Board Support Assistant

Are you ready to chart your own career path? At SJP we need talented individuals like yourself to support our evolving culture. If you’re seeking an employer that is passionate about excellence, innovation and autonomy, SJP could be the place for you.

At a glance:

Location: Cirencester or London with hybrid working

Workplace Type: Hybrid

Employment Type: Permanent

Seniority: Associate

Who We Are

People have always been at the heart of St. James’s Place, we value long-term relationships and we are a home for people who care about the future – financially, environmentally and socially. These core values have enabled us to become a leading FTSE 100 Wealth Management company.

The role:

The Board Support Assistant role is critical to the smooth functioning of the corporate governance framework, providing clear, informative and timely communications and robust record keeping to enable senior stakeholders to operate effectively with full administrative support.

Working closely and collaboratively with the Board Support and Operations Manager, other Board Support Assistants and Non-Executive Director (NED) and Meeting Support Assistant, you’ll provide dedicated administrative and logistical support to boards of directors, the Group Executive Committee (“GEC”), and the wider Company Secretariat team, ensuring the effective and timely coordination of meetings, documentation, and associated governance processes.

What you'll be doing:

Key responsibilities are split into three areas:

Agenda and Board paper management

Own the production of board and committee packs allocated to the role holder through to final publication of the packs, including:

• Liaising with the NED and Meeting Support Assistant and Board Support and Operations Manager to ensure agendas align with the practical logistics for meetings (e.g. meeting invitations via the CoSec calendar, timings of attendance, attendees, means of attendance, breaks and catering).
• Liaising with the Secretary for the meeting and the members of the Company Secretariat to ensure the agenda is updated as and when changes are made.
• Liaising with owner/sponsor of agenda items to confirm deadlines, determine what papers will be received and timing considerations.
• Issuing formal calls for papers, setting out all of the key information required by sponsors/authors/presenters of papers.
• Tracking the governance path of papers through to receipt.
• Keeping meeting Secretary and other relevant stakeholders aware of progress with packs for meetings, ensuring that expectations are managed around the timing for final approval and issuance.
• Informing impacted presenters when changes are made to agendas.
• Reviewing papers received to ensure there are no errors.
• Ensuring cover sheets have been received for items and that they accurately reflect the papers provided.
• Collating, formatting and uploading meeting papers to SJP’s chosen Board portal in accordance with deadlines and version control protocols.
• Issue joining instructions and relevant excerpts of packs to attendees of meetings.

Wider meeting management

• Assist Secretaries of meetings and other members of the Company Secretariat involved with meetings with preparation, including communications with attendees regarding timings, means of attending (virtual or in person) and AV/technical support required on the day of the meeting.
• Ahead of meetings, prepare first draft of Chair’s scripts/agendas for meetings.
• Preparation of skeleton minutes to Secretaries of meetings ahead of the meeting as required.
• Management of action lists for boards and committees, updating actions following meetings, adding new actions.
• Following meetings, notifying presenters or providers of papers of the outcomes of the Board’s discussions and decisions on approvals sought.
• Preparation of certified extracts of specific sections of minutes as required.
• Circulation of draft and final minutes to boards and committees, as required.
• Arrange for the signing of final approved minutes of boards and committee meetings.

Corporate administration and Company Secretariat operations

• Where required, update annual planners for boards and committees.
• Maintain accurate and confidential contact databases for board and committee members, executive assistants, and external stakeholders.
• Coordinate signature processes for board/committee approvals and governance documentation.
• Assist with the maintenance and development of the Company Secretariat team’s operational systems, tools and processes.
• Maintain and update Company Secretariat assets utilised by the wider business (e.g. entity corporate structure charts).
• Support the Board Support and Operations Manager and all other members of the Company Secretariat with the fulfilment of other administration requirements.

Essential Criteria:

• Familiarity with corporate governance environments and the expectations of senior executive stakeholders.
• Experience supporting senior executives, Board members, or governance professionals in a fast-paced, regulated business.
• Proficient in MS Office and governance systems (e.g. Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe, Visio).
• High attention to detail and process discipline, particularly in handling sensitive governance documentation.
• Professional, discreet, and composed when dealing with senior stakeholders and confidential information.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience using Board Intelligence tool.
• Legal/Compliance understanding.

Flexible Working

We know that everyone works best in different ways, at different times and in different environments. We value all of our employees and appreciate that everyone is different, and at different stages within their career. Recognising this, we have introduced a hybrid working policy to provide greater flexibility for part-time work, job-sharing, remote working, and flexibility on hours. Our people are encouraged to work in a flexible way that suits their lifestyle, so please ask the question and start a conversation!

Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.

Why work for us?

Our Rewards

In addition to an attractive salary and eligibility to participate in the discretionary annual bonus opportunities, you will also receive an excellent benefit package including:

• Non-Contributory Pension – 10% (increasing with length of service) with further pension matching
• Meaningful protection benefits with real value, such as 10X life cover, PHI, and critical illness.
• Best in class terms and conditions including 6 months paid maternity and paternity leave.
• Private Medical and Dental Insurance
• 28 days holiday entitlement plus bank holidays (based on full-time equivalent) with the option to buy an additional up to 5 days
• Discretionary bonus scheme dependent on company and personal performance, varied by level
• Not applicable to fixed term contracts (standard uplift applies in lieu of the protection benefits)

Our Culture

Our culture is the glue that binds us together - It’s one of our biggest assets and one of the biggest reasons for our success. It’s underpinned by core values of doing the right thing, being the best version of ourselves and investing in long term relationships.

We want to embrace diverse backgrounds and experiences to connect with clients, solve problems and innovate. We raise our voice on the things that matter to us and drive change from the front. Contributing to our inclusive culture is vital, ensuring a space for everyone to be their authentic self, no compromises.

In all we do, we consider how our work affects the communities in which we belong. Over 96% of our group employees are involved in supporting our communities through financial education, charitable giving and volunteering. Over 80% of all our employees and Partners donate each month to our Charitable Foundation, which is now the 3rd largest corporate charity in UK.

SJP are delighted to have signed The Armed Forces Covenant, and we are active members of LGBT Great, 30% club, The Diversity Project, Disability Confident and more! Find out more: https://www.sjp.co.uk/careers/life-at-sjp

Our Awards:

We understand it’s important to be proud of the company you work for, that’s why we’re proud to share with you some of our recent awards:

• Wealth Manager of the Year – Growth Investor Awards 2021
• Best Wealth Manager – Shares Awards 2021
• Championing LGBTQ Inclusion - Financial Adviser Diversity in Finance Awards 2020
• Top 75 Employer - Social Mobility Foundation Employer Index 2021

To find out more visit: https://www.sjp.co.uk/about-us/our-awards-and-recognition

How To Apply

To apply for this role please click on the Apply button below.

We occasionally close vacancies early due to high volumes of applications. We would therefore recommend you complete your application prior to the closing date which is for guidance only.

What's next?

If you're excited about this role and believe you have the skills and experience we're looking for, we'd love to hear from you! Please submit an application by clicking ‘apply’ below and our team will be in touch.

As a business regulated by the FCA we would advise you to familiarise yourself with the conduct regulations and in particular consumer duty obligations prior to an interview with SJP.