Board Secretary

If you are up for the challenge and would like to be considered for this position, we would like to hear from you. The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) is looking to fill the following career opportunity:

About the Position:

Reporting to the Senior Director, Governance & Executive Operations, the Board Secretary provides administrative and governance support within the Office of the CEO, serving as secretary to the Board and its respective Committees, including meeting scheduling, agenda and report preparation and recording minutes of all meetings. The Board Secretary also supports the Senior Director in ensuring excellence in the administration of all aspects of the BC SPCA’s governance system.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Serves as Secretary to the Board of Directors and its respective Committees, ensuring accurate minutes of all meetings are recorded for review by the Senior Director, Governance & Executive Operations within 30 days of each meeting.
• Provides logistical support to the Board, its respective committees and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) by ensuring meetings are appropriately scheduled, either in person or virtually, and meeting materials are uploaded to the Society’s governance portal at least one week prior to each meeting.
• Produces a variety of accurate and well-designed documents for consideration by the Senior Director, including initial meeting agenda development, memos and reports as necessary utilizing various word processing and spreadsheet software.
• Supports the Senior Director and the CEO in the development, distribution and collation of the annual evaluations surveys of the Board and its respective committees.
• Ensures action items from above-mentioned meetings are accurately recorded and followed up by Society staff or governance volunteers.
• Makes travel, accommodation and logistical arrangements for Board and ELT attendance at meetings and conferences.
• Supports the Senior Director in the scheduling, administration and conduct of the annual general meeting of the Society.
• Oversees logistical arrangements for the annual Board retreat and works with the Senior Director and CEO to develop a schedule of events and agenda for the retreat.
• Supports the Society’s membership program, ensuring full compliance with membership rights, duties and responsibilities in accordance with the Bylaws.
• Serves as a liaison to Committee Chairs.
• Oversees the annual accreditation process for the Imagine Canada Standards program, liaising with Departments to ensure timely and accurate completion of the application.
• Serves as the primary administrator of the BoardEffect database, ensuring it is up to date and an effective governance resource for the Senior Director, CEO, the Board and the Executive Leadership Team.
• Manages the Complaints log in accordance with Imagine Canada Standards requirements.
• Supports the Senior Director to maintain the central, electronic repository for all governance policies, operational policies, standard operating procedures and guidelines.
• Supports the Senior Director in the development and maintenance of the Risk Register.

Secondary Responsibilities:

• Supports the Senior Director with respect to privacy related requests.
• Supports compliance with policies and procedures within the organization by following up all areas of perceived non-compliance with the People Services Department in accordance with direction provided by the Senior Director.
• Supports the Senior Director in their duties as primary liaison of all Key forums and Change Forums.

Qualifications you need to have:

• A Bachelor’s degree plus a minimum 5 years’ experience as a Board Secretary; or an equivalent combination of education and experience acceptable to the employer.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; confident and clear communicator, able to relate respectfully to a diverse audience.
• Ability to exercise a high level of professionalism and discretion with confidential and sensitive information.
• Excellent customer service, conflict resolution, liaison, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent organizational skills and extremely detail-oriented.
• Proven ability to effectively prioritize workflow and meet deadlines.
• Ability to exercise good judgement, show initiative and be proactive.
• Self-starter and able to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Advanced PC Skills – (i.e. Word, Excel, Power Point MS Outlook, and Teams) and ability to quickly adapt to new technologies.
• Philosophical harmony with the BC SPCA mission, vision, values and strategic direction.
• Ability to work periodic evenings and weekends as required.
• Previous working knowledge of BoardEffect is considered an asset.

How to apply:

If you are interested in joining our Vancouver team and are legally entitled to work in Canada, we would like to hear from you. Click on apply now or use the link to apply: Apply Here. We thank you for your interest in the BC SPCA, however; only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone calls, please.