Co-Chair Role

ABOUT THE ROLE

The co-chairs have a unique role. Together, you are the head of the board and a face and advocate for the organisation. You are the ones we may call to mull things over, to ask advice and to lead at the front towards our goals and objectives.

We see the co-chair roles as an opportunity for two people to bring different experiences and outlooks. This could also offer an opportunity for someone who might feel less confident taking this role on alone.

There is a big responsibility attached to joining a board. You are ultimately responsible for the organisation and ensuring we meets our aims. You manage the risks register and our funding agreements with our funders including Arts Council England.

You will be a key representative, champion and advocate for Strike A Light and keep challenging us to be the best we can be.

This is a voluntary role. Chair roles require a bit more time and take on more responsibility than a typical Trustee role – you will:

• lead meetings
• be directly in contact with some of our funders
• work closely with the Executive Team

This role typically takes up to 2 days of your time every couple of months (12 days per year) – although we hope that it being a joint role will help support with the time commitment.

CRITERIA

We want two people who share our vision for the organisation and are passionate about the change we want to see. As this is a joint role, we wouldn’t expect you to hit all of these criteria. A great mix of these would be fantastic:

• Background in a similar organisation
• Gloucester resident/local knowledge
• Experience of a cultural or business context and with experience leading or managing an organisation
• Knowledge and understanding of Gloucester and the stakeholders within it
• Someone who is happy to lead and feels confident in managing meetings
• Understand and accept the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of being a chair (we can arrange training if needed)
• Lead on making sure that Strike A Light is well governed and complies with it’s constitutional and charitable objectives
• Championing our vision for community co-creation, letting artists be artists, participation and talent development
• Leading the strategic aims of the business through an exciting time
• Monitor and embed our agreement with the Arts Council and help us embed our investment principle plan
• Support our financial planning and accounts
• Be part of a wider vision to do things differently and see a step-change in Gloucester

The co-chair role runs for a maximum term of up to 10 years.

We’re not expecting you to do all of these things, but if there is anything on this list that speaks to you or sparks your interest, we would love to hear from you. You might think that you can’t be a Chair – maybe because of your age or experience or anything else. But if you feel passionate about what we do and want to get stuck in, YOU CAN APPLY. We would love to hear from you.

If you want to be involved but feel Co-Chair isn’t right for you, we are also recruiting for trustees. More information can be found on our website: Strike A Light // Home​

​APPLICATION PROCESS

Deadline: Thursday 14 September 2023

If you’d like to apply, we just want to hear 2 things from you:

You can send these to us in whatever format is easiest or preferable for you: you can put together a CV and a written cover letter; you can share your LinkedIn page and a voice note saying why you’re interested in the role; you can make a short video or audio recording telling us a bit about you and send us the link – whatever you feel happiest with.

Please send to [email protected]

If you meet the basic criteria, we will arrange a conversation with a member of the Executive Team and a current board member. We will do this at a time which works around your commitments.

If we’re all happy, you’ll then be invited to observe a board meeting. If you’d like to formally join as a board member after that meeting you’ll be voted in. You will also have an induction with the Executive Director to introduce you to the organisation.

We are particularly interested in applications from Global Majority, Working Class, d/Disabled or LGBTQ+ people as these are currently underrepresented groups in our workforce.

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