Director for Digital Transformation

Job Description

Role advert

We’re recruiting a new Director for Digital Transformation for our board. We want to broaden the range of perspectives and experiences of the board and open ourselves to new arguments and ways of doing things that we may not currently by thinking of so encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply.

If you have had no previous board experience then this won’t be a barrier for you. If you don’t have a degree then this won’t be a barrier for you. A strong board is one that draws together individuals with a range of strengths and backgrounds, indeed we are looking outside where we would normally recruit specifically to bring in perspectives we don’t currently have.  If you don’t usually apply for these roles, we would encourage you to do so. We are recruiting several new board positions at the moment so you will join alongside several fresh faces.

Who are we?

The Charity Retail Association (CRA) is the primary membership association for charity shops in the UK aiming to build a successful, sustainable, trusted and valued charity retail sector. Since our inception in 1997, we have quickly become the established voice for the sector. Our six strategic objectives are to:

1. Champion charity retail
2. Strengthen charity retail
3. Build a strong community of charity retailers
4. Be the accessible knowledge hub of charity retail
5. Promote environmental sustainability within the CRA and the sector
6. Strengthen the CRA’s capacity to support the sector and our members

What does the board do?

Our board keeps us on track and safeguards our future. It ensures that we are accountable to our members, the charity retail sector, and everyone in it. We debate important decisions robustly and want to draw on different perspectives to do so. You have the opportunity to join this collaborate effort to help shape the direction of the leading association for charity retailers.

Our board provides input and guidance across the full spectrum of the charity retail sector. The helps us to improve our services, resources and events provided for members. This role gives experience in strategy and leadership and puts you at the forefront of a sector that is at the heart of communities and the drive towards living sustainably.

The board meets each quarter for an update on the CRA’s services and to discuss issues and priorities for the organisation and the sector, with meetings taking place in person and over Zoom. Board members may also be asked to provide support with speaker contact for our events and administrative support at our annual flagship Conference.

If you have never been on a board before, we’ll match you up with a ‘board buddy’ who can guide you through the role and what being part of the CRA board entails.

What are we looking for in a Director for Digital Transformation?

We are looking for someone who values charity shops and understands their value to society. They will have either a strong knowledge and understanding of charity retail or the capacity to gain that experience quickly, with demonstrable experience in strategic planning for the long and short term to help us achieve our strategic objectives. We’re looking for someone who can consider the opinions of others and challenge assertively and constructively.

The ideal Director of Transformation will provide insight on technology’s capacity to support and benefit charity retail. Their expertise will help the board and charity members as a whole make effective use of technological progress.

There are statutory duties a board member is required to uphold as required by the government agency, Companies House, and the primary source of UK company law, the Companies Act 2006.

A breakdown of duties and a personal specification for the role is available in our role description here.

Additional Information

You are welcome to send a CV and covering letter outlining how you meeting the criteria above to alex@charityretail.org.uk

Alternatively, you may complete and return our Board nomination form available here.

We understand that not everyone suits this application format so if you feel more comfortable demonstrating your suitability for the role in another way (e.g. short video) then you are more than welcome to. Please send it to alex@charityretail.org.uk before the deadline.

All applications are anonymised before they are sorted.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 31st May 2024.