Associate Director – Governance

Job Title: Associate Director – Governance Salary: Up to £90,000 plus excellent benefits Location: Central London Contract: Permanent Working pattern: Hybrid Sector: Professional membership

Overview This is a senior, board-facing leadership role within a long-established professional membership organisation. You will lead governance, risk, audit, compliance, and information governance functions, ensuring the organisation operates to the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and regulatory compliance, with frameworks that are robust, well-documented, and aligned with best practice and constitutional requirements.

You will work closely with senior leaders and governance boards to support effective decision-making, robust controls, and continuous improvement across operational and member-facing services, acting as a trusted adviser to the Chief Executive and senior leadership team on governance, risk, compliance, and culture.

Key responsibilities Board and committee support – agendas, papers, minutes, and action tracking, ensuring meetings are well-run and decisions are clear, transparent, and fully compliant Governance leadership – embedding best practice across governance, policy, and constitutional processes, ensuring consistency with regulatory requirements and recognised standards Risk and compliance – identifying, assessing, and mitigating organisational risk, ensuring compliance with legal, regulatory, and information governance requirements Internal audit and insurance – overseeing the internal audit programme, managing insurance arrangements, and driving continuous improvement in controls and processes Team leadership – managing and developing a small specialist team, ensuring strong capability, performance, and service delivery Strategic contribution – advising the CEO and senior leadership on governance, risk, compliance, and organisational culture, and supporting strategic decision-making Maintain and strengthen governance frameworks in line with constitutional and regulatory requirements Oversee corporate risk registers and ensure effective escalation and mitigation of key risks Lead internal audit planning, delivery, and follow-up of recommendations Act as Data Protection Officer, ensuring compliance with data protection legislation and acting as key liaison with regulators Oversee business continuity planning and organisational resilience activity Ensure policies and procedures are consistent, up to date, and continuously improved Manage governance, risk, and compliance budgets and reporting Support continuous improvement of systems, processes, and member-facing services