission of annual compliance statements and all required Companies House filings.
• Overseeing the filing of statutory accounts.
• Preparation of routine board resolutions.
• Provision of company information as required by business, auditors and regulators.
• Other
• Drafting, maintenance and approval of policies and procedures.
• Dealing with correspondence, collating information and writing reports, ensuring decisions made are communicated to the relevant company stakeholders.
• Preparing agreed upon management information and key performance indicators.
• Liaising with Control Functions.
• Overseeing periodic review and updating of CSO pages on intranet.
• Guide/advise junior members of CSO in their duties.

What we value

These skills will help you succeed in this role:

• Understanding of the Finance Sector and the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulatory Authority.
• At least ten years company secretarial experience in a financial institution.
• Well-organised with attention to detail.
• Ability to write concise and accurate minutes on a timely basis.
• The ability to assimilate and handle a large volume of information.
• Polished and effective communication skills with the ability to build consensus in a large and complex organization.
• Strategic and systematic thinker with the ability to execute.

Required Competencies:

• Independent thinker and comfortable taking ownership.
• Comfortable speaking up and asking questions.
• A self-motivated and goal-oriented individual.
• A professional, supportive and collegiate working manner.
• Ability to operate seamlessly at multiple levels of the organisation and to become a trusted advisor to key stakeholders.
• Ability to operate both autonomously to drive a deliverable, as well as to work effectively as part of a global virtual team.
• Demonstrate inquisitive mind-set to continue to develop best practices.
• Insightful and ability to demonstrate initiative and think broadly to be proactive in connecting various requests or work streams.
• Proactively organize and prioritize workload managing own time effectively, highlighting potential problems and proposing possible solutions.
• Able to multi-task and work flexibly to meet the needs of the CSO.
• Able to work under pressure to tight timelines.
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Good problem-solving skills.
• Ability to look ahead, anticipate change and make provisions.

Education & Preferred Qualifications

• Educated to degree level.
• ICSA Qualified (ACIS or FCIS).
• Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

About State Street: Across the globe, institutional investors rely on us to help them manage risk, respond to challenges, and drive performance and profitability. We keep our clients at the heart of everything we do, and smart, engaged employees are essential to our continued success. We are committed to fostering an environment where every employee feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential. As an essential partner in our shared success, you’ll benefit from inclusive development opportunities, flexible work-life support, paid volunteer days, and vibrant employee networks that keep you connected to what matters most. Join us in shaping the future.