Trustee (People and Human Resources)

Trustee (People and Human Resources)

The charity Citizens Advice Lewisham (CAL) is a member of the national Citizens Advice (CitA) organisation. We deliver free, impartial and confidential advice to those who live, work or study in the London borough of Lewisham.

We are a highly engaged board who are passionate about ensuring our charity makes a big difference to Lewisham residents, especially to the most vulnerable people. We work in a collegiate way, respecting the diverse viewpoints board members bring to the table and hold ourselves to high professional standards.

Role focus for this appointment

This role is aimed at candidates with senior human resources and people leadership experience. We are particularly interested in individuals who can bring strategic insight into workforce planning, employee and volunteer engagement, people policy, organisational culture, inclusion, safeguarding and people-related risk.

What will you do?

• complete an induction for your role
• maintain an awareness of how the local Citizens Advice is operating
• read papers for board meetings and attend 4 meetings per year 
• depending on your skills and experience, work on specific projects with other trustees or staff within the local Citizens Advice and the Citizens Advice network, including people-related projects, to further strategic objectives
• Provide thought leadership in areas agreed with the Chair, particularly people strategy, human resources, workforce planning, volunteer engagement, equality, diversity and inclusion, staff wellbeing and organisational culture.
• Act as a senior people and human resources voice on the Board, offering strategic challenge and support on governance, risk, safeguarding, organisational effectiveness and employment practice.
• Take an active part in discussions during board meetings and work with other trustees to: 
• Contribute to setting policy and strategy direction, set targets and evaluate the performance of the local Citizens Advice within the quality assurance frameworks set by the network
• ensure that the people related policies, strategies and processes work effectively  for recruitment, retention, development, wellbeing and turnover of staff and volunteers

What’s in it for you? 

• use your human resources and people leadership experience to make a positive impact for people in your local area by ensuring the local Citizens Advice is sustainable and meeting the needs of the community
• meet people and build relationships with trustees, staff and other volunteers
• build on your governance, leadership, strategy and people-related knowledge and skills in a high performing and sector lead charity
• increase your employability

And we’ll reimburse expenses too.

What do you need to have?

You don’t need specific qualifications but you’ll need to:

• understand and accept the responsibilities and liabilities as a trustee
• be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
• have good listening, verbal and written communication skills
• be able to exercise good independent judgement
• have good numeracy skills to understand accounts with the support of the treasurer
• Senior human resources or people leadership experience, ideally in a charity, public sector, not-for-profit or values-led organisation.
• A strong grasp of charity governance, people-related risk management, employment practice and strategic planning.
• Confidence reading management information and contributing to Board-level discussions on workforce, culture, safeguarding, wellbeing and people-related risk.
• be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection
• be willing to undertake annual mandatory training in your role

How much time do you need to give?

Trustee boards usually meet in the evenings to accommodate the needs of trustees, and you’ll likely need to give a few hours a month to read papers and support the board. Additional time may be required for committee work or specific projects. You may need to attend other meetings if you’re involved in specific projects, or meet with volunteers and staff occasionally within the local Citizens Advice. We can be flexible about the time spent, so come and talk to us.

Valuing inclusion

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people, and people from ethnic minority communities.

If you are interested in becoming a trustee and would like to discuss flexibility around location, time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us.  

How to apply 

Application: Please send us a curriculum vitae via email to jobs@citizensadvicelewisham.org.uk, along with a short cover letter highlighting relevant human resources and people leadership experience, governance skills and the contribution you would bring to CAL’s Board.

Remuneration: Unpaid; reasonable expenses covered by advance agreement with the Chair.

Closing date: 30 June 2026. We do reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Contact: If you would like to have a conversation with someone about this role, please get in touch via jobs@citizensadvicelewisham.org.uk and we can set up a chat with the Chair or another member of the board.

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.