Age UK: Audit and Risk Committee Chair, Non-Executive Director

Audit and Risk Committee Chair, Non-Executive Director - Age UK

Location: City of London, London, Greater London
Hours: Full-time
Category: Finance , Governance
Sectors: Social Welfare

Job Description

Job Purpose

• To utilise extensive experience of financial services and the general insurance distribution in order to provide effective independent challenge of the senior executive and mitigate conduct risks within Age UK's business model and strategy.
• To lead the Age UK Enterprises Audit and Risk Committee, ensuring that that the Committee meets its objectives set out in its Terms of Reference
• To act as a ‘consumer champion’ and ensure that the customer is at the heart of the business.

Main Responsibilities

Chair of Audit and Risk Committee

• To provide assurance to the Board on Age UK Enterprises’ internal controls, including financial controls, and compliance with relevant law and regulation
• To provide assurance to the Age UK Group Audit and Risk Committee in relation to the quality of Enterprises’ systems of internal control and risk management and compliance
• To oversee the Internal Audit Function ensuring Age UK Enterprises has a strong planned and proportionate programme of Internal Audit

Leadership

• In conjunction with the executive team, to set the tone, values, culture and direction of the company.
• Always operate with integrity ensuring the safeguarding of staff, volunteers, consumers and older people.
• Always ensure that the Board operates with fairness and upholds the organisations values and commitment to Diversity and Inclusion.
• To work as a team to provide entrepreneurial leadership – setting and communicating a clear and realistic strategy within a framework of prudent and effective controls.
• To provide an independent and effective challenge to the decisions, actions and strategy of the executive team.
• To demonstrate internally and externally, honesty, integrity, fairness and good faith and to advise on matters of ethics and conflicts of interest.
• To provide an external perspective on the company’s activities, bringing to bear extensive experience and insights from the GI industry that help to produce rounded judgments and a sustainable business.
• To utilise experience and insights from the GI sector to enable the company to develop in line with current best practise, the UK Corporate Governance Code and relevant rules and guidance.

Corporate Governance

• To ensure effective, compliant and consistent corporate governance systems throughout the organisations including in the operation of the board, its direct committees and the senior management.
• To use knowledge and understanding of the financial services sector to ensure the board receives the necessary management information and has sufficient understanding to effectively fulfil its function.
• To ensure that the board is appropriately resourced and that responsibilities are appropriately separated and allocated.

Compliance

• To oversee the compliance standards of the organisation, to receive regular briefings directly on compliance issues and to be alerted about any important issues that arise immediately.
• To oversee the embedding of a values-led compliance culture throughout the organisation.
• To ensure the necessary support throughout the company for a culture that fully supports the compliance and risk functions
• To support and foster a culture that ensures full compliance with relevant anti-money laundering obligations and the provisions of the UK Bribery Act (from June 2011).

Financial controls and risk

• To support the development of a quality driven, sustainable business fulfilling both the needs of an ongoing concern and the long-term health and financial performance of the company.
• To agree with the Executives the financial strategy and oversee major capital or special revenue expenditure. Set limits and robust systems and controls. Ensure ongoing concern and orderly wind down, including capital requirements
• To agree with the Executives the framework for robust risk management, including management of opportunities and the strategic implications.
• To drive a risk-based approach for supervision of the network of appointed representatives.
• To ensure that internal controls are effective, consistent and robust. To regularly and effectively review performance against agreed goals and objectives.
• To ensure the shareholders are correctly informed and protected.
• To review and challenge regular reporting on the company’s full financial position. To ensure internal and external reporting is accurate, full and fair.

External relationships

• To use industry experience and interface and develop productive and positive relationships where appropriate with external stakeholders such as regulators, investors, shareholders, media and the wider community.
• To develop the company’s commitment to community engagement and responsibility.
• To develop commitment of the company to ongoing learning, high standards and industry leadership.
• To represent the company to the regulators, customers, outside interests, the media and the wider community and to take some leadership, or to contribute to developments as appropriate, in the industry sector.
• To sponsor and foster positive relationships with the shareholder and be a positive Age UK Ambassador

Experience

• Be committed to the purpose, objects, values and ethics of the organisation.
• Fully committed to safeguarding the needs of the consumer, older people, staff and volunteers
• Operate with commitment to Age UK diversity and Inclusion strategy
• Significant recent Executive Board level experience in the UK financial services industry
• Previous Non-Executive Director experience
• Previous experience of / ability to chair an Audit and Risk Committee
• Significant recent P&L responsibility at a senior level in a FTSE 250 company or equivalent
• Knowledge of the General Insurance market
• Marketing awareness particularly in FSVS
• Experience in consumer product development particularly in GI
• Legal and governance at Board level
• Finance and investment experience, advantageous experience in social investment
• Strong commercial acumen
• Considerable experience of FCA regulation, preferably with recent FCA Approved Person status (of FSA as previously identified)
• Gravitas, strong communicatorExcellent re
• lationship management and brokering skills
• Professional credible ambassador for Age UK
• Passionate about supporting people in later life with credible products and services
• Committed to treating customers fairly and to the values of Age UK
• Reliable honest and trustworthy
• Ability to meet and maintain fit and proper status under section 2 of the FCA rulebook.

Additional Information

Term of office

Initial term of office will be 2 years, with further extensions of 2 terms of 3 years possible by mutual agreement.

Remuneration

This role provides a remuneration of £20,000 per annum plus expenses to be paid via bacs into a nominated bank account. The role is not an employee and is therefore not applicable to any other terms other than those stated in any letter of appointment.

The time commitment for the post is:

Enterprises Board up to 6 half day Board Meetings per annum, Enterprises Audit and Risk Committee up to 6 half days, Age UK Audit and Risk Committee up to 6 half days, plus preparation time for all meetings.

Attendance at annual away days and additional time as required by the Board when it is undergoing a period of particularly increased activity.

Age UK Board or committee meetings as required.

Occasional travel to sites outside of London to enable performance of the duties and responsibilities and for the purposes of maintaining and updating professional skills and development