Chiltern Way Academy Trust
Governance & Compliance Officer
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Governance & Compliance Officer
About Chiltern Way Academy Trust
Chiltern Way Academy Trust is a specialist multi-academy trust providing high-quality education for young people with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) and Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) needs. Our schools are based across Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Wokingham, united by a shared commitment to transforming the lives of the young people we serve.
We are proud to offer a supportive, inclusive and ambitious working environment where every member of our team plays a vital role in achieving outstanding outcomes for our young people. Effective governance is central to the Trust's commitment to accountability, transparency and continuous improvement.
Job Purpose
To provide high-quality, independent professional clerking and governance support across the Trust, ensuring that Board, Committee, Local Governing and Local Advisory Committee meetings are properly planned, accurately minuted and compliant with statutory, regulatory and Trust requirements. The post holder will keep up to date with academy trust governance expectations, know where to find authoritative guidance, advise colleagues on appropriate agenda content and governance process, and support the Governance and Compliance Specialist in maintaining a robust, transparent and audit-ready governance framework. The role will also support the Trust's data protection function, particularly the administration of Subject Access Requests, collation of information, redaction processes and preparation of records for Data Protection Officer sign-off.
Key Responsibilities
Professional Clerking and Meeting Management
- Act as designated Clerk to the Trust Board, Committees, Local Governing and Local Advisory Committees, and statutory panels and hearings.
- Work with the Governance and Compliance Specialist, Chairs and relevant executive leads to prepare purposeful agendas that include the correct statutory, regulatory, assurance, policy, risk, finance, safeguarding and strategic business at the right point in the governance cycle.
- Attend meetings, including evening meetings, and produce professional, accurate and impartial minutes that clearly capture attendance, declarations, challenge, scrutiny, decisions, resolutions, actions, accountabilities and timescales.
- Maintain decision logs, action trackers and governance records to a high standard, ensuring actions are followed up and outstanding items are escalated appropriately.
- Provide procedural and regulatory advice to Chairs, governors, trustees and senior staff before, during and after meetings, including advice on quorum, conflicts of interest, delegations, reserved matters and decision routes.
- Ensure all meeting documentation is circulated, stored and retained in line with Trust policy, confidentiality requirements and legal obligations.
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Governance Knowledge, Advice and Planning
- Maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of academy trust governance requirements, including the Academy Trust Handbook, the Trust's Articles of Association, Master and Supplemental Funding Agreements, Scheme of Delegation, DfE and ESFA guidance, Companies Act requirements and relevant sector updates.
- Know where to locate current governance guidance and use it to advise staff on what needs to be reported, approved, noted or escalated through the Trust's governance structure.
- Support the Governance and Compliance Specialist in maintaining the annual governance planner, policy review schedule, Scheme of Delegation alignment, committee terms of reference and statutory reporting calendar.
- Monitor governance updates and flag changes, risks or compliance gaps that may require agenda items, policy updates, trustee/governor briefings or changes to practice.
Governance Administration and Coordination
- Administer governance systems and platforms, including document management, governor portals, attendance records, declarations of interest, governance registers and website compliance.
- Support onboarding, induction and compliance checks for new Trustees, Members, Governors and Local Advisory Committee members.
- Maintain training records and support governance development activity, including identifying where training or briefing updates may be required.
- Provide administrative support for governance recruitment, statutory panels, hearings and other formal governance processes.
- Ensure all governance documentation is accurate, current and audit-ready at all times.
Data Protection and Subject Access Request Support
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- Support the Data Protection Officer and Governance and Compliance Specialist with the administration of Subject Access Requests and related data protection processes.
- Maintain SAR logs, deadlines, correspondence, evidence trails and case records, ensuring requests are acknowledged, tracked and progressed within statutory timescales.
- Coordinate information searches across the Trust, liaising with schools, central teams and senior leaders to collate relevant records securely.
- Prepare information for review, apply agreed redaction processes under DPO guidance, and identify material requiring further advice, including third-party information, safeguarding records, legally privileged material or other potentially exempt information.
- Prepare draft disclosure bundles and supporting records for DPO sign-off, ensuring confidentiality, accuracy and clear audit trails.
- Support the maintenance of SAR templates, process notes, retention records and data protection documentation as required.
Compliance and Assurance Support
- Assist the Governance and Compliance Specialist in delivering the Trust's governance compliance framework and assurance calendar.
- Support preparation for internal and external audits, including collation of evidence and documentation.
- Monitor and escalate any gaps in compliance, documentation or governance practice to the Governance and Compliance Specialist.
- Support statutory and regulatory returns relating to governance, company administration and academy trust compliance.
General Responsibilities
- Maintain strict confidentiality in all matters relating to Trust governance, pupils, staff, personnel, data protection and commercially sensitive information, in accordance with UK GDPR and Trust policy.
- Contribute to the positive culture and ethos of the Trust, modelling professional values at all times.
- Participate in relevant CPD to maintain up-to-date knowledge of governance, clerking, academy trust compliance, data protection and redaction practice.
- Work flexibly to meet governance and statutory deadlines, including evening meetings and urgent SAR-related deadlines where agreed.
- Undertake any other duties commensurate with the grade and nature of the post as reasonably directed.
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