Head of Corporate Governance

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance and advice on promoting high quality health, public health and social care. As an equal opportunities employer, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment and welcome everyone from all backgrounds to apply so we can continue to create a workforce which is representative of the communities we serve.

If you are suitably qualified and have an interest in remote, hybrid, full time or part time working, we encourage you to get in touch as we are happy to discuss potential flexible working opportunities. We have modern offices in Manchester city centre and Stratford, London. Please take into consideration that you may be required to commute to one of our offices for business purposes if necessary.

This newly created role at the heart of our high profile national organisation will lead NICE’s corporate governance function, and provide oversight of the chief executive and chairman’s office, and the appeals process for our technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance. Working with a high degree of autonomy, the successful candidate will have an organisation-wide impact. They will work closely with NICE’s chairman, chief executive, directors and senior leaders, providing advice and guidance on NICE’s corporate governance policies and procedures, and other sensitive matters, ensuring NICE remains compliant with its statutory framework and obligations.

As NICE’s board secretary, the successful candidate will establish procedures for the effective and efficient functioning of the board and NICE more widely, ensuring the decisions of the board, its committees, and senior governance meetings are properly recorded and actioned.

Main duties of the job:

• Leading NICE’s corporate governance function, ensuring NICE’s organisation-wide corporate governance arrangements are robust and effective, and comply with legal requirements and best practice.
• As NICE’s board secretary, overseeing the effective operation of the Board, board committees and senior governance meetings, including producing high quality minutes of the board meetings.
• Providing expert advice and guidance to the chairman, chief executive, board members, directors and staff on complex, sensitive and high-profile governance matters.
• Providing operational leadership to the chief executive and chairman’s office, ensuring high-quality business support, effective information flows and appropriate escalation of issues.
• Overseeing arrangements for meetings in public and appeals, ensuring processes operate effectively, transparently and in accordance with published guidance and statutory requirement.
• Acting as a point of contact with NICE’s legal advisers, triaging requests from NICE staff for legal advice, and monitoring and analysing contract spend.
• Managing NICE’s complaints process, including investigating and responding to complaints from members of the public and stakeholders.

Working for our organisation:

• Generous NHS Pension – Secure your future with one of the most rewarding pension schemes in the UK.
• Flexible working – Enjoy a healthy work-life balance with options like remote working, compressed hours and flexible start/finish times.
• Exclusive discounts – Save on shopping, dining and more with a Blue Light Card.
• Time to recharge – Start with 27 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Inclusive staff networks – Join supportive communities like Women in NICE, Race Equality Network, Disability Advocacy and NICE and Proud – we celebrate diversity.
• Tailored development – Grow your career with personalised learning and development opportunities.

To be considered for this role, you should be able to particularly demonstrate the person specification criteria in the job advert in your application. However, applicants should be able to demonstrate all essential criteria through the entirety of the recruitment process to be considered for the job.

Person specification:

• Experience of working within a senior corporate governance role, ideally in the public sector.
• Experience of minuting and supporting senior level meetings.
• Experience of taking overall responsibility for a programme of work with a high degree of autonomy.
• Experience of managing and developing staff.
• Extensive knowledge and experience of good governance practices and providing assurance to Board members.

Important - Due to NICE’s use of anonymised recruitment practices, we ask all candidates not to include any personal details within their application. Please ensure you provide sufficient detail in the application form. Candidates must ensure that all information provided in their application is factually accurate. Any examples provided must be taken from personal experience. NICE abides by honesty and integrity as part of its organisational values; if evidence of plagiarism is found, applications may be withdrawn.