Head of Board of Trustees Affairs

The Vacancy

Do you have a Governance or legal qualifications?

Have you a strong understanding of governance processes and of Charity Commission requirements?

Do you have proven experience in board or executive-level administration, legal secretary, or governance role?

 We are now recruiting for an experienced and talented Head of Board of Trustees Affairs to work with our Board and serve as the organisation’s lead governance professional, accountable for the integrity, effectiveness, and continuous improvement of the Board’s governance framework.

This is an exciting opportunity to apply your governance experience in a values-driven, international organisation where your work truly matters.

 About the role:

The Head of Board of Trustees (BoT) Affair holds a strategic and operational governance role, providing senior-level support to the Board and ensuring compliance with legal, regulatory, and constitutional responsibilities. In addition, The Head of BoT Affairs facilitates effective communication between trustees and the executive leadership team and advises on strengthening governance structures and practices and is responsible for maintaining high standards of governance, regulatory compliance, and strategic advice across all levels of the organisation

The role operates with significant autonomy, requiring independent initiative and workload planning and the ability to coordinate with other departments in IRW and various board’s stakeholders to ensure effective compliance, risk management and communication.

This role requires a deep understanding of the political and economic landscape affecting international charity operations so that it may support the BoT in decision making. This should include some knowledge of the regulatory, geopolitical and donor perspectives influencing both fundraising strategies and programme implementation across the breadth of IRW operations.

About you:

You will be a motivated, analytical professional with a strong experience in governance and a commitment to IRW’s mission and values.

You will ideally have:

• Governance or legal qualifications (e.g., Chartered Governance Institute or similar).

• Proven experience in board or executive-level administration, legal secretary, or governance role.

• Strong understanding of governance processes, preferably in the charity or third sector.

• Understanding of Charity Commission requirements.

• Exceptional organisational, leadership, and communication skills.

• High level of discretion and ability to handle sensitive information.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and hybrid meeting technologies.

For the full Job Description, please click on the Documents tab

Why Join Islamic Relief Worldwide

• Be part of an organisation with a clear humanitarian mission and strong values

• Use your professional skills to make a real, meaningful global impact

• Work with passionate teams across the organisation

If you are talented, service-minded, resilient, highly motivated professional looking for a meaningful career, with a strong commitment to IRW’s mission and values of sincerity, excellence, compassion, social justice and custodianship, we would love to hear from you!

PLEASE NOTE:  We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible

Pre-employment Checks:

Any employment with Islamic Relief will be subject to the following checks:

• screening clearance

• proof of eligibility to live and work within the UK

• receipt of satisfactory references

Please note, for UK-based roles, we are only able to accept applications from candidates who are eligible to work in the UK. We are unable to progress applications which would require sponsorship.

Our values and commitment to safeguarding

IRW is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom IRW engages. IRW expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records checks. IRW also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.

In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.

By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.