SFWI Federation Secretary- Job information pack

Information about the Surrey Federation of Women’s Institutes / 1
Job description / 2
Person specification / 3
Remuneration and time commitment / 3
Application process / 3
Annex A:Application form / 4
Annex B:Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form / 7
Annex C:Information for disabled applicants regarding guaranteed interviews / 9

Information about the Surrey Federation of Women’s Institutes

The Surrey Federation of Women’s Institutes (SFWI) is affiliated to the National Federation of WIs, the largest organisation of inspiring women in the country. The Women’s Institute (WI) plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities, including the chance to learn new skills. It also provides opportunities to take part in a wide variety of activities and campaigns on issues that matter to the WI and their communities.

SFWI is both a registered charity and limited company. The Federation consists of about 177 WIs with more than 8,200 members that reflect both the diversity and size of the county. The post-holder will be joining the Federation at an exciting time as it will celebrate its centenary in 2018.

A Board of Trustees and sub-committees manage the working of the Federation and plan and arrange events for members from all areas of the county. Every two years up to 12 volunteers are elected by Surrey WI members to serve on the Board of Trustees. Further members of the Board of Trustees may be co-opted. The Chairman, three Vice Chairmen and the Federation Treasurer are elected annually by the Board members. The trustees are jointly responsible for the Federation’s finances.

Each sub-committee deals with a specialist area. The sub-committees present proposals to the Board for approval before organising activities throughout the county (and sometimes beyond).

  • Home Economics, Craft and Gardening - encourages members of all abilities to improve their knowledge and skill in a variety of subjects, for example, cake decorating, creative card making, lace making, cookery, gardening and many more. They organise demonstrations, lectures and courses.
  • Events, Leisure and Fundraising – organises event that are designed to raise funds for the Federation. They also arrange leisure events.
  • Communications and Publicity – co-ordinates and manages all communications and publicity within Surrey and beyond.

WI Advisers are Surrey members who have been trained by NFWI and appointed by the Federation, in order to support local WIs. They have their own Committee (Membership). The Advisers start new WIs and will visit group and Presidents’ meetings to foster good relationships. Advisers also help with resolutions, run training days and, on request will attend WIs’ annual meetings.

In addition to the Federation Secretary, there are four part-time staff covering the Assistant Federation Secretary, administration assistants and bookkeeper roles. Volunteers also regularly attend the office to undertake roles associated with archiving, finance and communications.

The Federation is based in purpose built offices situated to the North of Guildford town centre, close to the green belt, nestled in a modern housing development. The site was formerly that of the Queen Elizabeth Barracks. In the vicinity there is an area of parkland and a fitness centre. Tea and coffee making facilities and a fridge are available on site. The office operates 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm on Fridays but is only open to visitors between 10am and 3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdaysalthough courses may run outside these hours. Additionally, the office is closed to visitors on public holidays, in August and over the Christmas period. Due to the location of the headquarters building the post-holder may find it helpful to have their own transport. The office space is on the first floor and there is no lift.

Federation Secretary Job Description

Main Objectives:

  • To provide secretarial and administrative support to the Federation board of Trustees and sub-committees.
  • To manage the administration of the Federation’s Headquarters.

Accountable to:

  • The Board of Trustees
  • Responds to the Federation Chairman, Federation Vice-Chairmen, Federation Treasurer and the sub-committee chairmen with regard to their specific areas of responsibility.

General Duties:

  • providing secretarial and administrative support to the Board of Trustees and to sub-committees as necessary. This includes producing minutes for Board of Trustee meetings and ensuring that sub-committee meetings are also minuted;
  • working together with the Federation Chairman to organise Federation Council Meetings and Autumn Federation Meetings;
  • dealing effectively with enquiries and complaints from WI members and others or refer them to the Federation Chairman or the appropriate sub-committee Chairman.
  • maintaining an office diary of events and ensure that it is acted upon;
  • maintaining an efficient manual and computer filing system;
  • setting up the mailing distribution;
  • monitoring applications for events and classes and supervise ticketing, as necessary.
  • keeping the list of WI presidents, secretaries and treasurers up to date;
  • ensuring that all office works instructions are kept up to date and re- issued when appropriate;
  • undertaking the roles of promoter of the Federation’s 300 club, key holder and bank signatory;
  • taking responsibility for personal development and compliance with the Federation’s policies and procedures; and
  • perform any other reasonable duties as requested from time to time.

Note: This job description outlines a range of main duties and will be reviewed a minimum of once a year. It is not exhaustive and can be varied in consultation with the post holder in order to reflect changes in the role or the organisation.

Person Specification

Essential

  • Previous experience of the use of email, Microsoft Office Word and ExCell in an office environment;
  • Proven track record of accuracy and consistently meeting weekly, monthly and annual deadlines.

Desirable

  • Previous experience of working in a charitable organisation and/or customer service environment.

Previous experience of the Women’s Institute is not essential as a handover from the current job-holder and training will be available.

Remuneration and time commitment

Salary:Around £16,000, dependent upon experience plus option of a NEST pension, if eligible.

Time commitment:

  • The hours are 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday and 9.30am to 4pm on Friday, including one hour per day for a lunch break, which equates to a working week of 29.5 hours plus five hours for lunch breaks. (The hours are designed to avoid lone working which would present a health and safety risk.)
  • Additional time may be worked subject to pre-authorisation by the Federation Chairmanto cover such occasions when you are requested to work extended hours, for example, to cash up after the Annual Council Meeting and Autumn Federation Meeting.

Leave entitlement: 28 days plus bank holidays per calendar year. The office is usually closed between Christmas and New Year and you may have to take some annual leaveduring this time as agreed with the Board of Trustees.

Application Process

Please submit your application by noon on Tuesday 30 May by email to or by post to The Secretary, SFWI, 6 Paris, Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 9JX.

Your application should include:

  • completed application form (annex A) including details of two referees who know you well, one should be your current or most recent employer and neither should be related to you or your immediate family;
  • your cv including your employment history for the past five years, explaining any gaps in employment and relevant qualifications;
  • a completed equal opportunities monitoring form (annex B) which will be removed from your application before your application is considered by the panel; and
  • a guaranteed interview form (annex C), if applicable.

Interview

Interviews will be held on Monday 19 June (although other arrangements will be made for candidates unable to attend on this date).

Annex A: Job Application Form

Please complete legibly and in black ink as the form may be photocopied.

Personal and Contact Details

Title / Surname
Forenames / Name usually known by
Full address
Email address
Home tel. no. / Mobile tel. no.
If you are not a member of the European Economic Area, please state your legal entitlement to work in the UK

Recent employment history

Name and address of current/most recent employer
Type of business
Your job title
Your main duties and responsibilities
Dates of employment / From: To:
Salary
Reason for leaving
Notice period

Please attach a full cv listing all your previous employers for the last five years, explain any gaps in your employment history and your relevant qualifications.

Relevant experience, training and skills

Please state in no more than 200 words, the reasons why you wish to apply for this post, details of the experience/training/skills that you have which meet the requirements of the job description and person specification and any additional information which supports your application.

Other information

Please state below any preferences or restrictions you may have in working hours.
When would you be available to commence employment?
If you have any holidays booked, please give dates.
If you are unable to attend for interview on Monday 19 June, please give dates after 19June when you are available for interview.
Any reasonable adjustments required for interview.

References

All offers of employment are subject to two references satisfactory to SFWI. Please give below the details of two referees, one must be your present or most recent employer and the other should be someone in a position of responsibility who has known you either professionally or personally for a period of more than one year. Neither referee should be related to you.

Name / Name
Job title / Job title
Company name / Company name
Address / Address
Tel. no. / Tel. no.
Email (essential) / Email (essential)
Relationship to you / Relationship to you
Can we approach at this stage? Y/N / Can we approach at this stage? Y/N
If no, when / If no, when

Data Protection Act 1998

The information on this form and associated forms will be used as follows:

  • Copied to interviewing panel and accessed by relevant Trustees and members of staff;
  • Used for ethnic and gender monitoring;
  • In the case of non-appointment it will be retained for a period not exceeding 12 months
  • If appointed, the information contained on this form will be placed on file and will be accessed as business need dictates by Trustees and staff, for example, for payroll.
  • By signing this form you are agreeing to these arrangements. You will also have given explicit consent to SFWI to retain information relating to gender, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs and health.

Declaration

I understand that the appointment is subject to the information on this form being correct and I declare this to be the case. If any statement given is false or misleading I understand that this will lead to dismissal.

I attach the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form and understand that any appointment is subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks relevant to the post applied for.

Signed / Date

Annex B: Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

Note: this form will not be seen by the selection panel.

Surname / Forename
Date of Birth(DD/MM/YY) / Gender / Male
Female
Other
Gender Identity
Do you consider yourself to have a transgender history? / Yes
No
Prefer not to say
Disability
Do you consider that you have a disability? / Yes
No
Prefer not to say
Ethnic Background
Which ethnic background do you most identify with (please tick one box only)
Asian / Bangladeshi
Indian
Pakistani
Other Asian background
(specify if you wish)
Black / Caribbean
African
Other Asian background
(specify if you wish)
Mixed Ethnic Background / Black African and White
Black Caribbean and White
Asian and White
Any other Mixed Ethnic Background
(specify if you wish)
White / Any other White Background
(specify if you wish)
Any other ethnic background (specify if you wish)
Prefer not to say
Religion or belief
Which religion or belief do you most associate with? (please tick one box only)
Bahai / Buddhist / Christian / Hindu
Jain / Jewish / Muslim / Sikh
None or atheist / Other (specify if you wish)
Prefer not to say
Sexual Orientation
Which sexual orientation do you most associate with? (please tick one box only)
Bisexual / Gay man
Gay Women/Lesbian / Heterosexual
Prefer not to say

Page Intentionally Blank

Annex C: Information for disabled applicants regarding guaranteed interviews

SFWI is committed to interviewing all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and to consider them on their abilities. The Guaranteed Interview Scheme ensures that any candidate who meets the essential criteria for the job will be guaranteed an interview alongside other shortlisted candidates.

If you consider that you have a disability and would like to take advantage of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme please complete the form below and return it with your application form.

If you have any questions or want to discuss your application in confidence, please contact Katie Kerr at SFWI HQ on 01483 233230 on Wednesdays between 11am and 3pm or on clearly stating ‘CONFIDENTIAL – for Katie Kerr’s attention’ in the subject line.

I would like to take advantage of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme:

Name
Signature / Date
Nature of disability

1