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Women in Football is delighted to announce that we are seeking applications for the third edition of the Vikki Orvice Memorial Director Development Scheme.

Vikki Orvice was a founding member of Women in Football, and a trailblazer for women working in the game, and determined to stand up for those who lacked confidence, and needed a guiding hand.

We are looking to appoint an individual for one year who can assist us by acting as our Company Secretary while also receiving our support to become board-ready.

Women in Football will help the successful applicant develop the skills necessary to seek a board position by working closely with our board for a year.

 

About Women in Football

Our vision is a football industry where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential.

Our purpose is to be the leading global organisation driving gender equality and inclusion in football. We do this by partnering and supporting the football industry with insight and expertise to create a stronger, brighter and more diverse future for football. While others champion the need for change, Women in Football are the ones driving it.

Our rapidly growing community of over 7,000 women, men and non-binary people working in and around the football industry is our superpower. It’s this diverse and inspiring community that supports and champions their peers, that gives us a hopeful glimpse into the future of a more diverse football industry.

 

About our work

We work with both individuals and the football industry to create change, celebrating successes, calling out discrimination and developing people, through our events and networking opportunities, training, mentorship, Corporate Membership and bespoke solutions.

 

About this opportunity

What we’d like you to do

You will help us to ensure that our governance arrangements run smoothly, and you will be involved in both strategic and operational aspects of our governance.

You will help the Chair and the CEO prepare the agendas and supporting packs for our board meetings. You’ll come to and minute the board meetings. You’ll help the WIF staff members who support our committee meetings with best governance practice.

You’ll also play a full part in board meetings, where we’ll encourage and support you to express your views on all items on the agenda.

More strategically, you’ll help WIF with wider governance issues, which may include a review of our articles of association, and conversion to charitable status (or the establishment of a charitable foundation).

The role is for 12 months, and we’d like you to commit to working around 8–12 hours a month for us. The majority of the work (apart from meetings) can be done fairly flexibly around your work and personal commitments.  Our board meetings are a combination of in-person and online, and your attendance at these will be required.

As with our full board positions, this role is unpaid, but reasonable expenses will be paid.

 

How we will help you

You will be fully supported by the entire board. We will help you to develop the skills you need to seek a board position at the end of your year with us.

A board member will be assigned to working with you to oversee your programme of development. You’ll also be able to receive mentoring from another director on a topic of interest to you (not necessarily governance). We can also offer executive coaching to you.

You’ll get a free place on our highly regarded Leadership Course – and if all goes well, we’ll support you to become a tutor on this course. You’ll also have priority attendance at all WIF’s other events and courses.

Our board includes one practising and one non-practising lawyer and we also have an external law firm – so you’ll get all the support with governance issues that you need.

 

About you

We’re not looking for the finished article, but we’re looking for someone who has got a bit of experience under their belt. You won’t have acted as a director before, but you would like to one day join a board. We’ll help you get there.

Having said that, we are looking for someone with the technical skills or experience to undertake a company secretary role. So, you may be Chartered Governance Institute-qualified or studying for your Chartered Governance Institute qualifications, or you may be a lawyer or trainee lawyer. Or you may already have experience of being a company secretary, even if you don’t have any formal qualifications. We are also particularly interested in people who have a playing background in the elite women’s game.

You’ll also be a Women in Football member – so if you’re not already, sign up. (It’s free!)

Diversity, equality and inclusion are in our DNA. We celebrate multiple approaches and multiple points of view, and everyone is welcome. If you work with us, you’ll be empowered to bring your whole, authentic self to work – to be you. We know that this is how you will thrive, and that if you thrive, WIF will thrive.

We want our workplace to look like the communities we serve. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and especially encourage applications from people whose ethnicity is underrepresented in the football workforce, people who identify as LGBTQ+, disabled people, people of faith, and people who have experienced exclusion or marginalisation.

 

Recruitment process and timetable

If you’re interested – and we really hope you are – then please send us your CV and a covering letter. Your letter should set out where you are in your career, why you think you’d get value from this opportunity, and how you meet the skills and experience we’re looking for.

You should send your application to eileen@womeninfootball.co.uk.

We’ll be holding interviews for this role online.

We’re working to the following timetable for this appointment:

• Closing date Wednesday 10 May
• Shortlisting week commencing Monday 15 May
• Interviews week commencing Monday 22 May

We want this recruitment process to be as accessible as possible, but know that there might be more that we can do, particularly if you have experienced exclusion, disadvantage or discrimination, or if you have particular accessibility needs. We would be happy to provide any reasonable adjustments that you may require – please get in touch with us, and we can think together about how to make this process easier for you.

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