The Role
An exceptional candidate is required to provide effective strategic leadership to Equality 2025. You will need to have a good understanding and a strong interest in the issues that affect the lives of disabled people.
Principal responsibilities include:
- leading Equality 2025 to set and deliver its corporate, strategic and business planning goals
- acting as an effective ambassador of Equality 2025 and ensuring effective stakeholder and cross-government engagement in a range of settings. For example, giving presentations at public events and meeting with the Minister, policy-makers and other stakeholders
- raising the profile of Equality 2025 with government departments as well as with disabled people, especially those in harder to reach groups.
- building effective working relationships with the Secretariat and other government departments
- dealing with member appraisals, recruitment, and learning and development
- advising government departments on policy issues that affect the lives of disabled people
- helping government departments meet their legal duties under the Disability Equality Duty
- contributing to and signing off written communications from Equality 2025; such as key statements, annual reports and advice notes.
Essential experience and skills
The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to the aims of Equality 2025 and will have:
- credibility in the disability field
- strong negotiating and influencing skills
- experience of chairing meetings, committee structures, setting realistic agendas and developing consensus while respecting diverse views
- an appreciation of the need to maintain confidentiality when dealing with sensitive information
- substantial experience and appreciation of disability and equality and diversity issues
- excellent strategy development and work / project planning skills
- an understanding of the experiences and barriers for disabled people with different impairments
- the ability to communicate effectively with different audiences
- an understanding of how to manage conflicts of interest
- good media handling skills.
Desirable Experience and Skills
In addition it would be desirable for the Chair to have:
- experience of effectively leading and managing change within an organisation.
- an understanding of how government works and how policy is developed.