Corporate Governance Director

RESPONSIBILITIES

• The GCS function is responsible for maintaining effective corporate governance and the smooth running of all the Boards and Board Committees across the Group, including the main Standard Chartered PLC Board. It is a key function within Standard Chartered and has high visibility across the senior leadership of the Group.
• More than 100 people work exclusively or spend a considerable part of their time working in GCS. The role will be responsible for raising awareness of applicable corporate governance rules across the function and the creation of SMEs to assist with implementation and further development. It will also require significant contact with members of our Boards, shareholders and proxy agencies.
• The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring that the Group is well prepared to address and implement its corporate governance obligations across the Group, but focusing on SC PLC and the main subsidiaries. This is a good opportunity to make a positive change to the Group and enhance its reputation.
• The sources of corporate governance are numerous, including legislation, regulations, codes, listing and disclosure rules, rules set by regulators, proxy agencies (who advise our shareholders) and our shareholders themselves. They arise principally in the UK though our international markets are also active. Early consideration, by the relevant stakeholders,and adoption are essential for the smooth running of the business and its reputation for applying the highest standards.
• As this is a new role, the successful candidate will have some experience establishing a new line, be well organised, proactive, culturally aware and have good judgement. It is unlikely that many, if any, candidates will have expertise in all of the requirements, so guidance and support will be available.

STRATEGY

• The successful candidate will join the GCS top team and contribute to the strategy of the function.
• They will advise the SC PLC Board and Committee Chairs of changes in company law and corporate governance and practice across the Group, including writing papers and circulating them for discussion. In particular, they will be a key resource for the Governance & Nomination Committee.
• The role will require a lot of horizon scanning across a number of industries and markets and involve preparing responses to consultations and some lobbying on behalf of the Group. Building strong networks for research and benchmarking purposes will be required and also undertaking impact assessments for the Group in consultation with relevant colleagues.
• The successful candidate will need to raise awareness of changes and best practice amongst senior members of GCS and co-ordinate their adoption and implementation in a proactive, timely and practical way.
• They will also produce relevant materials and training of topical issues for GCS and other functions within the Group.

PROCESS

• Develop systems and processes to monitor changes in corporate governance, in particular with shareholders and proxy agencies whose rules and approaches change more frequently and with less publicity.
• Develop and spread best practice for adopting changes, in a practical, appropriate, and timely way across the Group.
• Ensure that a system is in place for early adoption of changes, where feasible, and for ensuring all reporting requirements are properly met across the Group.

QUALIFICATIONS

• The successful candidate is likely to be a qualified lawyer or company secretary, with many years' experience (or equivalent in terms of expertise) with some experience in corporate governance or listed company work. They need not be a specialist, though must demonstrate a sound understanding of the legislative process and significant enthusiasm to become an expert in the field and for establishing what is a new role for the Group.
• Candidates should be pro-active, have good listening and people skills, be culturally aware and have experience of dealing with competing stakeholders.

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About Standard Chartered
We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 160 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents. And we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion. Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Be better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term
• In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.
• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations
• Time-off including annual, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 weeks maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.
• Recruitment assessments - some of our roles use assessments to help us understand how suitable you are for the role you've applied to. If you are invited to take an assessment, this is great news. It means your application has progressed to an important stage of our recruitment process.