Street UK Foundation is not your typical financial services company. It is a registered charity whose mission is to provide access to credit and other financial services to people who are excluded from mainstream services.

To date, Street UK has helped to support over 80,000 customers by providing nearly £29m in affordable credit to individuals who would otherwise be at the mercy of high-cost and often predatory lenders. This has saved each customer on average £291 relative to the available high-cost alternatives, and a combined saving of nearly £16m. In addition, it also works with like-minded organisations to support them with services which help individuals and businesses access affordable credit. Through its work, the charity has supported over 23,000 business start-ups and worked with local authorities and housing associations to deliver £31m of affordable credit to over 3,500 low income and vulnerable homeowners to pay for essential home improvements.

As it targets and focuses its impact on some of the most deprived areas in the Midlands, Street UK has ambitious aims to expand its reach, primarily by improving access to its services via its online platform, and building strategic partnerships to infiltrate and support other local communities. As it enters an exciting phase of its growth journey, Street UK is looking to appoint two Non-Executive Directors to its Board of Directors. Non-Executive Directors play an important role in the governance of Street UK by providing an independent perspective and experienced voice at board level to complement the executive team.

The Non-Executive Directors will serve across the three subsidiaries; they serve as full Directors of the company in an individual capacity. Consequently, they have a legal responsibility to exercise independent judgement and, in all their actions as a Non-Executive Director, act in the best interests of Street UK and support the company in meeting its objectives.

Key responsibilities are to:

• Prepare for Board meetings by reading papers provided in advance, and participate in discussions and decision-making
• Participate in the Board’s scrutiny of, and support for, the development of the annual business plan and budget
• Ensure that the company is using its reasonable endeavours to deliver on the business plan
• Be able to explain and support the Board’s collective decisions when discussing the activities of Street UK with stakeholders
• Attend all company Board meetings and under instruction from the Chair of the Board, support the Chair of the Board and the Chair of Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) in their presentations to stakeholders
• Be responsible as a director to ensure that the Board meets all legal requirements of a limited company and is in full compliance with the company’s governing documents
• Ensure that the company has robust and reliable risk management and financial control processes in operation and can produce reliable audited annual accounts in a timely manner
• Participate in any Board sub-committees (e.g. ARC committee), at the request of the Chair and / or the Board
• Be available to provide ad hoc advice to the management team, on request, between Board meetings
• Always ensure that any conflict of interest is avoided and to act in the best interests of the company

The Director with senior-level accounting and finance experience will be asked to head the ARC Committee. As the improvement of Street UK's virtual platform is directly in line with its strategy and priorities to extend its reach and impact, technology is a high-risk component, and the director with senior-level IT experience may also be asked to contribute in the ARC Committee meetings.

Directors play an essential role in Street UK's future success, working closely with the Board, bringing independence, external skills, perspectives and challenges to financial and strategy development.

One of the Directors which Street UK seeks to appoint will have senior-level accounting, finance and auditing experience, gained at a senior level in either charity or commercial sectors. They will provide challenge and support to the Chief Executive / Head of Finance. Street UK welcomes candidates who are qualified accountants, and who may have been a CFO / Finance Director / Partner in an accounting firm, but is also open to hearing from high-quality individuals who have a more broad finance / risk experience.

The second Director Street UK seeks to appoint will have senior-level experience in IT and technology. Building and improving Street UK's tech-based platform is directly relevant towards its strategy and priority of expanding its reach and improving its impact in other local communities. As such, it seeks to appoint a Director who can provide a guiding voice on how these ambitious goals can be achieved. This experience will likely be gained in a senior position leading a retail operations team, or within a retail financial services market. This Director will need to have a strong understanding of the challenges associated with lending, and will be able to bring challenge and support to the Chief Executive when examining IT practices.

For both of these appointments, Street UK is open to hearing from candidates who have not had any previous non-executive experience. Previous charity experience would be desirable for these appointments, but is not a requirement. The successful candidates for these appointments will be able to demonstrate a strong and visible passion and commitment to this role, and will have proven ability of successful analysis and decision making. They will have a good understanding of corporate governance, and the ability to work effectively as part of a team in a positive environment, with an engaging and collaborative working style. Street UK is keen to hear from individuals with experience of working with people of diverse backgrounds, and if possible, have had lived experience of being financially excluded.

Street UK values and is keen to increase the diversity of the Board to ensure it is fully representative of the users of its services. Please see the Diversity section below for more information.

This role is unremunerated, but pre-agreed reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed. The time commitment for this role requires eight to 10 meetings per year. This consists of four quarterly Board meetings, at least two of which require in-person attendance, and roughly four to six Audit and Risk Committee meetings, where in-person attendance is more flexible. For the director with senior-level IT experience, the time commitment is expected to include the four Board meetings, as well as additional contribution and ad hoc engagement. The director role runs on a three-year term, with the option to renew for an additional three years, subject to Board approval.

When in person, these Board and Committee meetings will be held in Birmingham. Successful candidates will therefore be UK-based.

Street UK welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. As individuals from ethnic minority groups are currently under-represented on the Board, applications from those candidates would be particularly encouraged. 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 diverse candidates can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.