DEPARTMENT:
Corporate Services
JOB TITLE:
Governance & Compliance Officer
WORKING BASE:
Samaritans’ Offices, Kingston Road, Ewell, Surrey KT17 2AF
PART 1: JOB PROFILE
1. MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB
 To provide support to Samaritans staff and volunteers on governance, compliance and risk
management matters, including company secretarial, contract review, property, intellectual
property and insurance
 To provide support to Samaritans branches on governance and compliance issues
 To provide support to Samaritans staff and volunteers on data protection issues
2. POSITION IN ORGANISATION
 Reports to the Head of Governance & Legal
 Works closely with the Head of Risk & Compliance, the Executive Director of Corporate
Services and other members of the Corporate Services Department
 Works collaboratively and supportively with other Samaritans staff and volunteers
3. QUALIFICATIONS
 Educated to degree level or equivalent
 Some legal qualification, training or experience would be preferred
4. DESIRABLE SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE
The ideal candidate will have experience in a number of the following areas:
 Working for other charities and/or not-for-profit organisations
 Working in a legal environment
 Explaining difficult concepts and/or providing complex advice in simple and straightforward
terms
 Working with volunteers
The ideal candidate will have a good level of understanding in a number of the following areas:
 The governance and compliance responsibilities of charities
 Contract review and drafting and/or basic contractual principles
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 Company secretarial filings and other duties and general familiarity with company law
 Data protection regulations
The ideal candidate will:
 Be confident working under pressure and able to handle a wide and varied workload
 Be able to work independently and to prioritise their workload effectively
 Have a high level of administrative competence, maintaining and improving complex and
extensive records
 Be able to focus on the detail whilst also seeing the bigger picture
 Have excellent interpersonal skills both written and verbal
5. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
 Strong empathy with Samaritans’ mission, vision and values
 High level of trust, integrity and commitment
 Focused and conscientious
 Strong personal drive and “can do” attitude
 Willing and able to undertake occasional weekend and/or evening work
PART 2: DUTIES & KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Supports staff within the Corporate Services Directorate (CSD) with all governance, compliance
and risk management business including:
 Provision of advice on governance and compliance issues
 Contract review and drafting and management of internal contracting processes
 Insurance
 Advice on property matters such as the arrangements regarding branch property ownership
 Intellectual Property
 Assist with the preparation of papers for the Board of Trustees on governance and
compliance matters
2. Provides the first line of support to Samaritans branches on governance and compliance
matters:
 Assistance with branch issues in relation to their constitutional, insurance, property, health &
safety and other issues
 Provision of timely responses to queries from branches on such matters, seeking advice as
necessary, but personally answering the majority of routine matters
 Maintain the governance and compliance area of Samaritans intranet for branches
3. Acts as assistant company secretary:
 Maintain the statutory registers and makes all required filings with Companies House, the
Charity Commission, OSCR and the CCNI
 Assist with the production of annual reports and returns
 Assist with preparation for and takes minutes of the AGM and EGMs of the charity
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 Administer elections for trustee and committee positions as required
4. Data Protection:
 Support Samaritans’ response to subject access requests
 Provide support in mapping data processes across Samaritans
 Review contracts and raise data protection issues with the Head of Risk and Compliance
 Work with the Head of Risk and Compliance in reviewing other areas of data protection
compliance across Samaritans
5. General duties of a Samaritans’ staff member:
 Contribute to the effective and efficient running of the General Office as appropriate
 Participate, as appropriate, in staff forums and meetings
 Adhere to all Samaritans’ Policies and Procedures
 Represent Samaritans appropriately across the organisation and to the wider community
 Treat all colleagues, volunteers and members of the public with dignity and work within and
adhere to Samaritans’ equal opportunities statement and polices
Please note:
This job description is a statement of requirements at the time of writing and is not contractual. It
should not be seen as precluding future changes after appointment to this role. The job description
will be subject to periodic review with the post-holder to ensure it accurately reflects the duties of the
position
February 2015
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