Volunteer Trustee Chair to help change the lives of people across the world

What will you be doing?

The overall role of the chair is to lead the Board as it sets strategic direction and oversees the good governance of the charity. You will be responsible for ensuring that the organisation is following correct governance and meeting its charitable obligations. This is an active role, where time will need to be invested regularly outside of meetings to support this small charity. In addition to the general responsibilities of a trustee, duties of the Chair include the following:

Providing leadership to the organisation and the board by ensuring that everyone remains focused on the delivery of the organisation’s charitable purposes in order to provide greater public benefit Chairing and facilitating board meetings Giving direction to board policy-making Checking that decisions taken at meetings are implemented Representing the organisation at functions and meetings, and acting as a spokesperson as appropriate Bringing impartiality and objectivity to decision-making Planning the annual cycle of board meetings and other general meetings where required, for example annual general meeting Helping organise & run board and other general meetings Leading & supporting the CEO in their role Developing the board of trustees including induction, training, appraisal and succession planning Addressing conflict within the board and within the organisation, and liaising with the chief executive to achieve this Working closely with the CEO and others to ensure legal compliance & liaise with relevant external bodies

Who is EOS Network? Founded by a parent as an online family support group in 2005, focused on Eosinophilic Gastro-Intestinal Diseases, today the charity collaborates with over 400 global medical professionals and researchers to improve the lives of those affected by Eosinophil-Associated Diseases in and beyond the gut. Why is our work important? These diseases are thought to be majorly underdiagnosed with almost third of our adult community suffering over 10 years of symptoms before diagnosis. Living with these life-long diseases causes not only pain and social isolation but also financial cost of expensive highly restricted diets, and educational or work loss, which impact both the sufferer and the entire family. 

What are we looking for?

Our Chair Do you have the following:

Leadership skills Experience of committee work Tact and diplomacy Good communication and interpersonal skills Impartiality, fairness and the ability to respect confidences

It would be a significant advantage if you have experience of chairing a trustee board or comparable body. (e.g Chair of School Governors, Parish or Town Council Chair etc). Also advantageous would be a background in health or social care.

What difference will you make?

Our Chair of Trustees will help change the lives of people across the world – could that be you? We support a rapidly growing global community of patients and carers living with Eosinophil-Associated Diseases (EADs) and have a network for healthcare and research professionals working across 37 countries. As our operations have expanded, our Chair has taken a paid role within EOS Network as our CEO and this has created an exciting opportunity for a new Chair of our Trustee Board. As our new chair you will help shape the next exciting phase of our growth and development as we:

build our team of paid staff, bed in our enhanced legal status as a CIO, ramp up fundraising and support activities, and exponentially increase our external impact.

Our Trustees As our Chair you will lead a team of four passionate and dedicated trustees, each with excellent skills and qualities. Currently we respectively bring:

lived experience / technical expertise Charity strategy & fundraising expertise People expertise Finance expertise

With your help, we will be looking to complement our existing skills and expand on this.