Young Trustee

Buglife searches for young trustees (18-30)

Position: Young trustee
Location: UK (Remote/Hybrid meetings)
Application Deadline: 17 November 11.59pm GMT

Salary: Volunteer role

Join us in our mission to protect invertebrate species and promote a wildlife-rich planet. We are seeking young trustees (18-30) for a year long shadow trusteeship on Buglife’s board, after which you can choose to become a permanent board member.

About Buglife

Buglife is Europe’s only charity dedicated to the conservation of all invertebrates. We aim to stop the extinction of these vital species and foster sustainable populations through habitat protection, species recovery, and advocacy.

Role overview

We would love to hear from young people interested in gaining experience as trustees of a charity board. As part of our commitment to diversifying our board, but recognising the barriers to young people interested in trusteeship due to the time commitment, lack of financial compensation, and the support required for young people with less experience, we are committing to taking on two young people as shadow trustees.

As a shadow trustee, you will play a crucial role in overseeing the organisation’s management and administration, contributing to strategic decisions that support our vision of a thriving natural world. The successful candidates will help us shape the shadow trusteeships in terms of the time commitment they can make to the boardand the areas of governance they would like to be more engaged in. This will be discussed during the interview.

Please see the Trustee Recruitment Pack for more details on our website.

Skills specification

We are looking for a diverse range of skills to enrich our board. While previous trusteeship experience is not required for our young trusteeships, any of the following areas of expertise would be valuable:

• Change management: Revising and recreating strategies; changes in leadership, restructuring organisations; globalisation.
• Community engagement: Engaging communities in rural and urban areas; developing memberships.
• Conservation: Studies and/or practical experience of conservation in the UK, particularly invertebrates.
• Digital communications: Digital communications and/or marketing; social media growth; digital campaigns.
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI): Lived experience of an identity marginalised in the UK; developing or contributing to better EDI practice both internally within an organisation and/or wider engagement and communications.

·        Financial skills and business planning experience including accounts, year end audit, investments, finance systems and compliance.

·        An understanding of charity finance and its regulatory environment and experience of organisation finance and fundraising.

• HR: HR management and expertise; organisational procedures; employment law.
• Legal: Legal duties of trustees and best practice in governance; charity law and compliance.

Role commitment

The time commitments for shadow trustees will be finalised with the successful candidates, but as a guideline, this is the commitment for our current trustees:

• Attend three half-day meetings and one full-day meeting per year, along with preparation time for board materials.
• Participate in occasional additional meetings and committees.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to attracting a diverse board and encourage applications from young people, people of colour, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and people with disabilities.

As part of our commitment to attracting and considering a diverse pool of candidates, we are operating a Guaranteed Interview Scheme which means that all candidates who are people of colour and/or people with disabilities, who share this information with us via the candidate survey on our website and opt in to the scheme will be met for a first stage interview if they have experience or training in any of the skills specified. This will be a 15-minute online interview with one of the recruitment team.

How to Apply
Please complete the candidate survey on our website to help us measure diversity (and opt in to the Guaranteed Interview Scheme if you are eligible)

1. We invite you to apply for these rolesvia our website in your own unique way be that cover letter (no more than 450 words) or something more creative letting us know what skills or experience you have that aligns with the ‘skills specification’ above.
2. A CV (no longer than two sides of A4).

Webinar

We will be holding a webinar to talk to interested candidates and answer your questions about trusteeship on 10 November, online at 6-7pm BST, before the application deadline 17 November 11.59pm BST. This will be an opportunity to ask us questions about Buglife and trusteeship and figure out if we would be a good fit for you.

Register for the webinar here via the website.

If you cannot make this webinar but would still like to find out more before applying, please email us and we will do our best to arrange an alternative opportunity.

Expenses

While this role is unpaid, Buglife will cover travel expenses to meetings, overnight accommodation, and other necessary costs incurred while fulfilling trustee duties.

Join Us

Help us save the small things that run the planet. Your expertise can make a significant difference in conservation efforts.

Please see the Trustee Recruitment Pack on our website for more details

For any questions or to request further information, please contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you!