Governance & Membership Officer
- Contract Type: Full Time, 2 Year Fixed Term Contract
- Salary: £37,000 per annum – £37,500 per annum
- Location: Cambridge, St Edmund’s College
St Edmund’s College is looking for a highly organised and proactive Governance & Membership Officer to play a pivotal role within our Bursarial Department. Working closely with the Governance, Risk & Compliance Manager and the Head of College Services, you will help drive governance processes, support membership administration, and contribute to strategic initiatives across the College. You’ll take the lead on system implementation, manage key communications with Fellows, and provide essential continuity during busy periods.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone with strong administrative skills, exceptional communication skills, and a genuine passion for improving systems and services within a complex and ever‑changing organisation.
Key Responsibilities
Business continuity / deputising:
- Provide short notice cover across governance, membership and compliance functions; deputise for relevant colleagues (including the Governance, Risk and Compliance Manager and the Head of College Services as appropriate)
- Maintain oversight of key calendars, statutory deadlines and processes
Governance, membership, and committee administration / support:
- Support membership applications, nominations and renewals
- Support relevant College events as required
- Support committee business
- Support trusteeship administration, annual cycle management and calendar planning
- Maintain core governance records
Process improvement and documentation:
- Develop and maintain SOP’s and supporting documentation
- Support (and where appropriate lead) governance improvement work
Appointments, people and executive support:
- Support appointment processes for College Officers, Senior College Officers and committee memberships
- Provide structured line management and coaching to the Governance, Risk and Compliance Assistant and the Membership Assistant
- Provide meeting coordination/diary support, agendas/briefings and action tracking
Compliance support, reporting and casework:
- Support SAR/FOI
- Maintain risk/compliance registers and logs
- Coordinate policy governance, training and evidence collation for audits/reviews
- Support investigations/casework and policy reviews/projects
Systems and communications:
- Administer Fellowship Application Software (FAS)
- Support improved communications and engagement with Fellows and Senior Members
More information about the role can be found in the attached job description
Person Specification
Experience
Essential:
- Senior administrative experience in a complex organisation, managing competing priorities and multiple stakeholders
- Experience supporting governance and/or membership administration, including committees and minute-taking
- Experience handling confidential/sensitive information
- Demonstratable experience of effective line management
Desirable:
- Higher education/collegiate and/or charity governance/administration experience
- Systems implementation and/or administration of workflow/CRM platforms
- Experience supporting internal investigations, complaints or fact finding processes
- Experience applying GDPR/data protection in an operational context
- Evidence of streamlining, documenting or improving governance/administrative processes
Skills
- Strong organisational and project management skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication (including preparing/presenting briefings/templates/reports).
- Strong IT skills (Microsoft Office; ability to learn and support CRM/bespoke platforms).
- Resilient and adaptable; calm under pressure; able to absorb complex information quickly and take ownership with minimal supervision.
- Sound judgement and discretion; strong interpersonal skills with senior stakeholders.
- Strong people management and people development skills
We warmly encourage applications from candidates who meet most, even if not all, of the above criteria.
As well as a great salary and friendly team you will also receive:
Working daily allowance for food and drinks
Free car parking (where available)
25 days holiday plus bank holidays (increasing with length of service)
Generous pension contributions
Discounts at restaurants, shops & more
Outdoor gym
Death in service
Access to LinkedIn Learning & Business Disability Forum
About St Edmund’s College
St Edmund’s College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. Our vibrant student body is made up of around 420 post-graduates and 130 mature undergraduates. With over 260 senior members – academics working at the cutting edge of their field or eminent members of their profession – and around 100 staff, you will be joining a dynamic and growing College with an ambitious vision for our role in shaping the future of higher education and collaborative research.
The maturity of our community means that we have earned a reputation as the friendly college. Relaxed, non-hierarchical and diverse, we pride ourselves on being a place in Cambridge where people of all backgrounds are welcomed, will feel at home and can flourish. Therefore, we welcome all candidates regardless of their demographic characteristics such as gender, race, disability, neurodiversity, religion, age, sex & sexual identity to apply for our opportunities.
How to apply
Please your cover letter and CV to the HR Team at hr@st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk
Closing date for completed applications: 22 April 2026. Interviews may be held throughout the period that the advert is live and may continue after the closing date.
If you have informal enquiries about the post, please email the Governance, Risk and Compliance Manager at grcm@st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk
In applying for this role, you will provide personal data which the College will process in accordance with its data protection obligations and its Data Protection Policy.
Any offer of employment is subject to evidence of your right to work in the UK and the receipt of satisfactory references