Recruitment of Trustees

Parrhesia Inc

North Yorkshire (Hybrid)

Voluntary unpaid role, expenses paid

Job description

Parrhesia Inc is looking for a new Trustee to expand its Board of Trustees.

You will be joining an active and dedicated Board, currently comprising eleven people, and will play a pivotal role in shaping Parrhesia Inc and supporting our work. This is a great opportunity to be part of a professional and passionate team and to share your skills as well as learn new ones.

Closing date: by 9am on Monday 29th January 2024

About Parrhesia Inc

Parrhesia Inc (PI) is a UK based charity, founded as a CIO in February 2021 (reg no 1193561), focussed on the promotion of human rights of whistleblowers in the UK, and in particular the right to freedom of expression. Parrhesia is an Ancient Greek term meaning “to speak freely” implying not only freedom of speech, but the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at great personal risk. We believe it is a fundamental tenet of a modern democracy, and our vision is of a society where those who speak out about wrongdoing are protected and those who attack them are held to account and sanctioned.

Our work is focused on championing evidence-based policymaking surrounding whistleblowing. We co-ordinate Areas of Research Interest (ARI) in all aspects of whistleblowing in order to bring together the community of interest, answer the key questions posed by policymakers and influence the formulation of policy and effective legislation.

Summary of the role

Charity trustees share ultimate responsibility for governing a charity and directing how it is managed and run.

The responsibilities of trustees are:

• Ensuring that the charity has a clear vision, mission and strategic direction and is focused on achieving these
• Being responsible, with the CEO and other trustees, for the charity’s performance and culture
• Ensuring the charity complies with all legal and regulatory requirements
• Acting as guardians of the charity’s assets by taking due care of their security and proper use
• Ensuring that the charity’s governance is of the highest possible standard
• In addition to your statutory duties, each trustee will use any specific skills, knowledge and experience they have to help the Board of Trustees reach sound decisions and manage risk. This will involve scrutinising Board papers, leading discussions, focusing on key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives, or other issues in which the trustee has special expertise.

What we are looking for

We are looking to recruit trustees in line with our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy. This means we are looking to have gender parity on the board, and to recruit members from under-represented communities. We are looking for Board members who bring diversity and fresh perspectives to Parrhesia Inc in relation to race, sexuality, class, disability and youth.
We are looking for individuals who bring:

• Commitment to the work of Parrhesia Inc and the role of trustee
• A willingness to contribute fully to all the meetings and dedicate the time required outside of meetings
• Strategic vision
• Good, independent judgement
• An ability to think creatively
• A willingness to speak your mind
• An understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship
• An ability to work effectively as a member of a team

The current Board is strong in the areas of legal, communications, advocacy/government relations, and civil law enforcement. With the retirement of a key Trustee we are particularly interested in recruiting individuals with skills in the following areas:

• Charity governance
• Charity risk and compliance
• Finance and accounting skills and fundraising
• Organisational development in the charity sector
• This is an unpaid role, but reasonable travel expenses will be refunded to attend in person Board meetings.

Time commitment

You would be expected to attend quarterly Board meetings and quarterly audit and risk sub-committee meetings (8 meetings in total), with at least one in person, in London or York, and the others remotely. You should be interested in supporting the development of Parrhesia’s aims, both through strategic input and specific advice based on your background and experience.

Application Process

Please send your CV and a covering email detailing your relevant skills and experience to the Chief Executive, Ian Foxley and the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Arpita Dutt at trustee@parrhesia.org.uk

Shortlisted applicants will be notified by 7 February 2024.

An online interview will be held during the weeks of 12 and 19 February 2024. Please provide your dates of availability in this period.

The successful candidate will be expected to attend an induction in advance of their first Trustees meeting. The first trustees meeting will be in mid-March 2024.