Location: UK

For eighty years, the Microbiology Society has been at the centre of that vibrant community. As the world around us changes, we are seeking to bring new skills and experience to our Board of Trustees so that we can meet the strength of our ambition and take advantage of the expanding range of opportunities that the change is bringing.

Our values are constant, and we want Trustees who will work with us in welcoming and transparent ways and who will be dedicated to our aims. The work of the Board of Trustees is serious and we are ambitious and hardworking. At the same time, we pride ourselves on our reputation as a friendly, nurturing approachable community. Our members and staff regularly report strong levels of satisfaction and of feeling valued and supported. We are looking for trustees who share these values, and who want to help us support our community in building its impact.

From 2025, the Society is constituting a new Board of Trustees that will be comprised of the Society’s three Executive Officers (President, General Secretary and Treasurer) and three elected members, plus up to three external experts.

Trustees of the Microbiology Society will:

• Ensure that the Society complies with its constitution, charity law, company law and any other applicable legislation and regulations.
• Analyse and contribute positively to the strategic development of the Society, establishing clear objectives to deliver the agreed strategy and associated plans, and regularly reviewing performance against these objectives.
• Maintain the financial viability of the Society and ensure the best use of financial and other resources in pursuit of the charitable objects, including ensuring the proper investment of funds.
• Ensure that financial controls and systems of risk management are robust and that the Board is kept fully informed through timely and relevant information.
• Uphold the charitable aims of the Society and ensure these are reflected in Board discussions.
• Participate fully in the work of the Board, including induction, training and performance evaluation, and ensure the corporate responsibility of the Board of Directors.
• Ensure the effective implementation of Board decisions by the Leadership Team of the Microbiology Society and hold them to account for the effective management and delivery of the Society’s strategic aims and objectives.

Skills & Experience:

• Experience of the academic publishing business: 
  • The Society is looking for a Trustee to assist in setting the strategic direction of its publishing programme, with the aim to protect existing sales revenue and ensure the Society is at the forefront of new initiatives to grow its income.
• Experience of charitable fundraising
  • The Society is seeking a Trustee to assist in building an effective fundraising strategy, who can help connect us to individual philanthropists, senior corporate leaders and/or their own network
• Strategic thinking skills and the ability to process a range of information, participate in discussion, and constructively challenge where necessary.
• Knowledge and understanding of overseeing budgeting and financial performance.
• A willingness and ability to devote the necessary time commitment and to respond to tight deadlines where necessary.
• Ability to communicate with tact and diplomacy and foster a welcoming and collaborative environment, with experience of participating in committee or equivalent leadership meetings.
• An ability to act with impartiality, to make sound judgements and a willingness to accept collective
  responsibility for Board decisions.

• A willingness to act in the overall best interest of the Society, without conflict of interest and conflict of loyalty.

The full information pack can be viewed here.

Closing date: Monday 4 November 2024
Preliminary interviews from week commencing 18 November 2024
Final Panel interviews: January 2025