Mental Health in the City of London

COO and management committee roles By Pete Rodgers

Ever since the Alliance began we have relied solely on a number of highly motivated volunteers from our members and partner organisations who contribute over and above their day jobs. This will continue to be a very important part of our resourcing.

However, it has become clear that as the membership of the Alliance grows, and the organisation matures, we also need to have a permanent resource. This should help us be able to engage more effectively with our members and intensify our level of activity.

We have therefore decided that we need to recruit a Chief Operating Officer (COO). The plan is to conduct interviews during July with the objective of on-boarding someone into the role during the last quarter of this year. The role will initially be for three days a week, and may expand in future years depending on whether more time is needed and funding is available. The role will be paid at rates benchmarked against the market for a person with the appropriate seniority and experience. The COO will report to the management board. The core activities of the role (which will no doubt evolve as the role develops) are:

Management

  • Participation in management committee meetings
  • Engaging with members and others involved in the area of mental health and business including our not for profit partners (MIND, Mental Health First Aid England), government, not-for profits, academic institutions, potential funders for research, mental health providers etc
  • Lead and support management team as appropriate with specific projects

Business planning

  • Developing annual business plan
  • Working with management committee to ensure allocation of responsibilities for action
  • Tracking execution of actions
  • Communicating with management committee on delivery against plan

Ensuring effective operations

  • Ensuring alignment between various activities/resources
  • Enhancing metrics for success of alliance and implement system for tracking performance
  • Identifying and allocating resources, including where appropriate, sources of funding for various projects
  • Managing finance and administration, including invoicing of membership dues, bank account and accounting records
  • Developing content and coordinating communications in respect of the CMHA’s activities, where appropriate working alongside the CMHA’s head of communications
  • Organising (through administrative support) logistics for management committee/alliance meetings, taking minutes, and other general administration

We are also interested in talking to people who may be interested in joining our management committee. We would like to ensure that we have the right mix of skills and experience on the board, and would welcome discussions with people who think this may be a valuable way in which they can contribute to helping progress the issue of mental health in the City.

At present, the committee consists of five members: Pete Rodgers, Chairman (KPMG), Nigel Jones, Vice-Chairman (Linklaters), Beth Robotham (Goldman Sachs), Poppy Jaman (Mental Health First Aid England) and John Binns (Fit 4 Success, formerly Deloitte).

It is responsible for the development and implementation of strategy and overall success of the Alliance. It has face-to-face meetings (along with a number of other Alliance representatives who are involved in delivery of our activities) on a quarterly basis, and the members of the committee talk to each other regularly in between formal meetings.

If you are interested in either the COO or management committee roles, please let us know by dropping a line to our mailbox cmha@citymha.org.uk or get in touch direct with someone from the Alliance. We’d welcome expressions of interest by Friday, 5 July, and are of course very happy to provide further details of the roles if required.