Chair of Trustees

Scott Bader Commonwealth Limited (SBCW) has ten Directors who are its Trustees. Three of these are internal appointments, six are external appointments and one is the Chair of Scott Bader Company Limited, which is the operating company of the Scott Bader Group (the “Company Member”).

Scott Bader Commonwealth Limited is seeking to appoint a Chair of Trustees who will be an External Guardian Trustee to serve for a term of three years from a date to be agreed. The Chair will have a strategic role in representing the vision and purpose of the organisation and will ensure that the organisation complies with its Constitution document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations.

The Chair will ensure that the Board functions properly, that everyone has a voice, and that effective decisions are made and carried out. They will also be an ambassador for the organisation.

The role of the Chair will be to ensure that:

• SBCW's strategic business and organisational development is aligned with the founding purpose and charitable objects of the Commonwealth
• The Guiding Principles are lived out in the working community that is the Scott Bader Group. This duty includes ensuring that company practice progressively moves closer to its stated Guiding Principles
• The Commonwealth’s founding intention of being an example to the world of a different way of doing business is acted upon, evaluated, researched and promoted
• The six External Guardian Trustees also perform an extra role in their capacity as Guardian Trustees. That role is to safeguard the Constitution and to ensure that the Commonwealth stays true to its founding purpose and Guiding Principles. They do this by exercising special voting rights in relation to the Trustee shares in Scott Bader

Key Areas Of Involvement Include:

• Strategic leadership
• Governance
• External relationships
• Board and Trustee efficiency and effectiveness
• Chairing and leading the Board relationship
• Acting as an ambassador for Scott Bader Commonwealth Limited

The Chair will have strong business acumen and alignment to the company values, which can be found here. They will have prior Board and Trustee experience, either as Chair / Deputy Chair / Committee Chair or Senior Independent Director. They will have excellent communication and leadership skills along with the ability to foster and promote a collaborative team. 

Applicants will be able to deliver the vision of the charity, bring colleagues together and act as an ambassador attending functions and meetings and acting as a spokesperson, when required.

Regardless of functional or sector expertise, the Chair should possess strong personal ethics and integrity which match Scott Bader's Guiding Principles. The successful candidate will be collaborative in approach and not afraid to promote or champion alternative and innovative ideas. Applicants should have an interest, if not experience, in industrial democracy and employee ownership.

This role has a high time commitment because of the nature of the responsibilities associated with it. This is a hugely exciting role because of the complex structure of Scott Bader and is the perfect opportunity for candidates who are looking for a challenging role with an interesting and unique blend of commercial and not-for-profit activities.

Additional desired attributes:

• Experience in or exposure to the chemical industry or adjacent spaces would be advantageous, but is not essential
• An inherently collaborative leadership style, essential to supporting a democratic board structure

Terms Of Appointment

This role is unremunerated, but reasonable, pre-agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed. There are four / five Commonwealth Board meetings and three G4 meetings (this is a meeting between the Chair of Commonwealth Board, Chair of the Board of Scott Bader Company Limited (which is known as the Group Board), Chair of Global Members' Board and the CEO of Scott Bader Company Limited). The Chair will also be required to attend a Global Members' Board and Group Board meeting as an observer. The appointment is for a three-year term which is renewable up to a maximum of nine years.

The time commitment of this role would be c. 2-3 days per month. If you have any questions about the breakdown of the time commitment, please discuss further with Nurole. 

Location

The head office is based in Wollaston, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire England. It is expected that the Chair will be present, in person, for the four / five Commonwealth Board meetings and G4 meetings.

For more information and to express interest, please visit Nurole via Nurole | The board director and senior executive job site.