Deputy Trust Secretary @ Online NHS Trust

Job summary

Online NHS Trust is creating a new national, digital-first NHS provider. We are equally ambitious about how we govern ourselves.

We seek an accomplished governance professional, independent thinker, and natural leader to help build an intelligent, agile, and effective corporate governance function.

This is a substantial senior leadership role with independent professional responsibilities, direct engagement with the Board, and authority to deputise for the Trust Secretary, making decisions within agreed delegations.

You will shape our constitutional arrangements, Board Intelligence, risk, internal control, and assurance systems. You will challenge conventional practice, champion digital innovation, and lead improvements that make governance more effective, transparent, and responsive.

The role offers significant professional development and potential progression towards a future Trust Secretary appointment.

Candidates with queries relating to the roles and responsibilities of this post are encouraged to contact Charlie Helps, Trust Secretary at [email protected]

Main duties of the job

As Deputy Trust Secretary, you will exercise independent professional judgement and lead substantial areas of the Trust's corporate governance arrangements.

Working directly with the Chair, Non-executive Directors, Executive Directors, and senior leaders, you will:

• Provide authoritative advice on Board procedure, constitutional requirements, delegated authority, probity, and regulatory obligations.
• Deputise for the Trust Secretary, exercising delegated decision-making authority and ensuring professional continuity during their absence.
• Lead the development of decision-ready Board intelligence, connecting Board Aims, risks, controls, evidence, assurance, and outcomes for patients.
• Shape and improve the Trust's constitutional framework, corporate policies, decision records, and assurance arrangements.
• Champion digital-first working, using data, automation, and AI responsibly to improve workflows, organisational intelligence, and professional effectiveness.
• Lead and develop the Secretariat team, fostering professional independence, initiative, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

We expect you to recognise problems, propose solutions, exercise judgement, and act confidently within your authority. You will not need to wait for instructions to make a difference.

About us

Help shape a new national model for specialist care.

Established in June 2026, Online NHS Trust is creating a new way for patients across England to access high-quality specialist care, irrespective of geography.

We are building an organisation that thinks differently, challenges convention, and uses digital technology to improve patient care and public value.

We want colleagues who are curious, constructive, creative, and confident enough to question established ways of working.

Our leadership culture values independent thinking, professional integrity, intelligent challenge, and the courage to improve what does not work.

We invest in people who take responsibility, develop others, and aspire to lead.

If you want to build something better rather than simply maintain what already exists, we would like to hear from you.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

• Board Intelligence cycle. Lead the continuous cycle connecting planned decisions, Board Aims, statutory duties, material risks, controls, evidence, scrutiny, authorised action and observed results. Maintain a forward view of the questions directors will need to consider, and the intelligence required to support their judgement.
• Intelligence commissioning. Set requirements for structured information commissioned for Board and Committee consideration. Require a clear proposition or oversight question, relevant authority, accountable authorship, identifiable sources, evidence status, material uncertainty, risks, controls, dependencies, options, and action sought.
• Decision readiness. Assess whether proposed Board Intelligence is sufficiently complete, current, reconciled, proportionate and traceable for its intended use. Challenge omission, duplication, unsupported assertion, and unexplained conflict, and refer unresolved concerns to the Trust Secretary. The accountable author remains responsible for the underlying evidence and professional content.
• Meetings and digital consideration. Plan agendas and decision points with the Trust Secretary and relevant Chairs. Ensure directors can examine authoritative intelligence through controlled digital channels before, during and after meetings. Advise on procedure, quorum, declarations, conflicts, voting, and decision status, referring exceptional or disputed matters to the Trust Secretary.
• Corporate decision record. Oversee the connected record of authority, intelligence considered, material challenge, declarations, resolutions, decisions, assigned accountability, actions, and subsequent review. Confirm that the official record is complete, controlled, accessible to authorised users and retained in accordance with approved requirements.
• Procedural framework. Lead drafting, consultation and scheduled review of assigned Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions, Scheme of Reservation and Delegation, Committee terms of reference and related Board procedural documents. Reconcile proposals with legislation, Establishment Order, Provider Licence, national requirements, and authorised decisions.
• Professional advice. Provide reasoned specialist advice to directors and senior leaders on Board procedure, delegated authority, probity, conflicts, corporate records and assigned regulatory requirements. Identify when external legal or other specialist advice is required and brief the Trust Secretary accordingly.
• Board oversight intelligence. Co-ordinate structured, exception-led intelligence connecting Board Aims, objectives, plans, material risks, controls, evidence, scrutiny, decisions, and follow-up. Work with executive risk owners and specialist staff on the provisions for Board oversight and the Corporate Risk Register, without determining risk ratings, accepting risk or assuming the role of risk manager.
• Policy and regulatory change. Lead development and review of policies assigned by the Trust Secretary. Monitor relevant changes in law, regulation, and national policy; assess consequences; prepare concise briefings; and co-ordinate authorised consultation or implementation work.
• Probity and controlled records. Oversee arrangements for declarations of interest, gifts and hospitality, Fit and Proper Person requirements, intellectual property and innovation records, corporate registers, controlled documents, and authorised publication. Review material exceptions and refer substantive decisions to the Trust Secretary or other authorised person.
• Secretariat leadership. Manage the Trust Secretariat Manager and any staff assigned to the function. Set objectives and service standards, allocate work, review performance, support development and wellbeing, and address resource conflicts within agreed establishment and budget.
• Digital Secretariat. Set the professional requirements for digital environments through which Board Intelligence is commissioned, assembled, evaluated, accessed, considered, and preserved. Work with digital, information, cyber and records specialists on architecture, permissions, metadata, source links, version control, audit trails, accessibility, continuity, and retention.
• AI-supported practice. Define permitted uses and professional controls for AI-supported retrieval, comparison, classification, summarisation and drafting within the Secretariat. Require authoritative source checking, protection of confidential information, visible limitations, recorded human review and preservation of accountable authorship.
• Quality Assurance. Set and oversee Quality Assurance checks for Board Intelligence, corporate records, policy controls, and Secretariat systems. Require correction and re-testing where checks identify error or weakness, without certifying evidence that remains the responsibility of its accountable author.

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive and it is likely that duties may be altered from time to time in the light of changing circumstances.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Substantial senior experience in a corporate governance, Board secretariat, regulatory, legal, risk or comparable professional role across an organisation.
• Experience of advising directors, committee chairs, executives and senior leaders on complex procedure, authority, probity or regulatory matters.
• Experience of leading Board and committee cycles, setting information requirements and challenging incomplete, conflicting or unsupported material.
• Experience of drafting and reconciling constitutional or procedural documents, such as Standing Orders, schemes of delegation, committee terms of reference or comparable instruments.
• Experience of interpreting complex law, regulation, national policy or professional standards and translating change into concise advice and controlled action.
• Experience of leading policy, regulatory or service-improvement work across organisational boundaries and managing competing senior interests.
• Experience of managing staff, setting service standards, allocating resources and addressing performance or capacity issues.
• Experience of designing or improving digital secretariat, Board information, corporate record or workflow systems.

Desirable

• Senior experience within the NHS or another complex public-sector body.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to analyse highly complex, incomplete or conflicting information, distinguish fact from interpretation and reach a reasoned procedural judgement under time pressure.
• Ability to identify when an issue requires external legal or specialist advice and to frame a precise brief without exceeding delegated authority.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication, including concise Board-level drafting, sensitive challenge, negotiation and explanation of material uncertainty.
• Political awareness and organisational sensitivity, with the independence and courage to raise concerns and the judgement to escalate proportionately.
• Ability to plan and lead a Trust-wide professional portfolio, determine methods and priorities, and act without close supervision within law, policy and recorded authority.
• Ability to build credible working relationships with directors, executives, regulators, auditors, advisers, suppliers and professional peers.
• Ability to lead, support and develop staff and sustain high standards through concurrent Board cycles, interruption and fixed deadlines.

Values

Essential

• Integrity, discretion, professional independence and respect for confidentiality, personal information, legal privilege and commercially sensitive material.
• Commitment to equality, inclusion, accessibility and respectful professional practice consistent with the NHS Constitution and Trust values.
• Ability to work flexibly in a hybrid environment, attend Board and committee business in person, and effectively manage peaks in workload to meet critical deadlines.

Qualifications

Essential

• Masters degree or equivalent specialist knowledge acquired through postgraduate study, professional training and substantial senior experience in corporate governance, Board practice, public administration, law, risk, information or a related field.
• Evidence of continuing professional development in Board and committee practice, constitutional or regulatory requirements, leadership and digital or information practice.

Desirable

• Chartered Governance Professional status, another relevant chartered or legal qualification, or demonstrably equivalent professional standing.
• Leadership, management, project or change qualification, or equivalent applied experience.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Online NHS Trust

Address

Wellington House

133-155 Waterloo Road

LONDON

SE1 8UG

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://onlinetrust.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)