Indepdent Chair

The ultimate purpose of the role is to act as the company’s leading representative and hold the Board, the Executive Director and the Senior Leadership Team to account for the company’s mission, vision and values. The Chair will also support and, where appropriate, challenge the Executive Director and ensure that the Board functions as a team and works closely with the entire Senior Leadership Team of the organisation to achieve agreed objectives. As with all Board members, the Chair will also act as an ambassador for Unitas, representing and promoting the company to external stakeholders as appropriate.

As our Independent Chair, you will build strong relationships with our Shareholder, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and manage the interface between Council and Company. You will work with the Board and the Executive to deliver the Shareholder’s objectives for the business. As an experienced Chair, you will understand how to work within our governance structure and through formal and informal meetings, you will establish a trusted relationship with our Shareholder Group. You will provide confidence that the company is evolving in the right way, that strategically it is pursuing opportunities that relate to its core purpose and aligns to the Council’s wider strategies and ambitions.

You will be naturally collaborative as a person and believe in the value of transparency when working with the Shareholder and Executive. You will be confident in providing advice and challenge in equal measure, and importantly you will be able to lead our Board as we move forwards. You will be able to demonstrate how you create an inclusive culture within your teams and a high performance culture.

It is likely that you will have knowledge and experience gained from operating at the interface of the public sector, and particularly local government. Ideally, you will have worked in, and helped grow property service companies previously and be able to demonstrate technical knowledge of the services we provide. You will be able to demonstrate sound commercial awareness and judgement and be confident discharging the duties as outlined in Sections 171-177 of the Companies Act 2006.

You’ll be joining Board members who have helped to develop Unitas into the strong position it is in today. However, they aren’t complacent and there is a determination to do more, do better and for someone to come in who can bring more diverse thinking and challenge the status quo.

If you’re excited to help challenge and shape this company and in doing so, shape the future of Stoke-on-Trent, then we would love to hear from you.