Regional Chair - Swim England East Region

This role is located in the East Region and will be managed by Swim England East Region. The contract will jointly be managed by the Region and Swim England.

Swim England East Region is one of the eight regions of Swim England, the national governing body for swimming, diving, artistic swimming and water polo.  The Region was established when the Amateur Swimming Association recognised its regional structure in 2005 and was previously known as ASA East Region.

The Region is made up of the clubs and associations with headquarters in each of our six affiliated counties organisations:

• Swim England Bedfordshire 
• Swim England Cambridgeshire 
• Swim England Essex (excluding the Essex London Boroughs)
• Swim England Hertfordshire
• Swim England Norfolk
• Swim England Suffolk

Swim England East Region works in partnership with Swim England to ensure that we have compatible strategies and development plans.

The Region is managed by a Board of Directors, who lead the regional structure of staff and volunteers. Our regional staff team support our clubs, volunteers, coaches and athletes across the East Region and are the first point of contact for our members. 

Together with the individual Leadership Groups, the Region delivers a range of competitions and development initiatives locally for all the disciplines which are part of the swimming family:

• Artistic Swimming
• Disability Swimming
• Diving
• Masters
• Open Water
• Swimming
• Water Polo

Be a part of our journey to inspire and engage the aquatic community.

Do you have excellent organisational skills and a love for Aquatics sports? Are you a current member of an East Region Club? Would you like to work closely with local clubs to provide fantastic opportunities for swimmers of all ages and abilities?

Swim England East Region is seeking to appoint a passionate and self-motivated leader to take on the role of Regional Chair, providing leadership and direction to the Board of Directors for the region. The successful applicant will lead and guide the East Region to develop the strategy, identifying the priorities and areas of focus in line with those of Swim England nationally. The role holder will also be responsible for adherence to the highest standards of governance within the region.

This pivotal voluntary leadership role involves overseeing the strategic direction and operational management of aquatic activities within the region. The Regional Chair will act as a key liaison between the committee, clubs and Swim England ensuring alignment with national strategies while addressing the unique needs of our region.

The Regional Chair plays an instrumental part in championing swimming and all its disciplines within the region. They also review all regional policies and ensures robust budgetary controls to ensure the continued success of the East Region.

Commitment requirement:

As Regional Chair, you will chair regular Board and Operations meetings of varying frequency throughout the year as required, equating to approximately 16 hours per week in a voluntary capacity. The term of office is a maximum of 3 years.

To find out more about the role, download the full Job Description and Person Specification document.

To succeed in this role, the applicant will need to be flexible, approachable and willing to work collaboratively to achieve the ambitious goals of the East Region. Knowledge of the sector is essential.

To be shortlisted for the next stage in the process you must demonstrate within your application how you meet the following criteria:

Essential

• Be a member of a Swim England East Region club
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate members of the Board to form an effective and cohesive team
• Previous experience of chairing a high-level committee or board of a voluntary organisation
• Proven knowledge of the sport, including:
• Understanding of the key issues faced by clubs and counties
• Relationships between these partners and the region
• Experience of establishing and working to strategic plans and objectives
• Good financial management skills
• Comprehensive and current IT, literacy and numeracy skills
• Approachable and a good listener, able to communicate effectively and confidently
• Be efficient and well organised

The candidate must also be willing to undertake an enhanced DBS check alongside relevant safeguarding training. For a full list of criteria please download the attached Role Description.

 Desirable

• Commercial / business background
• Knowledge of the role of a charity Trustee
• Understanding of Sports Development and the competition structure
• Understanding of Swim England governance and policies
• Previous people management experience

Interviews to take place on the week commencing 23^rd September.

Please contact [email protected] for an informal conversation regarding the role. 

Swim England is committed to inclusion and embracing the spirit of all equalities legislation. As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. We recognise that the diversity of our workforce is not reflective of today’s society and we are currently operating a pilot scheme whereby applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds can opt into our guaranteed interview scheme. Candidates that have opted into the scheme will be guaranteed an interview provided that they have demonstrated, within their application, that they meet the essential criteria for the role. When completing the application, applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds are encouraged to ‘Opt In’ to the scheme, by ticking the box.

Where possible, Swim England will always make reasonable adjustments for accessibility to anyone who requires it. If you would like any of the documentation in a different format or would like to apply in a different way please get in touch via [email protected]. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process, in line with the Equality Act 2010. However, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.

Swim England is also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

This vacancy is being managed via a Safer Recruitment Process and as part of this recruitment process relevant checks such as self-declarations, references and criminal record checks will be carried out, in accordance with Wavepower.

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