Use your professional experience, life skills and passion for education to make a difference to over 5000 students a year! Join our Board in a role that offers great opportunities for personal and professional development.

What will you be doing?

New College Durham is looking for volunteers to join its Board of Governors and use their personal and professional knowledge and experience to shape the strategic direction of the College.

The Board is responsible for the success of the College. Its role is to establish a vision, mission and strategy, provide financial oversight, hold the College’s senior leaders to account for the quality of education and ensure risks are managed appropriately. As a Governor you will support and challenge our executive management team and help the Board make decisions that will impact on student achievement, their longer-term outcomes and the future direction and growth of the College. We want people who bring new ideas, strategic thinking, are willing to ask questions and speak their mind - we are ambitious, dynamic and forward focused and we hope you are too.

This voluntary role offers great opportunities for personal and professional development. We will work with you to align your expertise and interests with the Board’s needs. You will receive ongoing training, have access to a mentor and be reimbursed for expenses. You would be expected to attend six corporation meetings throughout the year, one or two committee meetings per term and the Annual Strategic Planning Day. We would also encourage you to get involved with College life by attending College events to meet students, staff and stakeholders such as award ceremonies, staff and student conferences, performances, exhibitions and stakeholder events.

You will be part of a thriving organisation with an excellent reputation and you will gain experience working alongside our Senior Leadership Team and Board members from a wide variety of backgrounds.

What are we looking for?

We welcome applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds - people who can contribute their professional and specialist skills to the Board as well as their lived experience. We are keen to recruit a diverse Board with a mix of skills and perspectives to ensure effective governance, supportive challenge, sound decision-making and membership that reflects our wider community.

We are currently seeking applications in particular from those with experience in health and life sciences, digital, STEM disciplines, HR/people management, sustainability and green skills manufacturing but we operate in a fast-moving environment and would encourage applications from all individuals with a passion for education whatever their skill set.

What difference will you make?

Our Board members (Governors) are vital to guaranteeing our students’ success. They help ensure that the College offers the best qualifications and has the most up to date resources, so our students develop the skills and knowledge that employers want.

As a Board member you will use your skills and experience to help our senior leaders shape the College’s strategy and meet our vision of becoming a leading provider of Further and Higher Education in the North East region, nationally and internationally. You will contribute to the College’s wider strategic plan including finance, estates, IT, HR, curriculum and student experience and help us make the big decisions that will drive the future direction of the College.

It's an exciting time to join the Board with a number of major initiatives in development as we continue to grow our high quality professional technical and general education provision and invest in our fantastic facilities.

Before you apply

Please provide a cover letter detailing why you are applying for this role and summarising the skills and experience you could offer the Board of Governors of New College Durham. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an informal interview with members of the Search and Governance Committee and a tour of the College. They will also be asked to complete our additional skills audit form as part of this process.

If you have any questions about this opportunity please contact us via Reach.

Please note this role is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Causes

Education

Organisation type:

Educational body

New College Durham is a high performing Further and Higher Education college both educationally and financially with strong building blocks in place for future development. Following the...

Governors wanted to shape the future of our College and help our students achieve success