About us

We are the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We are Great Britain’s national equality body and a United Nations accredited National Human Rights Institution. We were established by the Equality Act 2006 and our role is to protect and promote equality and human rights across England, Scotland and Wales. As a statutory non-departmental public body, we are funded by HM Treasury via the Cabinet Office, but we operate independently of governments. We are an expert and authoritative organisation and are recognised as a centre of excellence for equality and human rights law, evidence and analysis.

We pride ourselves on being a flexible and inclusive employer. We celebrate difference, embrace diversity and support all our people to thrive at work. If this sounds interesting - apply to join us!

Our Vacancy

This role sits within the side of the Planning, Performance and Governance Team, which is responsible for providing support to our Board of Commissioners and its committees.  The team ensures that our Board, committees and executive decision-making groups are able to carry out their roles efficiently and effectively. It also develops policies, procedures and guidance to ensure an effective relationship between the Board, Committees and staff and provides advice on the Commission’s governance framework.

This is a high-profile role within the organisation, providing the post holder with regular exposure to Commissioners and staff across the breadth of the Commission. Working as part of a small and supportive team, the role is one of two Senior Associates reporting to the Board Secretary and assisting them in providing a professional secretariat service to the Board and its committees. The post holder will also play a key role in providing support to a programme of activity to drive improvements in Board effectiveness and will provide wider support across the team.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the Board Secretary (Senior Associate), you will

• Provide secretariat support to the EHRC Board and its Committees, including: planning meetings and events, agenda planning, commissioning papers, meeting logistics, minute taking and tracking meeting actions.  

• Provide project management and administrative support to the Board effectiveness project.

• Coordinate meetings and providing administrative support across the wider team.

• Support the delivery of governance systems and processes.

• Adopt and promote a flexible approach to work, undertaking other areas of responsibility as required ensuring the overall business priorities of the Commission are delivered.

What we are looking for

Working in a high-profile and fast-paced environment, you will need excellent organisational skills and the ability to plan your own workload and manage competing demands and commitments whilst maintaining quality and timeliness. You will also need:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to minute formal meetings and distill and record clearly key points from complex discussion, and attribute actions appropriately.

• Excellent people skills and the ability to form constructive working relationships with people from a wide range of backgrounds and to work collaboratively with staff from across the breadth of the Commission

• Experience of planning meetings and events, including: advance agenda planning; commissioning and securing papers; meeting logistics; minute taking and tracking meeting actions.

• To be IT literate able to confidently use Microsoft Office packages including MS Word, Excel and Outlook.

In return, you will: join a small and supportive team; gain an understanding of and work across the full breadth of the Commission; have regular exposure to EHRC Commissioners and senior staff; play a key role in the delivery of a high-profile corporate project and be encouraged to innovate, think creatively and drive improvements to how we work.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a range of benefits including flexible working patterns, 30 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays (full time FTE), access to the Civil Service Pension Scheme and partnership pension schemes, and enhanced parental leave benefits. More information can be found in the candidate pack.

How to apply

If this sounds like the role for you, please review the attached Candidate Pack for more information and submit your application today!

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an accredited Disability Confident Leader and operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) for candidates with a disability.

Should you wish to apply under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme or request a reasonable adjustment, please indicate this in your application.  

If you require an alternative accessible version of the application form or wish to discuss your application or reasonable adjustment  – please contact us by email at recruitment@equalityhumanrights.com or by telephone on 0161 829 8100.

Diversity in our workforce

At the Commission, we are proud of our inclusive workplace where we celebrate difference, value everyone’s contribution and where people of all backgrounds can thrive.  We do not accept discrimination or harassment, and all our recruitment decisions are based on fair and open competition, with appointment on merit. We are committed to further growing our workplace by making sure that the talent pipelines for our most senior roles are as diverse and inclusive as they can be. We welcome applications from everyone and encourage disabled people and people from an ethnic minority background to apply. This is to ensure we are taking positive action in order to achieve our legitimate aim of a balanced representation in our workforce at senior grades.