Deadline: 10am, Monday 30th March

To find out more about our team, our impact and being a Trustee at the Sutton Trust, please view our Trustee recruitment pack at this link.

Duties and Responsibilities of a Trustee

Policy Responsibilities

• Providing oversight for the charity's research and advocacy, ensuring the Trust's work is mission-aligned, evidence-based, and intellectually rigorous

• Supporting the Board in discharging their collective duties around planning, risk and compliance, particularly in areas such as horizon scanning for upcoming legislative changes, political shifts and shifts in social trends affecting the Trust as well as specific regulations around political neutrality

• Leveraging their professional networks and expertise, enhancing the charity's credibility and influence, ensuring our research translates into meaningful systemic change

General Responsibilities

• Inputting into and agreeing the Trust’s vision, mission and values and providing advice on the Trust’s wider purpose, goals and activities

• Inputting into and agreeing the Trust’s aims and long-term strategy in furtherance of its charitable purpose

• Ensuring key risks are identified, monitored and controlled effectively as well as keeping abreast of changes in the Trust’s operating environment

• Monitoring the Trust’s performance against its strategic aims, operational plans and budgets

• Safeguarding and promoting the Trust’s reputation, and acting in the best interest of the Trust at all times

• Ensuring the financial stability and sustainability of the Trust

• Ensuring the effective and efficient administration of the organisation, including having appropriate policies and procedures in place

• Ensuring proper arrangements are in place for the appointment, supervision, support, appraisal and renumeration of the CEO and they are held to account

• Contributing to regular reviews of the Trust’s own governance

• Ensuring the Trust complies with its governing documents, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations

In addition to the above statutory duties, each Trustee should use their specific skills, knowledge and experience to contribute to the Board’s decision-making, and dedicate sufficient time to carry out their responsibilities effectively. This may involve sitting on Board Committees, scrutinising board papers, leading discussions, focusing on key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives, or other issues in which the Trustee has special expertise.

Trustees aim to support a specific member of the SLT based on their skills and experience or may participate in appropriate subgroups, e.g., Alumni Leadership Board, Education Advisory Group, (Development) Board meetings, etc.

Person Specification

Mission and Values

• Sympathetic to the aims of the Trust and its mission to address educational disadvantage

• High level of personal and professional ethics, integrity, and accountability

• Willingness to safeguard and promote the Trust’s reputation within the wider sector

Strategy and Interpersonal Skills

• Ability to think strategically in order to provide appropriate oversight and scrutiny for the Trust’s overall activity and direction

• Ability to confidently and fairly make evidence-based decisions and constructively challenge the decisions of others if required

• Ability to collaborate and work as part of a team to provide advice, make decisions, and/or solve problems

• A commitment to personal development and a willingness to participate in regular reviews of the Board’s own performance and governance

Governance, Risk and Finance

• Understanding of the legal duties of a Trustee (or willingness to learn), including compliance with Charity Commission and Companies House regulations and commitment to the roles and responsibilities of a Trustee

• Awareness of (or willingness to learn about) financial health indicators and organisational risk management

Specialist Expertise and Experience

• A background in public affairs, civil service, think tanks, education sector organisations or senior policy or research roles in (education) charities

• Strong understanding of how UK government (at local, regional or national level) and/ or the UK education sector works

• Strong influencing and communications skills with the ability to lead discussions, provide expert advice, and influence stakeholders in a professional manner

• Good understanding of how to translate policy jargon into clear, strategic advice for the wider Trustee Board

Terms of Appointment

Trustees are appointed for a term of four years and may serve a maximum of eight years (two terms). Upon receiving an offer of appointment, all Trustees must sign an eligibility declaration and our Trustee Code of Conduct as well as verify their identity with Companies House.

Trustee roles are voluntary, so the employee benefits outlined on our recruitment site will not apply, however reasonable expenses may be covered where appropriate, for example, travel to a programme visit.

Please note that your application should be submitted in one go - you can view the questions by clicking on the link if you would like to prepare in advance.

Interviews

Applications should reach us by 10am, Monday 30th March. First round interviews will take place on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th April, and second round interviews will take place w/c 27th April or w/c 4th May. All interviews will be held at our London offices in Millbank Tower.

Safeguarding statement

The Sutton Trust believes that a child, young person or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. Therefore all posts undergo a safer recruitment process, including but not limited to, disclosure of criminal records where necessary and eligibility to work in the UK. We have procedures in place to promote safeguarding and a safe culture at the Trust.

Contextual recruitment

The Trust is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented at present at the Trust, to apply for this role. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. We are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming place to work and know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the young people we support.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates throughout our recruitment process and during employment.

We also operate contextual recruitment at the Sutton Trust. Our application process gives you the option to include information about your background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals, whether your parents went to university, or whether you attended a state school. For more examples and information on contextual recruitment, please see our website.