Assistant Company Secretary

Job Introduction

We are seeking a dedicated individual to join our Corporate Governance team on a permanent basis. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone to expand their governance expertise within a supportive environment and contribute to the evolution of the team.

The Corporate Governance team is part of the Group General Counsel function and is responsible for providing high quality governance and company secretarial support to the NDA Board and its Committees, a range of subsidiary companies within the NDA group, and working collaboratively with our colleagues in corporate governance teams across the group. Reporting to the Deputy Company Secretary, you will be responsible for providing governance and company secretarial support, advice, and services across the range of the team’s responsibilities. You will provide support to the Deputy Company Secretary, and two other Assistant Company Secretaries in the team as required and be flexible in responding to the requirements of the team.

Corporate Governance Team - Key Accountabilities:

Company Secretarial

• Ensuring effective forward planning and coordination of meetings and other NDA Board and Committee events and overseeing the logistical preparations for those meetings.
• Management of Board and Committee meeting processes including scheduling meetings, preparing agendas, reviewing paper submissions, assembling meeting packs, attending certain meetings and generating and communicating meeting outputs, including drafting minutes.
• Acting as the company secretarial lead for certain NDA committees and board forums.
• Supporting the governance processes for certain group subsidiaries including providing company secretarial support to their boards, ensuring adherence to the UK Companies Act, handling statutory filings at Companies House, and ensuring that company books and other records are up to date.

Governance

• Supporting and maintaining governance frameworks, processes and record keeping within the NDA and across the group.
• Supporting the implementation of group-wide governance changes as part of an ongoing project.
• Supporting and facilitating procedures to help directors discharge their statutory duties.
• Supporting the activities and responsibilities of the Corporate Governance team including but not limited to: Board and Committee effectiveness reviews, the induction of new Board Members and their continued training and development thereafter, preparation of key sections of the NDA Annual Report and Accounts, reviews of constitutional documents e.g., Terms of Reference, maintaining the governance elements of the external website including the process to post redacted versions of minutes of NDA Board meetings, responding to information requests, and coordinating with key stakeholders across the NDA and NDA group.
• Monitoring and advising on developments in corporate governance legislation, regulation and best practice including the UK Corporate Governance Code and sharing learnings in the team.
• Helping to improve the team’s processes and embracing new technologies including AI-driven solutions.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience required:

• Shares and demonstrates the NDA values of, respect, openness, collaboration, performance and creativity.
• 3+ years company secretarial / corporate governance experience.
• Demonstrated ability to support Board/Committee activities.
• Knowledge of relevant areas of company law and corporate governance practice.
• Knowledge of how the principles of best practice in corporate governance apply to the public sector (desirable).
• Excellent organisational, planning and coordination skills, high attention to detail, with the ability to proactively follow-up with colleagues to deliver desired business outcomes and results.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and facilitation skills required to develop and maintain constructive working relationships; ability to liaise with and at times advise senior staff effectively.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with demonstrable experience in writing accurate and concise minutes, reports, and briefings, and drafting standard company secretarial documents.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team, and to prioritise complex and competing demands.

Other knowledge and qualifications include:

• Chartered Governance Qualifying Programme – part or fully qualified.
• Degree or equivalent (Law preferred)
• Experience of using company secretarial and governance software e.g., Board Intelligence

While formal qualifications are desirable, we also welcome candidates who can demonstrate relevant experience, the right skills, attitude, and a keen interest in developing their role within this area.  If you have built up company secretarial / governance experience, and are enthusiastic about growth and development, we encourage you to apply.

Why work at the NDA? 

We value the unique differences that each of our colleagues bring to work every day and are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels respected, included and able to perform at their best. At NDA, we are committed to creating a workplace that is diverse and inclusive. We value the diversity of our people and actively seek to have a workforce that represents the rich diversity of the communities we support. Currently, we are underrepresented in some areas, and would particularly welcome applicants from Women, Black, Asian and Ethnic Minorities, LGBTQ+ and candidates who have a disability.

NDA is a member of the disability confident scheme, when requested we will make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process and we guarantee to interview all candidates who have a disability who meet all of the essential criteria for the vacancy.

We are happy to discuss flexible working. We will also make workplace adjustments for disabled employees if these are needed to help them perform at their best in the role, and we are happy to discuss this once a job offer has been made.