Governance Manager and Assistant Secretary to Council

Contract Hours: 37 hours per week

Tenure:  Permanent

Job Outline:

Birmingham Newman University is looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Governance Manager and Assistant Secretary to Council. Reporting directly to the University Secretary and Chief Strategy Officer, this role is key to institutional governance effectiveness and involves providing advice and assurance to the University’s senior stakeholders – including independent members of the University’s governing body, the Council, as well as the executive.

It’s an exciting time to join Birmingham Newman, with the University recently launching its new Vision and Strategy and achieving many recent accolades such as #1 for undergraduate full-time student satisfaction in the National Student Satisfaction Survey. The University’s last external corporate governance effectiveness review deemed governance as strong and we are very well placed to benchmark ourselves against the new CUC Code of Higher Education Governance.

We want to hear from you if you have :

• Experience of directly supporting corporate governance boards and committees within a complex organisation, ideally within Higher Education.
• Strong understanding of governance best practice, regulatory compliance, and the legislative and policy environment affecting universities.
• Proven ability to manage effectively governance processes, including committee servicing, agenda planning, minute-taking, action tracking and statutory reporting.
• Excellent written communication skills, with experience drafting reports, briefings, papers, policies, and high-level correspondence for varied audiences, including regulators and auditors.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the confidence to build effective relationships with Council members, senior executives, staff, students, and external bodies, exercising sound judgement and understanding when it is appropriate to refer to the University Secretary.
• Experience providing high-quality governance advice and politically sensitive support to senior leaders and governors.
• Strong organisational and project coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and horizon scan to support the longer-term governance cycle.
• Advanced digital skills, including Microsoft 365, Teams / SharePoint for document management and collaborative working as well as meetings.
• A collaborative, proactive, resilient, and detail-oriented approach, with a commitment to continuous improvement.
• Flexibility to occasionally support evening meetings and governance events outside normal working hours.
• Graduate-level qualification or equivalent professional experience, with evidence of ongoing professional development.
• Governance, company secretarial, or legal qualifications, and experience in Higher Education governance, are desirable.

We encourage candidates to contact Yvonne Salter Wright, University Secretary and Chief Strategy Officer, via email in the first instance at y.salter.wright@staff.newman.ac.uk with any queries or to discuss the role further.

An application form and further details about this role are available from clicking the 'Apply' button above. Please email your completed application form by the advertised closing date to: recruitment@newman.ac.uk.

Please note that CVs are not accepted as part of the application process unless explicitly stated

Closing date for applications: 25 September 2026

Interviews will take place on: 16 October 2026

Birmingham Newman University offers a wide range of staff benefits including 35 days annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time posts), pension scheme, chaplaincy and spiritual care, library services, free on-site parking, discounted travel scheme, cycle to work scheme, employee assistance programme, occupational health and counselling services and staff development opportunities. Further details of the full range of staff benefits available can be found on our website: https://www.newman.ac.uk/knowledge-base/staff-benefits/ or please contact the Human Resources Department.

Birmingham Newman University is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Birmingham Newman University is located on Genners Lane, Bartley Green, Birmingham, West Midlands, B32 3NT.

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