Head of Governance
| Posting date: | 29 September 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £76,951 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 29 October 2025 |
| Location: | PE30 1DZ |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | Freebridge Community Housing |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | RPO03590 |
Summary
Are you passionate about shaping the future of good governance in a values-led, purpose-driven organisation? Do you want to play a pivotal role at the heart of a dynamic housing association that’s committed to making a real difference in people’s lives?
This is your opportunity to join Freebridge Community Housing as our new Head of Governance—a senior leadership role where your expertise and influence will help drive our mission, support our Board, and ensure we remain at the forefront of best practice in the sector.
As Head of Governance, you’ll be a trusted advisor to our Board, Chair, and Leadership Team, working closely with colleagues across the organisation to foster a culture of integrity, transparency, and continuous improvement. You’ll lead a talented governance team and play a key part in shaping our strategic direction, supporting innovation, and ensuring our customers’ voices are central to everything we do.
At Freebridge, we believe in empowering our people to lead with purpose. You’ll join an organisation that values belonging, ownership, and collaboration—where your voice matters and your impact is felt across our communities. We’re proud of our inclusive, supportive culture and our commitment to professional development.
Whether you’re looking to step up into a strategic leadership role or bring your seasoned expertise to a new challenge, this is a rare opportunity to influence the future of governance in a progressive, customer-first organisation.
What you’ll be doing:
• Shape the Future of Governance: Lead the ongoing development and enhancement of Freebridge’s governance framework, ensuring it remains robust, forward-thinking, and fully aligned with our vision, values, and regulatory standards.
• Champion Compliance and Best Practice: Act as the organisation’s trusted authority on governance, legal, and regulatory matters—proactively advising the Board and Leadership Team, and ensuring Freebridge consistently meets and exceeds sector requirements.
• Drive a Culture of Integrity: Embed a culture of transparency, ethical leadership, and accountability across the organisation, empowering colleagues and ensuring the customer voice is central to all governance arrangements.
• Lead on Data Protection Excellence: Serve as Freebridge’s Data Protection Officer, shaping and delivering our data protection strategy, and ensuring best-in-class compliance, training, and engagement at every level.
• Enable Effective Board Leadership: Provide expert company secretarial support to the Board and its committees, ensuring seamless administration, high-quality decision-making, and effective succession planning.
• Inspire and Develop Talent: Lead and nurture a high-performing governance team, building strong networks across the sector and playing a key role in strategic planning and stakeholder engagement.
What we’re looking for:
To be successful with your application, you’ll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:
• Knowledge & Experience: Significant senior governance experience with deep knowledge of legal and regulatory frameworks, and a proven ability to advise boards and leadership on governance, legal, and compliance matters.
• Skills: Strong leadership, influential communication, and organisational skills, with a track record of developing governance frameworks and maintaining confidentiality.
• Qualifications: Relevant professional qualification or degree, combined with demonstrable senior governance expertise and a commitment to the highest standards of regulatory compliance.
What’s in it for you?
At Freebridge, we’re appreciative of our team and we believe in empowering you to achieve your aspirations and dreams, both in your work and in your life. To help you achieve your goals, we offer a variety of core, including:
• Generous Holiday Leave: Enjoy 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays, increasing to 30 days after 5 years of service.
• Exclusive Employee Discounts: Access amazing deals through our Reward Gateway.
• Comprehensive Leave Policies: Enjoy 6 months full pay for maternity leave and 2 weeks full pay for paternity leave.
• Health and Wellbeing Support: Access physio and counselling services, along with an employee assistance programme.
• Charitable Leave: One day per year to volunteer for a cause you care about.
• Discounted Gym Membership: Stay fit with discounted membership at Alive Leisure.
• Work-life Balance: Enjoy an early finish on a Friday to kick-start your weekend!
• Pension Scheme: A company contributory pension scheme with generous employer contributions
Diversity & Inclusion
Diversity is key to our values and culture. We create a workplace where every voice is heard and respected, embracing diverse perspectives to drive innovation.
Our inclusive environment empowers colleagues, ensuring equal opportunities for all. We don’t discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. We’re happy to accommodate reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process to enable you to perform your best.
As part of this commitment, we also offer accessibility tours for candidates to help ensure an inclusive and welcoming experience from the outset.
Compliance
Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:
1. Pre-screening - We will check that your CV meets the essential/eligibility criteria listed in the Skills & Experience section of this advert.
2. CV Review - Your CV, supporting documents and qualification notes will be reviewed by Freebridge hiring managers to determine eligibility for interview
3. Interview - If invited to interview, you'll be assessed against the sift categories in the Skills & Experience section of this advert
4. Feedback - Feedback will be provided post-interview.
This is your opportunity to join Freebridge Community Housing as our new Head of Governance—a senior leadership role where your expertise and influence will help drive our mission, support our Board, and ensure we remain at the forefront of best practice in the sector.
As Head of Governance, you’ll be a trusted advisor to our Board, Chair, and Leadership Team, working closely with colleagues across the organisation to foster a culture of integrity, transparency, and continuous improvement. You’ll lead a talented governance team and play a key part in shaping our strategic direction, supporting innovation, and ensuring our customers’ voices are central to everything we do.
At Freebridge, we believe in empowering our people to lead with purpose. You’ll join an organisation that values belonging, ownership, and collaboration—where your voice matters and your impact is felt across our communities. We’re proud of our inclusive, supportive culture and our commitment to professional development.
Whether you’re looking to step up into a strategic leadership role or bring your seasoned expertise to a new challenge, this is a rare opportunity to influence the future of governance in a progressive, customer-first organisation.
What you’ll be doing:
• Shape the Future of Governance: Lead the ongoing development and enhancement of Freebridge’s governance framework, ensuring it remains robust, forward-thinking, and fully aligned with our vision, values, and regulatory standards.
• Champion Compliance and Best Practice: Act as the organisation’s trusted authority on governance, legal, and regulatory matters—proactively advising the Board and Leadership Team, and ensuring Freebridge consistently meets and exceeds sector requirements.
• Drive a Culture of Integrity: Embed a culture of transparency, ethical leadership, and accountability across the organisation, empowering colleagues and ensuring the customer voice is central to all governance arrangements.
• Lead on Data Protection Excellence: Serve as Freebridge’s Data Protection Officer, shaping and delivering our data protection strategy, and ensuring best-in-class compliance, training, and engagement at every level.
• Enable Effective Board Leadership: Provide expert company secretarial support to the Board and its committees, ensuring seamless administration, high-quality decision-making, and effective succession planning.
• Inspire and Develop Talent: Lead and nurture a high-performing governance team, building strong networks across the sector and playing a key role in strategic planning and stakeholder engagement.
What we’re looking for:
To be successful with your application, you’ll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:
• Knowledge & Experience: Significant senior governance experience with deep knowledge of legal and regulatory frameworks, and a proven ability to advise boards and leadership on governance, legal, and compliance matters.
• Skills: Strong leadership, influential communication, and organisational skills, with a track record of developing governance frameworks and maintaining confidentiality.
• Qualifications: Relevant professional qualification or degree, combined with demonstrable senior governance expertise and a commitment to the highest standards of regulatory compliance.
What’s in it for you?
At Freebridge, we’re appreciative of our team and we believe in empowering you to achieve your aspirations and dreams, both in your work and in your life. To help you achieve your goals, we offer a variety of core, including:
• Generous Holiday Leave: Enjoy 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays, increasing to 30 days after 5 years of service.
• Exclusive Employee Discounts: Access amazing deals through our Reward Gateway.
• Comprehensive Leave Policies: Enjoy 6 months full pay for maternity leave and 2 weeks full pay for paternity leave.
• Health and Wellbeing Support: Access physio and counselling services, along with an employee assistance programme.
• Charitable Leave: One day per year to volunteer for a cause you care about.
• Discounted Gym Membership: Stay fit with discounted membership at Alive Leisure.
• Work-life Balance: Enjoy an early finish on a Friday to kick-start your weekend!
• Pension Scheme: A company contributory pension scheme with generous employer contributions
Diversity & Inclusion
Diversity is key to our values and culture. We create a workplace where every voice is heard and respected, embracing diverse perspectives to drive innovation.
Our inclusive environment empowers colleagues, ensuring equal opportunities for all. We don’t discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. We’re happy to accommodate reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process to enable you to perform your best.
As part of this commitment, we also offer accessibility tours for candidates to help ensure an inclusive and welcoming experience from the outset.
Compliance
Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:
1. Pre-screening - We will check that your CV meets the essential/eligibility criteria listed in the Skills & Experience section of this advert.
2. CV Review - Your CV, supporting documents and qualification notes will be reviewed by Freebridge hiring managers to determine eligibility for interview
3. Interview - If invited to interview, you'll be assessed against the sift categories in the Skills & Experience section of this advert
4. Feedback - Feedback will be provided post-interview.