Corporate Affairs Officer

at  Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

We are looking for a highly efficient, organised individual with excellent communication skills to join our Team as a Corporate Affairs Officer. This role is essential for the smooth running of the Trust’s secretariat and corporate governance service, and if you think you are up to the challenge, we would love to hear from you.
You will work within the Corporate Affairs team to provide a first-class efficient and effective administrative corporate secretarial and governance support service, always ensuring compliance with corporate governance principles. You will be part of the secretariat team for the Trust Board, Committees of the Board, Council of Governors and Governor Subgroups as well as supporting some ad hoc meetings as they arise. You will be the first point of contact for all corporate governance enquiries.
You will be expected to manage and prioritise a diverse workload efficiently and effectively in order to provide a comprehensive, high quality service, working in a highly professional manner and maintaining diplomacy and confidentiality at all times. You will also liaise closely with members of staff across the Trust and externally, as appropriate, to support the Board and Governors in their work.
A key part of the role will be frequent attendance at meetings for the purpose of taking minutes and actions and providing support to executive level leads, requiring high levels of concentration and accuracy. You will be required to review the content of papers, reports and presentations for various audiences, arrange meetings, co-ordinate and monitor work and assist with various projects. The role will also entail analysis, data collection, and assisting with the development and implementation of new policies and procedures.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is made up of a dynamic group of 7000 individuals, who work collaboratively across a range of roles and services to ensure that our hospitals continuously provide excellent care with compassion.
Our incredible team is made up of hard-working staff that consistently go above and beyond their duty of care to improve patient experience and sustain our services- and we love to celebrate each and every one of them.
Take a lead role in supporting a range of formal meetings, as required, providing a comprehensive secretariat service to Boards, Committees, Council of Governors, Governor Subgroups and ad hoc meetings.
Review meeting documents to ensure accuracy and consistency. The documents will be lengthy, complex and relate to a broad range of subject matter, the post holder will therefore be required to understand, effectively scrutinise and appropriately challenge the contents and suggest appropriate amendments
Receive information on a wide range of complex issues and queries many of which are sensitive and potentially contentious in nature and manage these in line with local and Trust procedures. This will include receiving confidential internal and external documents and considering appropriate placement on agendas.
Undertake specific projects as directed, including support in planning a range of training and development programmes, organising internal and external speakers and support the overall annual planning of all meetings to ensure key reporting requirements are met.
Assist with resolving conflicting diary appointments when organising meetings and events through use of highly developed diary and time management skills. Organise as directed speakers, venues and delegate information, monitoring and managing relevant papers and documentation, using a bring forward system and ensure time is focused and maximised appropriately at all times.
Communicate and liaise effectively with internal and external stakeholders on a range of complex and sensitive topics, including Governors, Regulators Executives and Non-Executive Directors, officers from other NHS Trusts, the local ICP and ICS, Local Authorities and Government officials including MP’s.
Contribute to corporate governance reporting and audit requirements as necessary, providing information relating to Boards, Committees and Council of Governors meetings and assist with the assessment of Board and Committee effectiveness on an annual basis.
Support the induction process for new Board members and Governors as required
Provide guidance to Board, Committee members, Governors and Executive PAs on the proper functioning of Committees and report writing requirements; planning and providing advice to address areas of weakness
Propose changes to Board and Committee practices and procedures and assist with developing and implementing protocols to improve their effectiveness
Be the first point of contact for Board members and Governors, ensuring they receive all necessary communications and support
Support the maintenance of a variety of electronic databases and corporate information systems interrogating the systems and producing data reports as and when required.
Oversee the electronic Board support database including authorising individual access requests.
Create reports and documents using IT packages including Word, Excel, Power Point and Publisher, and utilise the Oracle suite to appropriately manage meetings, including set up and maintenance of internal and external distribution lists
Work autonomously and prioritise own workload in order to meet deadlines with complex and conflicting priorities, raising any issues or concerns in a timely manner to ensure early resolution
Support arrangements for membership meetings including the Annual General Meeting which will require working flexibly outside core hours.
Ordering of necessary supplies and manage processing of invoices via the Oracle and Procurement Purchase Order systems, ensuring adherence to local and Trust policies and procedures.
Assist with monitoring of the Company Secretary and Corporate Affairs inbox as directed by the Associate Company Secretary.
Carry out other administrative tasks that fall within the competencies of the post holder and work flexibly to provide cross cover throughout the Corporate Affairs team during times of absence or when members of the team are out of the office
Assist with maintaining the website and intranet pages in relation to the Company Secretariat activities and Corporate Affairs team, including liaising with the Communications team to upload Board and Council of Governor meeting papers on the Trust website.
Draft correspondence on behalf of designated individuals ensuring a high standard of presentation
Maintain an effective and efficient electronic filing system ensuring security of records in line with the Data Protection Act, GDP Regulations and compliance with information governance policies and procedures. Contribute to improvements to manage and maintain information on/in databases and filing systems to ensure information is appropriately and securely stored, filed and retrievable.
Maintain high standards of practice understanding the key performance indicators to be achieved and contribute to the delivery of the team, department and Trust’s strategy ‘Our Big Plan’.
Participate in the Trust’s annual appraisal process and complete all relevant essential training on an annual basis. Ensure up-to-date knowledge of changes within the NHS related to the role

Please refer the Job description for details