Committee Officer

To provide professional secretarial and administrative support to the Policy and ResearchTeam and its committees.

OBJECTIVES

• To ensure the committees within its responsibility operate effectively and efficiently
• To provide wider administrative support to the Team’s committees
• To ensure the Team’s committee administration and governance working practices reflect the BDA’s needs and best practice.
• To support other administrative functions of the Team.

• To act as committee secretary to a number of the Policy and Research Team’sCommittees, providing a professional and high-quality secretariat service, including producing minutes and reports, agreeing agendas, organising papers, recording attendance, logging and monitoring actions, among other tasks.
• To make administrative arrangements for committee meetings including those for which the role is committee secretary and, where necessary, for others in the Team.
• To work closely with the policy lead(s) and chair for the committees for which this role is committee secretary in planning meetings, agreeing agendas, developing and implementing work plans, and logging and monitoring actions.
• To support the policy lead(s) for which this role is committee secretary in managing chair correspondence.
• To maintain membership lists, mailing lists and CARE membership records for all committees within the Team.
• To support and advise all committee members with matters relating to expenses claims, and where necessary, to arrange accommodation and travel for committee members.
• To work with the Elections Manager in relation to the organisation of and conduct of elections to BDA committees.
• To prepare induction materials for members of the committees for which this role is committee secretary and, where necessary, other committees.
• To support the conduct of internal committee elections across the Team.
• To work with the Team to develop approaches and working practices to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in committee administration and governance, with reference to the BDA’s needs and wider best practice.

Team administration

• To be responsible for coordinating the Policy and Research Team’s response to member and public enquiries. This will include allocating responsibility for responses to appropriate team members, ensuring that these allocated responses have been made in a timely manner, and responding to member enquiries personally. This will include providing telephone and email guidance to members on policy issues and a limited range of advice enquiries.
• To support the Head of Policy and Research with arrangements for intra- and inter-team meetings.
• To support members of the team in making administrative arrangements for meetings with external stakeholders.

Knowledge

• To maintain a strong working knowledge of the policy issues relating to the committees for which the role is committee secretary, and a good awareness of the wider policy issues that the Team works on.
• To maintain an awareness of the socio-political context in which the BDA operates, and of the role and functions of trade unions.
• To maintain a strong understanding of the BDA’s committee and governance practices, policy and culture.
• To maintain a good awareness of best practice in governance and committee administration.

Essential

• Excellent organisational and administrative skills, with the ability to manage a complex workload, competing deadlines, plan work effectively, prioritise and anticipating upcoming work needs.
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to write complex and technical minutes and reports.
• Excellent oral communication and interpersonal skills.
• A strong attention to detail and the ability to work quickly and accurately under pressure.
• The ability to work independently and as a member of a team.
• A good working understanding of Microsoft Office and other IT skills.
• An understanding of the purpose and role of trade unions and professional associations.
• A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Desirable

• Experience of acting as a committee secretary or otherwise undertaking committee administration.
• An awareness of the principles of and best practice in committee administration and governance.
• An interest in health policy