Foothold, The Institution of Engineering and Technology Benevolent Fund. A Company limited by

guarantee. Registered in England. Registration No. 00441284. Registered Charity No. 208925. Registered office: Napier House, 24 High Holborn, London, WC1V6AZ

Trustee Recruitment Pack

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November 2019

Welcome,

Thank you for your interest in the role of Trustee at Foothold – The Institution of

Engineering and Technology Benevolent Fund.

Foothold exists to ensure that no engineer or their family needs to face life’s

challenges alone.

In 1890 a group of engineers decided that their Institution should do something for

fellow engineers in need. In the almost 130 years since we have continued to

develop services which support over 1,300 engineers and family members a year,

from across the globe.

Our recently appointed CEO, Jane Petit, joined us to implement our next phase of

strategic planning and development to ensure that we can respond to the ever-

changing needs of our community. One of Jane’s first actions was to commission a

piece of research into current and future issues facing engineers, and a review to

inform our strategy for 2019-2022 with the ambition of increasing the wellbeing of

engineers and their families worldwide and supporting 3,000 people a year by 2022.

At this important time in our journey we are seeking a Trustee with specific financial

expertise who will bring new talent to our Board to help Foothold achieve its plans

for growth and ensure that it continues to extend its reach, influence and impact.

We are particularly interested in people with experience in financial planning and

charity accountancy. As honorary treasurer this role will also chair the Audit and

Investment Committee.

If you feel that you have the experience and passion to take Foothold forward, then

we very much look forward to hearing from you.

Eur Ing Professor A L Dowd BSc PhD CEng FIET

Chair

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Why our help is important

Our recent research showed that our community have three main areas of need:

Work and employment Health and wellbeing Financial and legal problems

Our new strategy focuses on activities which support an increase in wellbeing, intended to empower our community by providing tools to help them help themselves. Then, if engineers and their families experience life events and moments of transition such as getting sick, experiencing bereavement, redundancy or relationship breakdown (all common triggers for poverty) not only can we offer practical assistance with finances or legal matters, we have also increased their likelihood of coping. Our strategic framework

Our strategic outcomes

Providing joined-up, accessible and personalised support

90% of people reporting fully supported in post service questionnaire in 2022

Building resilience

3000 people a year accessing support in 2022

Developing our community

200 supporters in 2022

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What is it like to be a Trustee of Foothold?

“I have been involved with Foothold for over 13 years and have spent some of those

years serving as a Trustee. As a member of the IET and a past Trustee, I feel

passionately about Foothold and the work that we do helping IET members and

others in the Engineering community.

Trustees are the driving force behind the organisation, giving guidance and strategic

direction to the Charity and lending their expertise and experience in a wide range of

areas to the Charity’s management team.

The Trustees are also responsible for the finances of the Charity and ensure financial

prudence as well as overseeing Investments.

Foothold have been fully supportive of a wide range of training provided from

various sources to enable me to grow in the role and to widen my experience.

I feel privileged to have been able to contribute to an organisation at Director level

and gain experience of governance at an early stage in my own career. Now, as a

school governor, I can use the skills I have learned at Foothold in the Education

sector.

We are a friendly and welcoming group who meet five times a year in London at our

Charity offices, as well as our AGM and our volunteer group training days. Most

trustees also serve on a sub-committee. This adds up to 8-10 meetings per year,

and some also work in between meetings - training, preparing for meetings, and

sometimes working on contributions to specific schemes that the Charity might be

considering, as well as attending external events as an ambassador for the Charity.

I can honestly say that I love being a Trustee of Foothold, and I am proud to see

how far we have come over the time I have known the charity. I feel grateful to

have the opportunity to work to make a difference to people’s lives - it is so

rewarding seeing projects that were just a concept come to fruition and positively

impact our beneficiaries.”

Jean Brownsword

Foothold Trustee 2005-2011, 2013-2019

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They say that volunteering is a fantastic way to support a cause close to

your heart, and that it can expand your skills and experience. The vast majority of

prospective employers like applicants to have some voluntary work on their CVs.

Well, I can truthfully say that volunteering with Foothold has been one of the best

experiences for me. I spent much of my professional life encouraging young people

into science and engineering, not really realising how many engineers drop out of

their careers because of illness, accidents or a myriad of other disasters which befall

them through no fault of their own. What could be better than to feel that you have

had some small part to play in putting them back on a career path and making life a

bit easier for them and their families.

I only became a volunteer for Foothold after I retired, so perhaps it was something I

thought I could bring my experience and skills to, and to give me something

satisfying to do in my “new found leisure time” (which of course has since

disappeared!). However, I have learnt a lot. The excellent training given by

Foothold to new volunteers and trustees in particular has been invaluable to me. I

am also a trustee of small local charity with no professional staff, so the knowledge I

have gained of governance in a period of great change for charity requirements has

been really useful. But that is just one example.

For younger IET members building their skills in their career, the opportunity to take

a leadership role in a supported environment like Foothold is a fantastic opportunity.

Another great thing about Foothold is the really positive relationship between the

professional staff and the volunteers, supporting our beneficiaries really is a team

effort. If you are thinking about volunteering that is a really important point, it isn’t

always the case.

I won’t list the many, many ways in which we support members and former

members of IET and their families, you can see them on our web-site. However, I

would recommend volunteering with Foothold to everyone.

Dorrie Giles, Trustee, Local Representative

and Chair of Case review committee

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I

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Board of Trustees

5 meetings a year

IET appointed

x 2

LRA appointed

x 4

Board appointed x 4

Local representatives

assembly

Board and Committee structure 2019

Audit and

investment

committee

4 meetings a year

Service development

committee

3 meetings a year

Remuneration

committee

As required

Disciplinary

committee

As required

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Trustee with Financial experience

Role description

As a member of the Board of Trustees and Audit and Risk Committee, the Trustee

will have the expertise to ensure the strategic oversight of the charity’s finances and

to support appropriate decisions and good governance by the Board. This includes:

providing the lead in the stewardship of the financial assets of Foothold providing advice and information to the Trustees on their financial responsibilities acting as the link between the Trustees and the management on financial

matters keeping under review the effectiveness of all internal control systems, including

financial operational and compliance controls liaising through the Audit and Risk Committee with finance staff, including CEO

and Finance Manager and with the charity’s independent auditor Main responsibilities of all Trustees are:

to abide by the Trustees’ Code of Conduct and to declare as appropriate their business interests

to set and maintain vision, mission and values

to ensure that Foothold always complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations

to ensure that Foothold pursues its objects as defined in its governing document

to maintain proper financial control and ensure that Foothold applies its resources exclusively in pursuance of its objectives

to develop strategy and provide strategic leadership, setting overall policy, defining goals and setting targets, as well as evaluating performance against agreed targets

to ensure accountability

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to support the operational management of the organisation

to agree the content and implementation of mandatory internal policies, which must include equality and diversity, health and safety policies and grievance and disciplinary procedures

to ensure that risk assessments for all aspects of the business are carried out

to safeguard the good name and values of Foothold

to maintain effective Board performance and ensure the effective and efficient administration of the charity including funding, insurance and premises

to promote Foothold and act in the best interests of the charity, never in the interests of yourself or another organisation

Specific Duties:

to ensure that an appropriate financial policy framework is in place to guide the Charity’s financial decision-making. In particular, financial policies on reserves, investments, cash deposits, credit facilities, risk, financial systems and controls

to understand the key assumptions included in the management’s financial plans, annual budgets, management accounts and annual financial statements

to advise Trustees on major financial issues which arise, and which are outside the agreed delegations of management authority

to meet the external auditor at least once a year (independently from the CEO, when necessary) to discuss the nature and scope of the audit and any matters that auditor may wish to discuss

to ensure that a sound system of internal control is maintained to protect the Charity’s assets

to chair the Charity’s Audit and Investment Committee

to provide support and advice to the CEO

to present the annual financial statements at the Local Representative Assembly and the Annual General Meeting each year

to act as a counter-signatory on cheques and any applications of funds

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Person specification

Knowledge and experience

Financial and audit/risk experience (with a recognised financial qualification) and strong knowledge of SORP, charity and company law and UK GAAP.

Senior strategic level experience, or experience as a charity Trustee/Non-

Executive of a complex organisation.

Outstanding record of professional achievement in their field, with a commensurate personal reputation for excellence, with a focus on strategic finance, audit and risk, planning and performance.

Strong understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of Trusteeship.

Appreciation of the nature of risk management at Board level.

Skills and abilities

Ability to distil complex information and bring a pragmatic approach to its application.

Highly effective communication and interpersonal skills.

Ability to galvanise external relationships and build support for Foothold.

Strong ambassadorial and influencing skills, inspiring trust and confidence quickly.

Independent, strategic and creative thinker.

Driven and self-managing, with sharp commercial acumen.

Collaborative team player.

Sound judgement and political sense.

Committed to the values of Foothold, leading by example in upholding these

values and demonstrating the utmost integrity.

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Safeguarding

All Trustees should ensure that they are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities

and take responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and

young people.

Additional duties

In addition to the above statutory duties, each Trustee should use any specific skills,

knowledge or experience they have to help the Board reach sound decisions. These

may involve scrutinising Board and Committee papers, leading discussions, focusing

on key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives and other issues in

which the trustee has special expertise.

Terms of Appointment

Chair and Trustees Remuneration The role of Trustee is unremunerated.

Time Commitment Up to four Board meetings per year and four Audit and Investment

Committee meetings which normally coincide with the Board meetings. Trustees

are also expected to attend occasional public or private events, for example

supporter/fundraising events, strategic planning Board away days and public

profile events.

Location of meetings Foothold 4th Floor, Napier House, 24 High Holborn, London WC1V 6AY.

Expenses Reasonable out-of-pocket travel expenses will be reimbursed as per volunteer

expenses policy.

Terms Trustees will serve an initial three-year term to be eligible for re-appointment

for an additional term of three years. These terms may be repeated after a break

of at least one year.

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To express an interest in the role and to be considered, please submit the

following:

A detailed and up-to-date CV.

A supporting statement that addresses all criteria in the Person Specification and outlines your motivation for applying.

Details of your availability on the dates provided in the indicative timetable.

Completed expressions of interest should be submitted to Patrick Reihill, Head of

Talent at The Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG)

Via the WIG website: https://www.wig.co.uk/career-opportunities/career-listing.html

Email: pr@wig.co.uk Post: Patrick Reihill, Head of Talent, The Whitehall & Industry Group, 80 Petty

France, London, SW1H 9EX

Please also ensure you have also completed and submitted the equal opportunities

monitoring form hosted on the WIG website. The information on the form will be

treated as confidential and used for statistical purposes only. The form will not be

treated as part of your application.

The closing date for applications for the Trustee role is noon on Monday 20th January

2020. If you have any queries about any aspect of the appointment process, need

additional information or wish to have an informal and confidential discussion, please

contact Patrick Reihill, Head of Talent at The Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG) on

0207 222 1166 or pr@wig.co.uk

Equal opportunities

Foothold is fully committed to eliminating discrimination and promoting equality and

diversity in our workforce and employment practices, in the work we undertake, and

in the provision of all our services. We therefore expect all of Foothold staff and

volunteers to be willing and able to make a positive contribution to the promotion

and implementation of Foothold’s Equality and Diversity policy.

Recruitment Timetable

An indicative recruitment timetable for candidates is provided below. Once final

dates are confirmed, these will be made available to applicants as soon as possible.

Closing date for applications Noon, Monday 20th January 2020

As required, opportunity for shortlisted candidates to meet CEO/Finance Manager

w/c Monday 10th February 2020

Final Selection panel Thursday 27th February 2020