Shadow Trustee- Smart Works Newcastle

Smart Works is a dynamic, high profile and fast-growing UK charity that dresses and coaches unemployed women for success at their job interview. We empower each woman by giving her the clothes and the confidence she needs to succeed.

After visiting Smart Works, 63% of clients secure a job within a month, gaining financial independence and transforming their lives.

The Smart Works service is delivered in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Newcastle, Reading and Leeds. Over the past ten years, Smart Works has helped over 35,000 women. It is our mission that any woman who needs our service should be able to find her way to a Smart Works centre.

In April 2022, Smart Works launched a new Three-Year Plan that will see the charity double the number of women helped annually from 5,000 to 10,000 women a year. To achieve this, we will grow our existing centres and open new centres in areas of need.

Smart Works Newcastle operating as a licensee of Smart Works Charity, is led by a Board of passionate and dedicated trustees, who are responsible for the managing the service in the north east. This covers the legal aspects of governance – however don’t worry we don’t expect you to have experience of this you’d be trained and supported. More information about who we are can be found on our Smart Works website.

About the role

A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join the Smart Works Newcastle Board of Trustees as a Shadow Trustee, someone who can gain experience from the current board in an advisory role. This is great progression into an official trustee role.  (A Trustee is a legal term for anyone in a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of others.)

The Shadow Trustee will support in raising the profile of the Smart Works Newcastle service with the aim of helping younger clients aged 16-25 access the service, advocating for and being the voice of young people, helping shape the service to appeal to the younger demographic offering insight and advice. You really need to be able to put yourself in the shoes of a younger person and give that perspective.

This will enable us to continue to deliver our core service and increase the number of women we can support into work by dressing and coaching women for interview and job success.

This is a brilliant development opportunity for someone with the aspiration and potential to become an advocate for young people in the Northeast.

The time commitment for this voluntary, unpaid role is an average of equivalent of around two days per month, with more time given at busy periods of the year, we are flexible to fit around other commitments. There will be a requirement to attend board meetings four times per year (they are usually 3 hours) and share ideas with the staff team, join board meetings, take part in discussions and inform decision-making. There may also be some mini projects which may or may not include sitting on a working group from time to time. We also run brilliant events around fashion, support, coaching and sales which you can get involved in.

You won’t be thrown in at the deep end and you’d be given support and coaching by the experienced Trustees. 

If you feel you have valuable experience and skills to contribute to the Smart Works mission and would like to develop your career and experience in the charity sector and speak for younger people, we would love to hear from you.

General Duties of a Smart Works Trustee

• Work with the Chair of the Board of Trustees to ensure the centre is well-run and managed effectively.
• Provide insights, suggest ideas, encourage scrutiny, and challenge traditional ways of thinking.  
• Provide support to help decide on the plans and strategic direction of the Centre.
• Advocate for the Centre, raising its profile and the awareness of the Smart Works service for young clients in the north east.  
• Build strong working relationships with the Chair, trustees, staff, volunteers and supporters.
• Work in a small team and use your interpersonal and communication skills to support anyone.

“This is a fantastic developmental opportunity to be the voice of young people across Newcastle and the North East and to help shape the Smart Works Newcastle service”. Sarah Lamb, Smart Works Newcastle

Personal Specification

The successful applicant is not required to have any experience just the willingness to support our Smart Works mission.  It is a fantastic opportunity to learn from and be mentored by the current board who will support and nurture them.  The successful applicant will need to be enthusiastic and able to communicate and share their ideas effectively.

They will be a voice for young people in the service. They should be able to advise us from a young person's perspective on things like clothing offer, socials and outreach.

As this is a voluntary, unpaid role it requires a self-starting and proactive approach with the capacity and time to challenge, engage and contribute to the work of the Board in a positive manner.

It is essential that all applicants believe in the mission of Smart Works and align with our core values, share a commitment to fairness and promoting equity, diversity and inclusion, acting at all times with honesty and integrity.

We welcome applicants from talented people of diverse characteristics including age, disability, race and ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or by marginalised group.

Learn More and Application Process

If you are interested in learning more about the role before applying, please reach out to be connected with a member of the Smart Works Newcastle Board of Trustees.

To apply for this position, please click the link above and apply via our website. 

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview w/c 14th October.  From this, selected candidates will meet with the Smart Works Charity CEO for appointment.