Senior Assistant Company Secretary - UK Bank
We’re a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,500 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.
Role Overview:
We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Senior Assistant Company Secretary to join a dedicated team focused on delivering high-quality corporate governance and company secretarial services to Starling Bank.
We are looking for someone who is passionate about governance, continuously seeking improvement and interested in working in a fast-paced environment as part of a collaborative team. Reporting to the Director of Governance (UK Bank), you will play a key role in supporting the effective running of the Bank’s board and committee governance framework, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and best practice, and frequently interacting with board directors and members of the senior management team.
The successful candidate will lead by example and demonstrate a commitment to excellence. As a skilled communicator, with a track record of ensuring alignment and common purpose, you will be able to manage and build relationships with senior stakeholders, ensuring a clear focus on our strategic agenda.
You will have strong financial services (ideally regulated) and/or banking experience.
The Senior Assistant Company Secretary will have two direct reports.
Key Responsibilities- Supporting the management of the Bank’s corporate governance framework, ensuring compliance with the Companies Act 2006, FCA and PRA regulations, and relevant governance codes.
- Providing high-quality company secretarial and governance support to the Starling Bank Board Audit Committee and Executive Risk Committee, managing end to end processes, including preparing agendas, collating and distributing papers, drafting high-quality minutes, and maintaining timely information flows with senior management.
- Managing direct reports responsible for end to end governance support for the Bank’s key executive level risk committees, fostering a culture of high-performance, excellence, collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Overseeing the production of timely and accurate minutes for executive level risk committees, providing quality assurance reviews and ensuring alignment with Group standards.
- Assisting in the development and implementation of governance policies, frameworks and procedures to support best practice.
- Supporting director onboarding, training, and ongoing development to enhance board effectiveness.
- Monitoring governance and regulatory developments, providing insight and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
- Supporting the annual production of the Bank’s Corporate Governance Statement.
- Overseeing Secretariat input for KYC, internal and external audit, assurance and regulatory information requests and ensuring timely responses thereto.
- Making suggestions for improvements and efficiencies to provide optimal support to the business, board and executive committee structures.
Requirements
Qualifications- A qualified chartered secretary (ACG or FCG) or equivalent legal / governance qualification.
- Minimum 3-5 years’ proven experience in a regulated financial services environment, ideally within banking.
- Strong technical knowledge of UK company law, governance best practices, and regulatory requirements.
- Exceptional minute-taking skills with an ability to write concise and accurate minutes in short order.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage confidently with board members and senior stakeholders.
- Experience of supervising and managing direct reports.
- Ability to operate at pace and adapt to a fast changing environment.
- Experience of using board portal software (BoardVantage preferred).
- Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including minute-taking and drafting.
- Attention to detail, with a commitment to excellence and maintaining high standards of accuracy.
- Sound judgement and discretion in handling sensitive and confidential information.
- Able to influence and drive governance improvements.
- Proactive and solution-oriented, with a focus on continuous improvement.
- Collaborative, able to build strong relationships across diverse teams.
- Resilient and adaptable to changing priorities and regulatory environments.
- 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you)
- An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
- Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
- 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
- Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
- Life insurance at 4x your salary
- Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
- Generous family-friendly policies
- Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
- Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work and Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships
About Us
You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.
We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.
Starling Bank is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling Bank are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
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