The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) has championed the profession and the people behind it for over 90 years; today, it is thriving with over 36,000 members. Then and now, the RCOT is here to help achieve life-changing breakthroughs for its members, for the people they support and for society as a whole. This includes giving members opportunities to learn, research, teach, practice and continuously improve their knowledge and skills.

The RCOT has a vision: that people everywhere value the life-changing power of occupational therapy. To achieve it, the organisation is raising the profile of occupational therapy, attracting more people to the profession, and helping everyone who needs it get the life-changing therapy they need. The RCOT works with healthcare commissioners, political leaders and others to position occupational therapy as a solution at the heart of health and social care. It is the powerful advocate and high-profile champion which the UK’s occupational therapists deserve. Proudly inclusive, the RCOT welcomes and supports new generations of occupational therapists and is working to create a profession which reflects the diversity of the society it supports.

The organisation's five-year strategy guides its efforts to reach more people and create wider positive impacts. It was developed in collaboration with occupational therapists, members, colleagues and senior allied health profession leaders. The focus is on delivering short and long-term action plans which make the biggest impacts, based on the RCOT's strengths, its members’ needs and the greatest opportunities to support occupational therapy and therapists across the UK. The RCOT will be reviewing its investment strategy and implementing a governance review in the next year, and those joining the AIRC will have an opportunity to drive an enormous impact.

The RCOT is looking to appoint three individuals to the Audit, Investment and Risk Committee (AIRC). As part of the AIRC Independent External Members are collectively responsible for helping the Council (the Board of Directors and Trustees) properly discharge its responsibilities of ensuring that the organisation has effective internal control systems and is operating within approved policies, its budget and the law. 

Collectively, the Committee ensures that the organisation has an appropriate investment policy and effective investment and treasury procedures.

Responsibilities include:

• Overseeing the systems, controls and processes which may have an impact on the organisation’s ability to meet its legal requirements and strategy
• Reviewing the organisation’s financial management and integrity of financial reporting each year as part of the statutory audit and approval of the accounts
• Acting as a critical friend to management
• Reviewing the organisation’s risk framework and appetite, ensuring it has adequate risk management processes in place
• Advising the Council and management on organisational risks and on appropriate mitigations and controls
• Overseeing the organisation’s internal and external audit functions
• Reviewing and overseeing the implementation of the organisation’s investment policy
• Evaluating and monitoring the risks within the investment portfolio and ensuring that the asset allocation of the portfolio is consistent with the investment policy
• Reviewing overall performance of investment partners
• Making recommendations to the Council on the appointment and removal of investment partners
• Advising on the organisation’s governance arrangements and its compliance with relevant legal, financial and regulatory requirements
• Reviewing and approving policies that relate to the Audit, Risk and Investment Committee’s remit

For more information please view the formal board pack and video. 

The successful candidates will bring one of the following backgrounds: audit and risk, financial investment, or governance expertise. The Board is open to applications from candidates without previous non-executive experience, as long as they understand the difference between executive and non-executive engagement. 

The ideal candidates will specialise in one of the following areas:

• Finance and Audit: candidates must hold qualifications as a qualified accountant (ACMA, A/FCA, A/FCCA or CIPFA), and possess a proven track record in strategic and financial management, analysis, and planning, and/or internal and external audit, and risk & assurance. Candidates will bring the ability to be a critical friend and sounding board for the Head of Finance.
• Investment Management: candidates will bring recent experience of multi-asset investing as a senior investment management professional or advisor gained within a long-term institutional investment context. Individuals will be recent or current investment professionals (e.g. CIO, fund manager, or investment strategist). Candidates should be able to constructively challenge and assess the performance of the RCOT’s Investment Partner. Additionally, a modern understanding of ESG in investment would be of particular interest to the Board.
• Governance: individuals will bring extensive experience and understanding of organisational governance. Those with an understanding of the legal and governance challenges within the not-for-profit sector or experience of leading governance transformation or board evaluations are highly desirable. 

 Candidates will bring the following:

• Strong and visible passion as well as commitment to the organisation’s strategy and values
• Understanding of the duties and responsibilities of being a committee member
• Willingness to devote the necessary time and effort
• Ability to work effectively as a member of a team while contributing an objective and independent perspective
• Ability to think logically and objectively and to analyse financial and other information in order to identify key issues, make balanced judgements and effective decisions
• Tact and diplomacy, with the ability to listen, engage and challenge effectively
• Experience of working with not-for-profit organisations (desirable)
• Enthusiasm to live and model the RCOT's values across all areas of work
• Demonstrable passion for embedding environmental sustainability principles across all areas of work
• Demonstrable passion for including equity, diversity and belonging principles across all areas of work
• Understanding of the role of audit and risk management

This role is unremunerated, but reasonable, pre-agreed travel expenses within the UK will be reimbursed. The expected time commitment is the equivalent of between five and seven days a year which includes: four half day meetings of the Committee, additional meetings and training as required, and ad-hoc engagement. The appointment is for a three-year term, members can generally not serve more than 2 consecutive full terms and after this time must stand down. 

Location

Committee meetings usually take place either virtually or in-person in Central London, at 106-114 Borough High Street, London.

Checks

Candidates are subject to the following register searches and checks before appointment:

• Individual Insolvency Register
• Register of disqualified directors
• Register of persons removed as a charity trustee

As a membership organisation, a professional body, and an employer, the RCOT is committed to leading innovative change to promote equity and social justice and build a sense of belonging for all its staff, members, and the populations it serves. The RCOT's ambition is to have a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities it serves. The RCOT doesn’t only embrace diversity, it celebrates it, nurtures it and supports its staff in realising their true potential. The organisation is passionate about creating an environment free from discrimination and harassment where people can be their authentic self and recognise that each of us is unique. Therefore, the RCOT's definition of diversity goes beyond those defined in equality legislation and it will afford the same standards and principles to those with lived experiences.

The RCOT welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and are keen to see applications from people with lived experience of disability or long-term health conditions, from minoritised ethnic and LGBTQI+ communities.