Chair and Trustee

If you want a high-impact board role and the opportunity to shape a charity that supports thousands of students on pressing issues across the East of London, then these are the roles for you!

Location: Docklands and Stratford, London

Applications close at 9 a.m. Monday 6th January

Time commitment: Chair: 1 day per month | Trustees: 11 - 12 engagements a year

Who we are.

East London Students’ Union supports around 25,000 students studying at the University of East London. We are based in one of the most diverse boroughs in Europe, and our membership proudly reflects the communities where we are located.

Our purpose is to support and empower our students by representing their views and providing a range of supportive services, events, and activities to make university life the amazing experience it should be. We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to do things differently, empower others, and build a students’ union that can better support our members. Change is continual, challenges are multi-faceted, and solutions require innovative thinking.

Diversity is one of the defining features of life at UEL, with over 180 nationalities represented in our student body. As we grow our staff team, we are passionate about making our teams representative of the students we support and the communities we operate in.

About the roles.

The Chair shares the responsibility with the Board to ensure good governance, guaranteeing that we meet our charitable responsibilities and act in the best interests of the students studying at the University of East London. The Chair helps maintain a positive and welcoming atmosphere on the Board, ensuring the Board works as a team to determine strategic direction, identify priorities, and monitor the progress made by our executive team.

The Chair also acts as a charity figurehead, meeting with university partners annually and celebrating the charity’s work.

Our Trustee will sit on the Board and be involved in strategic planning and oversight of all areas while specialising in financial scrutiny. The Union is investing its reserves into the charity, and the Board must ensure it uses funds to act in the best interests of its members.

Who we are looking for.

We seek a Chair to galvanise members behind a clear strategic mission while supporting our stakeholder management efforts. The incoming Chair will have a coaching mentality—a critical friend who brings additional scrutiny to the executive team while guiding the CEO in building positive, constructive relationships with key university partners. Our Chair will be passionate about all our work and willing to celebrate our impact to further our reputation. The ideal candidate will have a background in the legal or HR profession, adding a professional perspective to the Board.

We also seek a Trustee, someone who will be able to work effectively with our student trustees, to contribute to our financial strategic planning. The ideal candidate should have experience in financial management, and we are open to backgrounds which may include membership, charity or commercial sectors. We welcome applications from first-time trustees.

Emotional intelligence and a coaching mentality are especially valued in these roles.

We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, and we are particularly keen to hear from candidates from Black, Asian, and other ethnic communities, as well as female leaders.

Please click 'Apply via website’ to be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.

Applications for this role close at 9 a.m. Monday 6th January