Co-opted Bristol SU Trustee Role (non student)

Role: Co-opted Bristol SU Trustee Role (non student) - 2 positions available

Voluntary: Reasonable expenses reimbursed 

Term: 3 years (with potential for another 2 terms of 3 years)    

Deadline: Mon 4 Dec at 9am

Help shape our future and improve the lives of 30,000 people.  

This is an exciting time to join Bristol Students’ Union. Our new strategy is in full swing. We’re becoming more digitally connected, and embracing the opportunities and challenges that our new Temple Quarter campus brings. As a Trustee, you’ll be crucial in helping shape this journey as well as addressing pressing issues such as: 

• Access to education  
• Mental Health 
• Accommodation  
• Race inequality 
• Poverty 
• Inclusivity 
• Internationalisation 

 
Ultimately, you’ll be involved in providing strategic, financial and governance oversight to help achieve our vision of “a Union for all students”

Who we’re looking for 

Whilst an understanding of the charity or higher education sector would be welcome, it’s not essential. However, experience of being either a trustee, senior manager, having significant leadership or governance is. This background will have sharpened your strategic and collaborative approach.  And whilst we’re relatively open in terms of skillsets, ideally you’ll have expertise in any of these areas:

• Legal especially charity/company law
• Governance, particularly charity governance
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
• Digital/tech 
• Data
• Enterprise

Most importantly, you want to help make a difference to the lives of our 30,000 members and around 400 clubs and societies.

In 2025 we will be looking for a new Co-Chair for the board, so if this is also something that appeals to you, please consider applying.

Please note, this role is not open to current University of Bristol students or anyone who has been within the last two years. Student trustee opportunities and other student leadership roles will be available in the March 2024 election. 

Who are we 

Part business, charity and membership body, Bristol SU is an enjoyable and rewarding place to work.  88% of our people recommend us as a good place to work. Our professional team do something extraordinary every day. They support student leaders to:

• Give people a voice in education.
• Get the most out of their student experience.
• Make the change they want in the world.  

We’re a registered charity, and company limited by guarantee and our turnover is circa £6million and has 71 salaried staff working alongside our student leaders.    

We have appeared in the Inclusive Companies top 100 list, and have won a number of awards for our commitment to diversity, including best Students’ Union. We also won a Third Sector Excellence Award at the 2018 Investors in People Awards and received accreditations for Investors in People and Disability Confident.

The Bristol SU Board 

You can see our current board here. It currently consists of: 

• 4 elected students  
• 7 elected full-time officers   
• 4 co-opted trustees  
• 1 nominated trustee.  

Trustee meetings occur online with at least one in person each year but the events (training and awayday) are in person in Bristol. 

How to apply 

To read the applicant pack and to apply, please go to the Bristol SU website. The deadline is Mon 4 Dec at 9am.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion are central to life at Bristol SU. We approach our work with positivity and celebrate our diverse and unique communities. Our people are proud of our values and care about creating diverse and supportive communities that are inclusive of age, disability, gender, identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and experience. 

We recognise that people from ethnically-marginalised backgrounds may face additional barriers when applying for new roles across the sector.  We are committed to taking affirmative action to expand the diversity of our trustees by offering a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates from ethnically-marginalised groups. For more information, please click here 

For general enquiries, or to arrange an informal chat with one of our Co-Chairs, please email Suzanne Doyle, Clerk to the Board of Trustees at suzanne.doyle@bristol.ac.uk   

  This role is advertised as part of TPP's Free Giving Back Services. This volunteer advertisement copy has been supplied to TPP and applicants apply direct to the organisation. Please contact the organisation directly if you have any questions about this volunteer role.