JOB DESCRIPTION

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Corporate Services is made up of specialist teams, namely Legal, Information Security, Safety & Insurance, and Company Secretary & Share Management. While they’re distinct areas, we all deal with risk. So that covers how we identify risk to the business, people, stakeholders and shareholders, how we assess and evaluate the impact of risks, and how do we mitigate them or even accept them. What makes us different is that we have real exposure to other specialisms; we don’t operate in a silo and can move laterally into other opportunities. We also have an amazing leadership team — which is 50% women — and a genuine passion for Sainsbury’s as a brand and as a place to be. Which makes this a place where you should be.
In a nutshell
The Senior Assistant Company Secretary (SACS) will report to and support the Deputy Company Secretary in ensuring that the Company Secretarial department runs smoothly. The SACS will deputise for the Deputy Company Secretary as appropriate and is jointly responsible with the Assistant Company Secretary for the delivery of shareholder services. The SACS is responsible for governance of the listed PLC and the group’s subsidiary entities, ensuring that appropriate governance, regulatory and statutory compliance is maintained. The role carries a high degree of responsibility and independence, involving regular contact with senior management and external advisors. The successful candidate will need to demonstrate the highest level of personal integrity, as well as strong technical and professional capabilities.
What you need to do
Team
Actively supports and contributes to the development and execution of the department’s objectives and strategy by engaging with and seeking the views of stakeholders, to ensure the strategy contributes to the overall achievement of the corporate services objectives and Group strategy.
Management and coaching of junior team members.
Be responsible for, and have oversight of, all areas of sub-team’s functions, duties and responsibilities.
Provision of support and guidance to other team members.
Corporate Governance
Support the Deputy Company Secretary in the adoption and implementation of the corporate governance framework
Work closely with the Deputy Company Secretary in delivering corporate governance projects including Director induction programmes, governance related training and the annual evaluation of the plc Board and Committees.
Board and Committee support
Secretary to the CR&S Committee, attendance and minuting of meetings.
Support the Deputy Company Secretary in the provision of corporate governance and company secretarial related Board and Committee papers.
Ensure actions from CR&S Committee are communicated and properly carried out.
Support the Deputy Company Secretary in the provision of the annual Board and Committee evaluations.
Drafting of minutes and resolutions as required.
Provide ad hoc support on plc related matters.
Subsidiary governance
Responsibility for subsidiary governance.
Lead the delivery of directors’ duties training for subsidiary company directors.
Provide advice and guidance on processes to ensure adequate governance and compliance for all of the Group’s subsidiary entities.
Lead on the company secretarial aspects of subsidiary corporate events, and any other finance, property, treasury or tax related projects.
Manage corporate structure of the Group (incorporations, strike-offs and liquidations).
Ownership of the subsidiary governance framework, ensuring framework communicated to all relevant stakeholders.
Corporate Compliance
Keep under review legislative, regulatory and corporate governance developments that might affect the plc Board and Committees and/or the operation of the Group’s subsidiary entities, or other areas with are under the company secretarial teams’ purview.
Ensure that all relevant announcements to the London Stock Exchange, including OTC releases, are made in a compliant and timely manner.
Annual Report and Accounts
Lead project on behalf of Company Secretarial team including managing deadlines, allocation of roles and responsibilities and attendance at key meetings.
A key stakeholder in the drafting, review and delivery of the governance sections of the Annual Report.
Ensure that the governance sections of the Annual Report comply with legislation and overall best practice.
Stakeholder relationships
Support the Deputy Company Secretary in managing key internal and external stakeholder relationships.
Annual General Meeting
Support the Deputy Company Secretary in preparations for the AGM, including event management and preparation of AGM related documents.
What you need to know and show
Associate/Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators.
Proven post-qualification and listed company experience gained from working in secretariat teams of FTSE 100s or FTSE 250s.
Excellent working knowledge of the Companies Act 2006, the UK Corporate Governance Code, UK Listing Rules and Disclosure and Transparency Guidance and any related best practice guidance.
Subsidiary governance experience.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong attention to detail.
Good knowledge of Blueprint/GEMS, Diligent Boardbooks, EQ Insider (or similar), Word, Excel and Powerpoint applications.
Ability to think strategically as well as plan and execute successfully.
Commercial awareness in balancing needs of the business, budgetary constraints and legal and risk implications.
Ability to adapt decision-making and influencing styles to a variety of contexts and tasks.
Comfortable with making impactful decisions and effectively prioritise value-adds to the end goals.
Strong leadership skills, able to empower and motivate others, lead by example - role modelling Sainsbury’s values - as well as coaching others and identifying development needs.
Management of colleagues and projects, including budgets as appropriate, to meet and maintain adherence to departmental standards in a cost-effective manner.
Proactively increases own knowledge whilst keeping abreast of external trends and new innovations in the company secretrarial space.
Builds great working relationships with colleagues in the Corporate Services team and with a diverse range of stakeholders across the business.
Able to identify potential issues and resolve most problems, challenging colleagues and third parties where appropriate, escalating rarely.
Provides a clear organisational memory through accurate minutes that are balanced and fair.
Draws upon experience to decide when to intervene to offer a fresh perspective and when to challenge constructively.
Demonstrates resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges.
Recognises and celebrates success to reward and motivate others.
What decisions I can make including budget
Decides the approach for the implementation of BAU and relevant project activities.
Ownership and oversight of all subsidiary governance matters.
Manages individual work priorities and assignment of work to own team member(s).
Signing Goods Not For Resale orders under contract of £5k, subject to the Company Authorisation Policy.
Raising invoice for a supplier £100k.
Manages the day-to-day operational budget relating to the governance of the listed plc and subsidiary entities, with oversight from the Deputy Company Secretary.
Directly or indirectly manages
Manages the Senior Company Secretarial Assistant and Trainee Company Secretary.
Support we will provide
Support from Deputy Company Secretary and rest of the Company secretarial team.
Wider Corporate Services Team and other key internal parties (HR, Finance, IR).
Sainsbury’s policies Intranet (Our Sainsbury’s and My Sainsbury’s Learning).
External training opportunities with external law firms and relevant professional bodies.

LI-AS1

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new - whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:
Starting off with colleague discount, you’ll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury’s, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We’ve also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You’ll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 65% of salary, depending on how we perform (in cash and shares).
Your wellbeing is important to us too. You’ll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. You’ll also receive a company car cash allowance unless you are going to travel 10,000 business miles in your role, then you’ll be able to choose a car. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.
Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.
Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply)

Please refer the Job description for details