Reliance Bank is a full service bank, offering current accounts, savings accounts, mortgages and loans. But it’s also so much more than that. As part of The Salvation Army, its mission is to serve customers and communities with compassion and integrity. Reliance Bank believes that the way we choose to bank can mirror the way we choose to live – by putting ethical business and people before profit, we give money meaning.

The Bank prioritises its business lending to organisations delivering positive social impact and is proud to be the bank of The Salvation Army, having started ethical banking back in 1890. It provides retail banking for personal, charity and SME clients domiciled in the UK, retail mortgages and loans to charity and SME customers, secured on property. It returns a proportion of its profits via gift-aid back to its charitable shareholder.

In 2022, Reliance Bank reached £100m of lending, launched its new internet banking service and grew its headcount to 50. It is proud of its personal service proposition, with a dedicated multi-skilled customer services centre, achieving recognition in the Charity Finance Banking Survey every year since 2020. The bank is regulated by the PRA and FCA.

The new Non-Executive Director will be a member of the Bank’s Board, which is collectively responsible for setting the strategic aims of the Bank, ensuring that the financial and human resources are in place to meet its objectives, reviewing the performance of the Executive team against the strategic plan, and determining the framework to ensure risk is accurately assessed and measured. They will also become the Chair of the Audit Committee, and may also be a member of other Board committees, to be agreed in discussion with the successful candidate once they have been selected.

The Non-Executive Director will be expected to prepare for meetings and any ad hoc calls, follow up on action points, and learn about the Bank’s business, its executive team, and the needs of its customers.

Non-Executive Directors who are not Chairs of sub-committees are Certified under the SMCR regime and registered with the PRA and FCA as ‘notified NEDs’. Committee Chairs are subjected to a higher standard of scrutiny by the regulators and will apply for a Senior Management Function (SMF) approval. Where the candidate is not already a SMF11 holder, this may involve an interview with the PRA, however the process is fully supported by the Bank including regulatory interview preparation as required.

Specific responsibilities of the Audit Committee Chair:

• Ensure that the Committee maintains high standards of corporate governance and works within its terms of reference as approved by the Bank’s Board
• Collaborates with the Chair of the Board of Directors, and Executive Directors to agree the Committee’s agenda and ensures that adequate time is set aside for discussion of all agenda items
• Sets the style and tone of meetings to promote a culture of openness and beneficial debate, facilitating the effective contribution of all committee members and attendees
• Approves meeting minutes
• Safeguards the independence of and oversees the performance of the External Auditors and the outsourced Internal Audit function
• Holds separate meetings with representatives of the Internal and External Audit teams, as appropriate but at least annually, to seek reassurance of the independent nature of the work undertaken and on any matter, regardless of the level of concern
• Reports to the Board of Directors on behalf of the Committee through summarising issues detailed in meeting minutes and drawing Board members’ attention to key issues and events raised and discussed in the Committee meetings
• Recommends Board approval of the annual report and accounts, Pillar 3, policies and other documents reviewed by the Committee
• Recommends to the Board and coordinates any changes (appointment and removal) of the Internal and External Audit functions

The new Non-Executive Director will be a qualified chartered accountant. They will currently work or have recently (within the last five years) worked in UK regulated financial services. They will have extensive experience with financial reporting (UK GAAP) and risk management within financial services.

They will bring a strong understanding of the current regulatory environment in the UK financial services sector, and have direct experience of both internal and external audit processes. Ideally, this will include experience of sitting on, or attending meetings of, Audit Committees. They will also bring some experience working either in banking or with banks, for example as a senior-level consultant / audit partner.

While previous experience working with charities or purpose-led organisations is not required, it is important that the new Non-Executive Director is aligned to and passionate about Reliance Bank's mission as an ethical bank. Candidates should therefore demonstrate their commitment to the ethos of the Bank, an appreciation of how this influences wider strategy, and an understanding of how to balance this effectively with success in competitive markets.

Candidates do not need to have been Non-Executive Directors before, but should have good knowledge about the role of governance and non-executive responsibilities. They should also have useful ideas about how Non-Executive Directors can add value to, and avoid conflict of interest in, a small sized organisation. Candidates also do not need to have held previous regulatory approved positions, but should be familiar with the Senior Manager & Certification Regime (SMCR), understand how this applies to them, and know of no reason why they would not be approved.

The full composition of the Board can be viewed here. 

This role is unremunerated, but reasonable, pre-agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed. The total time commitment for the role is estimated at 12 days per year, which includes six Board meetings, and four Audit Committee meetings. Additional commitments may include one-off induction days, attendance at other committees, the AGM and Board strategy days. The appointment is for a  three-year term, which can be renewed at the discretion of the Board.

UK

Reliance Bank welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, belief or disability. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process. In line with the Equality Act 2010, however, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.