Company Secretary Skills: 12 Essential Skills Employers Should Assess

Company Secretary skills combine technical governance knowledge with organisation, communication, commercial awareness and sound judgement.

The role is broader than keeping records or administering meetings. An experienced Company Secretary may advise the board on governance matters, anticipate problems, improve the quality of board information and help directors understand the implications of the decisions in front of them.

For employers, the question is not simply whether a candidate has the right qualification or has spent enough years in a secretariat. It is whether they can apply their knowledge at the level the organisation needs.

The Chartered Governance Institute’s Competency Framework provides a useful structure. It identifies 12 competencies across three areas:

• Knowledge: what the governance professional knows
• Practice: what they can do
• Values: how they behave and exercise judgement

That gives employers a more useful basis for assessment than qualifications or years of experience alone.

Company Secretary Skills at a Glance

Skill	Why It Matters	Evidence Employers Can Look For
Governance and regulatory knowledge	Supports accurate advice and appropriate governance arrangements	Examples of applying legislation, regulation or governance codes
Understanding strategy and culture	Connects governance with the organisation’s purpose and objectives	Evidence of adapting governance to the needs of the organisation
Financial, risk and compliance awareness	Helps the board identify and oversee material issues	Work with risk, internal controls, reporting or regulated committees
Sector and stakeholder awareness	Places governance advice in its wider context	Understanding of the sector, shareholders, regulators and other stakeholders
Planning, organisation and attention to detail	Keeps board and statutory processes accurate and timely	Ownership of board cycles, papers, minutes, filings or entity records
Problem-solving and anticipation	Helps prevent governance issues becoming larger problems	Examples of identifying an issue early and proposing a workable response
Advising and communication	Helps directors understand issues and make informed decisions	Clear written and verbal advice explaining options, risks and consequences
Influencing and coaching	Builds governance capability beyond the secretariat	Evidence of influencing senior stakeholders or developing colleagues
Integrity	Protects trust, confidentiality and professional standards	Handling of conflicts, sensitive information or ethical concerns
Independence	Allows constructive challenge when it matters	Examples of maintaining an objective position under pressure
Open-mindedness	Supports improvement as regulation and working practices change	Willingness to test existing processes and consider different approaches
Emotional intelligence	Supports effective board and executive relationships	Adapting communication without compromising professional judgement

What Skills Does a Company Secretary Need?

A Company Secretary needs more than technical knowledge.

They need to understand the organisation’s legal and governance framework, but also to turn that knowledge into practical advice and dependable processes. They must then be able to do that while dealing with confidential information, senior stakeholders and situations where there may not be an obvious answer.

The balance changes with seniority.

An Assistant Company Secretary may spend more time developing technical accuracy and managing governance processes. A Group Company Secretary is more likely to spend significant time advising the board, leading a governance function and dealing with complex stakeholder or regulatory issues.

Knowledge: What a Company Secretary Needs to Know

1. Governance and Regulatory Knowledge

Technical governance knowledge remains fundamental.

Depending on the organisation, a Company Secretary may need to understand company law, constitutional documents, board and committee authorities, statutory reporting, regulatory requirements and applicable governance codes.

The required depth will differ between a private company, listed group, FCA-regulated organisation, not-for-profit body and international business.

Employers should look beyond whether someone can describe a rule.

More useful evidence is how they have applied it. For example:

• Advising on a potential conflict of interest
• Updating committee terms of reference
• Responding to a change in governance requirements
• Identifying a statutory or regulatory issue
• Explaining a technical requirement to directors or executives

A strong candidate should also have a reliable way of keeping their knowledge current and distinguishing developments that require action from those that do not.

For a fuller view of the role and its responsibilities, see our Company Secretary Job Description.

2. Understanding Purpose, Strategy and Culture

Governance has to work in the context of the organisation it supports.

A Company Secretary needs to understand the organisation’s purpose, how its strategy is set and the role of the board in overseeing delivery.

Culture matters too. Written policies may say one thing while behaviours, incentives or established working practices produce a different result.

This is where commercial awareness becomes important.

Commercial awareness does not mean finding a way around a governance requirement because it is inconvenient. It means understanding the organisation well enough to provide advice that is proportionate, practical and connected to the decision being made.

When recruiting, ask candidates about a governance process they adapted or improved. The answer should show that they understood both the governance requirement and the reason the organisation needed the process in the first place.

3. Financial, Risk and Compliance Awareness

A Company Secretary is not expected to replace the finance, risk or compliance functions.

They do need enough understanding of those areas to support effective board oversight and recognise when specialist input is needed.

That may include:

• Understanding the information boards use to assess financial performance
• Recognising the relationship between strategy and risk
• Supporting audit, risk or compliance committees
• Understanding internal control and assurance arrangements
• Monitoring regulatory and reporting obligations
• Recognising when a significant issue needs board attention

This becomes particularly important in listed, FCA-regulated and other highly scrutinised organisations.

4. Sector and Stakeholder Awareness

The same governance approach will not suit every organisation.

A Company Secretary should understand the sector, ownership structure, regulatory environment and main stakeholders around the business.

Those stakeholders might include shareholders, regulators, employees, customers, members, beneficiaries, lenders or public bodies.

This context affects the advice the board needs.

A candidate with excellent technical knowledge but little understanding of the organisation’s operating environment may initially need support before they can advise at a senior level.

Employers should therefore explore how candidates have connected governance advice with the organisation’s objectives, risks and stakeholder expectations.

Practice: How a Company Secretary Applies Their Knowledge

5. Planning, Organisation and Attention to Detail

Boards and committees depend on reliable processes and close attention to detail. Errors in papers, minutes, filings or statutory records can affect decisions and create unnecessary governance or compliance risk.

A Company Secretary may be responsible for annual calendars, agendas, board papers, minutes, action logs, statutory records, filings and regulatory deadlines.

The skill is not simply being organised.

At a more senior level, the person needs to be able to design a process that remains dependable when priorities change, papers arrive late or several important deadlines collide.

Useful evidence might include:

• Improving the board-paper process
• Creating a more reliable annual meeting cycle
• Improving the quality or timeliness of board information
• Maintaining records across multiple legal entities
• Introducing governance technology
• Improving the way decisions or actions are tracked

Ask what changed as a result of their work. That usually tells you more than asking whether they consider themselves organised.

6. Problem-Solving and Horizon Scanning

A capable Company Secretary should be looking ahead.

That includes monitoring legislative, regulatory, market and governance developments, considering what they mean for the organisation and making sure relevant issues reach the right people early enough.

The same skill applies when something unexpected happens.

The Company Secretary may need to establish the governance position, identify possible ways forward and explain the implications to the board or senior management.

A useful interview question is:

‘Tell us about a governance issue you identified before it became a wider problem. How did you assess it, and what did you recommend?’

A strong answer should demonstrate judgement and ownership. Escalating every issue immediately is not the same as anticipating and solving problems effectively.

7. Advising, Communicating and Enabling the Board

Technical knowledge has limited value if it cannot be turned into useful advice.

Directors usually need to know:

• What is happening
• Why it matters
• What choices are available
• What risks or consequences sit behind those choices
• What decision or action is required

For companies applying the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, all directors should have access to the advice of the Company Secretary, who is responsible for advising the board on governance matters. The Code also states that the appointment and removal of the Company Secretary should be a matter for the whole board.

That requires more than technical accuracy.

Employers need to know whether a candidate can explain a difficult issue clearly, give proportionate advice and retain the confidence of senior decision-makers.

A good Company Secretary helps the board find an appropriate route forward. Simply explaining why something cannot be done is rarely enough.

8. Influencing, Relationship-Building and Coaching

Company Secretaries frequently need to influence people over whom they have no formal authority.

That might involve:

• Improving papers submitted by senior executives
• Persuading a chair to change an agenda
• Challenging an established governance practice
• Following up actions with senior colleagues
• Encouraging directors to complete development or training
• Introducing a new governance process across several teams

Doing this well takes more than confidence.

The Company Secretary needs credibility, diplomacy and the ability to judge when to challenge, when to explain and when to escalate. FRC guidance also highlights the importance of building relationships of mutual trust with the chair, senior independent director and non-executive directors while retaining the confidence of executive colleagues.

At senior levels, this extends to leadership of the governance function. A Company Secretary may be developing Assistant and Deputy Company Secretaries, delegating board responsibilities and building a succession pipeline within the team.

When recruiting, look for examples where the candidate improved the performance of other people as well as their own work.

Values: How a Company Secretary Exercises Judgement

9. Integrity and Discretion

Company Secretaries routinely handle sensitive information.

That may include confidential board discussions, market-sensitive matters, personal information, potential conflicts and issues with reputational or regulatory implications.

Discretion is therefore essential, but integrity goes further.

The Company Secretary may occasionally need to take a position that is inconvenient, raise something others would prefer not to discuss or ensure a governance concern is properly recorded.

Candidates may not be able to share the details of sensitive situations. They should still be able to explain how they approached them, what principles guided their decision and when they sought further advice.

References can also be useful here. Trustworthiness is difficult to establish from a candidate simply saying that they are trustworthy.

10. Independence and Constructive Challenge

The Company Secretary works closely with the board, chair and executive management while also needing to retain professional objectivity.

That balance is important.

Independent judgement may mean:

• Presenting an alternative interpretation
• Identifying a procedural concern
• Raising a potential conflict
• Challenging an established practice
• Asking for additional assurance
• Maintaining advice when there is pressure for a more convenient answer

This does not require confrontation.

The most effective challenge is usually well timed, evidence-based and proportionate to the issue.

Ask candidates for an example of giving difficult or unwelcome advice. Explore how they approached the conversation, why they took that position and what happened next.

11. Open-Mindedness and Continuous Learning

Governance professionals need firm principles without assuming that the existing way of doing something is automatically the best way.

Law, regulation, technology and working practices change. Governance arrangements need to develop with them.

Open-mindedness means being willing to test existing processes, listen to different perspectives and change an approach when there is a good reason to do so.

Digital capability is increasingly part of this.

Company Secretaries may work with:

• Board portals
• Entity-management platforms
• Electronic filing systems
• Digital approval processes
• Governance reporting tools
• AI-supported systems and workflows

They do not need to be technology specialists, but they should understand enough to assess where technology can improve a process and where it introduces new risks.

Confidentiality, accuracy, records management and appropriate human oversight still matter when the tool changes.

12. Emotional Intelligence

Company Secretaries work with people who have different responsibilities, personalities and levels of governance knowledge.

Being technically right is not always enough to influence the outcome.

Emotional intelligence helps the Company Secretary understand the dynamics around an issue and choose an appropriate way to communicate.

That may involve:

• Listening before offering advice
• Recognising tension or misunderstanding
• Explaining a difficult issue sensitively
• Staying composed under pressure
• Adapting communication to different stakeholders
• Judging when a challenge is better made privately

This becomes increasingly important as the role moves closer to the board.

Employers can explore it through real situations involving difficult relationships, disagreement between senior stakeholders or sensitive board matters.

How Company Secretary Skills Change by Seniority

The core competencies remain relevant throughout a governance career. The expected level changes.

Level	Typical Skills Emphasis
Assistant Company Secretary	Technical foundations, accurate records, meeting support, organisation and clear communication
Deputy Company Secretary	Ownership of board or committee processes, technical advice, stakeholder management and supervision
Company Secretary	Board counsel, independent judgement, governance leadership, strategic awareness and senior relationships
Group Company Secretary	Complex group governance, listed or cross-border requirements, executive leadership and succession planning

An Assistant Company Secretary should not be assessed against the same board-advisory expectations as someone who has spent years working directly with a listed-company chair.

Equally, strong performance in a process-heavy role does not automatically demonstrate readiness for a position requiring independent board advice.

Our guides to the Deputy Company Secretary and Group Company Secretary explain how the responsibilities develop at more senior levels.

How Employers Should Assess Company Secretary Skills

Start With the Actual Role

Before deciding how to assess candidates, define the organisation’s requirement.

Consider:

• The board or boards involved
• Reporting line
• Regulatory environment
• Legal-entity structure
• Governance team
• Level of senior stakeholder exposure
• Reason for the appointment

A Company Secretary supporting a listed board needs a different competency profile from someone establishing governance arrangements in a private growth business.

Avoid starting with a generic list of desirable skills and trying to recruit someone who has all of them.

Separate Technical Knowledge From Application

Qualifications and technical questions can help establish what someone knows.

They do not necessarily show what the candidate will do when the position is unclear, time is limited or a senior stakeholder disagrees with their advice.

Ask candidates to talk through what they personally did, why they chose that approach and what happened as a result.

Ask for Specific Evidence

Useful areas to explore include:

• Advising a chair or board on a difficult governance issue
• Improving board information
• Handling a conflict or sensitive matter
• Identifying an emerging regulatory risk
• Influencing a senior stakeholder
• Managing competing statutory and board deadlines
• Improving a governance process or system

The more specific the example, the easier it is to distinguish genuine experience from a well-rehearsed description of the role.

Consider a Practical Exercise

For some appointments, a short fictional exercise can add useful evidence.

A candidate might be asked to:

• Review a sample board paper and identify issues
• Structure advice on a governance scenario
• Prioritise several competing deadlines
• Explain how they would prepare a chair for a difficult meeting

Keep the exercise proportionate to the seniority of the role and use the same assessment criteria for every candidate.

It should test ability, not ask candidates to solve a live problem for free.

Use References for the Things Interviews Do Not Show Well

References can be particularly useful when assessing judgement, discretion and senior relationships.

Where appropriate, ask how the candidate operated under pressure, handled confidential information, influenced senior colleagues and responded when their advice was challenged.

Those questions are usually more useful than simply confirming dates and job titles.

Company Secretary Skills Versus Qualifications

Skills, experience and professional qualifications are related, but they are not the same thing.

Under section 273 of the Companies Act 2006, directors of a public company must take reasonable steps to ensure that its secretary has the necessary knowledge and experience and meets at least one of the qualification or experience conditions set out in the Act.

Private companies generally do not have to appoint a Company Secretary unless their articles require one. GOV.UK guidance explains the position for private companies.

Professional qualifications can provide valuable evidence of technical learning and commitment to governance.

They do not, by themselves, demonstrate whether someone can advise a board, influence a difficult stakeholder, exercise independent judgement or handle a sensitive issue well.

Employers should consider qualification alongside the level and complexity of the candidate’s actual experience.

Developing Company Secretary Skills

Company Secretary skills develop through practical exposure as well as formal learning.

Useful development opportunities can include:

• Supporting different boards and committees
• Drafting advice rather than only administering processes
• Working on transactions, regulatory change or governance projects
• Obtaining feedback from chairs and senior governance colleagues
• Taking responsibility for a complete meeting or reporting cycle
• Mentoring or supervising junior team members
• Gaining experience in another organisational structure or sector
• Maintaining relevant continuing professional development

Not every development move needs to involve promotion.

Taking ownership of a more complex committee, dealing directly with a chair or working through a difficult governance project may build more useful experience than adding another responsibility to a job title.

The CGI Competency Framework can also be used in appraisals and succession planning to identify where an individual’s experience is strong and where further exposure is needed.

Recruiting a Company Secretary

The strongest candidate is not necessarily the person with the longest list of responsibilities or the most familiar employer on their CV.

The question is whether their knowledge, practical experience and judgement match the role the organisation needs them to perform.

For a senior appointment, that may mean testing board relationships and independent advice more heavily. For a role with substantial subsidiary responsibility, technical accuracy and management of complex entity structures may carry more weight.

The recruitment process should reflect the board, sector, regulatory environment and challenges the successful person will inherit.

Ingen Partners specialises in Company Secretarial and Governance Recruitment across permanent, interim and senior appointments.

We help organisations define the requirement and assess candidates against the experience, judgement and board capability the role genuinely needs.

Company Secretary Skills Frequently Asked Questions