Head of Company Secretary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for the right individual to take on the leadership role of our Company Secretarial Team and help drive its growth based in Birmingham. 

The Company Secretarial Team comprises of specialists who deal assist and advise our clients on a comprehensive range of company secretarial issues from company (and other entity) formations; dissolutions; drafting board/shareholder resolutions (to address various situations); managing client's registers and filings at Companies House; advising on governance and boardroom best practice; and who working closely with and support our international award-winning corporate team. 

The Head of Company Secretary will lead and manage the firm’s Company Secretarial function, delivering a high quality, compliant and commercially focused service to a wide portfolio range of UK and international clients. This role combines team leadership, technical governance expertise, client management, and strategic development of the firm’s CoSec offering.  Recent developments in the law, including the implementation of the ECCTA and a continued focus on ESG by clients make this a perfect opportunity to take forward the growth of our team. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, mentor and develop the CoSec team and take responsibility for strategic planning and the teams growth in the short, medium and long-term.
• Oversee allocation of work to ensure a cost effective and efficient service, assigning matters based on complexity and expertise required. 
• Foster a collaborative, supportive and client-focused culture within the team; with relevant training being secured. 
• Embrace the use of technology in the future plans for the team. Identify opportunities to expand service lines, improve efficiency and adopt legal technology to streamline delivery..
• Act as senior point of contact for key clients, overseeing service delivery and managing expectations and securing opportunities for the team and the firm.
• Support partners on business development opportunities and pitches.
• Provide expert advice and assistance of governance matters such as director duties, managing conflicts of interest; the impact of the ECCTA; amendments to governance policies; delegation frameworks and reporting requirements.
• Work closely with internal legal teams (ie corporate, commercial, employment, real estate) to provide relevant advice and support.   

Key Skills and Experience

Essential

• Significant experience in a senior company secretarial or governance leadership role, ideally within a law firm or professional services environment.
• Deep technical knowledge of the Companies Act 2006, statutory compliance requirements and UK corporate governance frameworks.
• Demonstrable experience of:

               - managing complex governance matters such as advising on director conflicts and board meetings; drafting or updating Policies and governance frameworks; and 

              - advising on more complicated company secretarial matters such as complex PSC enquiries; or the interpretation of poorly drafted articles of association; or reconstructing statutory registers; or drafting intra group agreements (and advising on the issues that can arise with regard to the same). 

• Experience supervising a team and allocating work effectively.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with proven ability to advise senior stakeholders.
• High level of accuracy, attention to detail and organisational capability
• Commercial acumen.  Experience of issuing fee proposals and work scopes that secure an appropriate return for the team.  Managing the team's financial performance more generally and using technology to help and streamline (ie the issue of invoices; managing wip; ensuring that outstanding invoices are settled)

Desirable

• ICSA/CGI qualification (or equivalent).
• Experience advising listed or large international groups on corporate governance.
• Familiarity with governance tools.

What We Can Offer You:

The opportunity to work for a firm that has been recognised as one of best places to work in the UK and has been ranked by Great Place to Work® for 26 consecutive years.

Excellent benefits, including:

• A hybrid approach to office and remote working.
• 25 days annual leave, with the option to buy up to a week's extra annual leave
• Private medical insurance, and the option to add family members
• A generous pension allowance
• Life assurance covering four times your annual salary
• Maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes
• A range of health and wellbeing programmes
• State of the art offices, by London Bridge station, with an onsite restaurant
• Opportunities to flourish in your role through training and personal development

Equal Opportunities:

Gowling WLG is committed both to promoting equality and diversity in the firm and to Equal Opportunities in employment.  The firm believes in equality of opportunity regardless of race or racial group (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, national origins), religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re-assignment and gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity.  This also includes any incidents of perceptive or associative discrimination and harassment.

At Gowling WLG we seek to attract and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, to create an exciting and rewarding place to work.  Our aim is to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals.

If you have any queries in relation to this position or would like to see a full job description please contact Nana Panti-Amoa Nana.Panti-Amoa@uk.gowlingwlg.com

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