Governance Assistant

Surgery and anaesthesia have a fundamental and growing impact on global health outcomes yet 5 billion people do not have access to safe, affordable surgery and anaesthesia when needed. Surgical intervention could address at least 11% of the global burden of disease, but the poorest 33% of people receive just 3.5% of all surgery. With 141 Member Societies made up of anaesthesiologists in over 150 countries, WFSA is uniquely placed to influence these inequalities and to help ensure universal access to safe surgery and safe anaesthesia. We are now looking for an additional member of our governance team to add capacity to our work.

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Context:

The role is designed to build capacity to the support offered to WFSA governance bodies and to provide more dedicated support to Committees. The role sits within the functional area of governance and reports to the WFSA Governance Manager. You will work closely with all members of our staff team (Secretariat), as well as our Committees, Council and Board members. Your role will primarily be to provide administrative and logistical support to our 11 Permanent Committees in areas from education through to sustainability. You will also provide support to our Board and Council and other relevant stakeholders, including Member Societies as necessary. This is an entry level position which offers huge scope for development and learning across an area of work. The role is offered either on a hybrid working basis (with access to WFSA’s central London office) or fully remote. Note, the majority of working hours will need to overlap with those of the United Kingdom.

This position will provide you with an excellent platform to develop your knowledge, skills, and organisational experience, supporting the delivery of a range of (Committee) activities and provides the opportunity to work with skilled volunteers from across the world. You will be encouraged to develop your own ideas and be given the opportunity to take on more responsibility as our activities continue to expand. The role will also provide an opportunity to travel. Some out-of-hours work will be required to accommodate meetings and call.

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Key tasks & responsibilities

You will be accountable for fulfilling your role and responsibilities in line with the values of WFSA.

Manage the organisation of Committee meetings and provide support to Committee Chairs:

• Provide support to our 11 Committee Chairs and their members and ensure the smooth running of committee meetings and activities.
• Liaise with Committee Chairs in the preparation and circulation of agendas and papers for all Committee meeting.
• Draft high-quality meeting minutes and action points and circulate them in a timely manner.
• Notify relevant Committee members of the date and time of relevant meetings and provide them with the Zoom access links and codes.
• Work with the Board Director of Programmes to maintain the WFSA Committees workplan and Terms of References register.
• Support the communications and knowledge-sharing within and between committees, the Secretariat and Board/Council.
• Support the Director of Programmes, Head of Programmes and Chairs of Committees with organisation of Committee Chairs meetings, as required.

Support with the organisation of in-person and virtual Board and Council meetings:

• Support the organisation of in-person and virtual meetings of the WFSA Council and Board. The Council (including Committee Chairs) meet once a year in person during the spring and twice virtually. The Board meets on a monthly basis, and twice a year in the Spring and Autumn.
• Coordinate bookings, accommodation, and logistics for in-person Board and Council meetings.
• Performing other administrative related duties that assist with the smooth functioning of our governance functional area.

Record keeping and correspondence:

• Handle confidential information on WFSA’s operations, performance, and strategies.
• Deal with correspondence and emails efficiently and to a high standard and support the maintenance of our shared governance mailboxes.

Other:

• Support the nominations process for the 2026-2028 Committees.
• Proactively promote and foster a culture in which our principles, values and approaches are consistently respected, applied, and complied with in the delivery of your objectives.
• Comply with WFSA’s policies and procedures in undertaking the above roles and responsibilities.
• Performing other related duties incidental to the work described herein.

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Person specification

Essential criteria:

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a diverse workload with conflicting priorities.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Ability to work on your own initiative and as part of a small, committed team.
• Culturally sensitive and experience of working with a range of people from varied cultural and professional backgrounds.
• Strong IT skills across Microsoft Office and other packages.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• A flexible and adaptive approach and the willingness to adapt to the changing needs of the organisation.
• Ability to travel overseas, and willingness to work out of hours on occasion, particularly when arranging meetings across time zones.

Desirable criteria:

• Experience providing governance or administrative support.
• Knowledge of a second language (particularly Spanish, French, or Portuguese).
• An interest in global health.