Corporate governance recruitment is about finding people with the experience, judgement and credibility to support effective governance across an organisation.
For employers, the first challenge is often deciding what capability is actually needed. A business may need more board support, stronger company secretarial expertise, greater regulatory experience or someone senior enough to lead the governance function. Those requirements can point to very different appointments.
Working that out before going to market gives the recruitment process a much clearer starting point.
| Recruitment consideration | What employers need to establish |
|---|---|
| Business need | Why the appointment is being made |
| Governance capability | Where the current gap sits |
| Seniority | Whether the organisation needs support, management or leadership |
| Experience | Which background is genuinely essential |
| Appointment type | Permanent, interim, fixed-term or consultancy |
| Search approach | Advertising, targeted search or specialist recruitment |
| Candidate proposition | Why the right person should want the role |
Corporate Governance Recruitment Planning Checklist
Before writing a job description or approaching candidates, it helps to establish what the organisation is trying to achieve from the appointment.
Download our Corporate Governance Recruitment Planning Checklist to work through the business need, governance capability gap, appropriate level of appointment, practical recruitment parameters and search approach.
The checklist is intended to be used before role-specific job descriptions and interview questions are prepared.
What Is Corporate Governance Recruitment?
Corporate governance recruitment covers the appointment of professionals who support, manage or lead governance within an organisation.
Depending on the structure and needs of the business, roles may include:
- Governance Officer
- Assistant Company Secretary
- Governance Manager
- Deputy Company Secretary
- Head of Governance
- Company Secretary
- Group Company Secretary
- Director of Governance
The responsibilities attached to these titles vary considerably between organisations. A Governance Manager in one business may have regular board exposure and responsibility for a team. Elsewhere, the same title may describe a more operational role.
That is why the job title should follow the business requirement, rather than determine it.
Organisations recruiting specifically within the company secretarial profession may also find our Company Secretary recruitment guide useful.
When Does an Organisation Need Additional Governance Capability?
The need does not always begin with an existing vacancy.
Sometimes a governance professional leaves and needs to be replaced. In other cases, the organisation has changed and the governance function needs to change with it.
Common triggers include:
- increased board or committee activity;
- organisational growth;
- a more complex group structure;
- greater regulatory demands;
- increased corporate reporting responsibilities;
- governance transformation or remediation;
- succession planning;
- expansion of the existing governance team;
- greater scrutiny from investors, regulators or other stakeholders.
Before replacing an outgoing employee on the same terms, it is worth asking whether the organisation still needs the same role.
The workload may have changed. The team may need someone more senior. Some responsibilities may now sit elsewhere. A vacancy can be a useful point to reassess the structure rather than simply reuse the previous job description.
What Level of Governance Professional Do You Need?
Seniority is one of the most important decisions in a corporate governance recruitment process.
An organisation that needs additional capacity may require a Governance Officer or Assistant Company Secretary. A broader remit involving ownership of governance processes or team responsibility may point towards a Governance Manager or Deputy Company Secretary.
Where the requirement involves leadership of the governance function, regular board interaction or responsibility for organisation-wide governance, a Head of Governance, Company Secretary or Director-level appointment may be more appropriate.
Before deciding on the title, establish:
- what the person will own;
- who they will support;
- who they will report to;
- how much board and committee exposure they will have;
- whether they will manage others;
- what they will be expected to handle without escalation.
Pitching a role too senior can make the search unnecessarily expensive and restrictive. Pitching it too low can leave the organisation looking for candidates who are unlikely to have the experience the job actually requires.
For a senior company secretarial appointment, our Hire a Company Secretary guide looks specifically at when that level of hire may be appropriate.
What Experience Should Employers Look For?
There is no standard background that suits every corporate governance appointment.
The experience required should reflect the environment in which the successful candidate will work.
Board and Committee Experience
Where the role will have regular board exposure, employers should look beyond a statement on a CV that a candidate has “supported the board”.
What did that support involve? Which committees did they work with? How much contact did they have with directors? Were they coordinating processes, providing governance advice, or both?
The substance of the experience matters more than the wording of the job title.
Company Secretarial Experience
Some governance appointments need substantial company secretarial experience, including statutory work, entity management, shareholder matters and support for corporate decision-making.
Others are more heavily focused on governance frameworks, board effectiveness, policies, controls or regulatory governance.
The recruitment brief should make clear which of these areas genuinely matter.
Listed-Company Experience
Listed companies can bring additional governance, reporting, shareholder and regulatory demands.
For companies listed in the FCA’s commercial companies or closed-ended investment funds categories, the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 applies, with companies expected to apply its Principles and comply with, or explain departures from, its Provisions.
That can make direct listed-company experience particularly useful for some appointments. It should not, however, be treated as an automatic requirement for every role. Employers should be clear about what listed-company experience the successful candidate will actually need to draw on.
For appointments specifically in this environment, see Listed Company Secretary Recruitment.
Regulated-Sector Experience
Regulated organisations may place greater weight on candidates who already understand their regulatory environment.
Again, the question is whether that experience is needed from day one.
A candidate with strong governance experience from another sector may be capable of learning the regulatory environment. If sector experience is essential, the employer should be able to explain which parts of the role make it essential.
Otherwise, making it mandatory may reduce the candidate pool without materially improving the appointment.
Does a Corporate Governance Professional Need to Be Qualified?
Not every governance role requires the same professional background.
A relevant professional qualification may be important for some appointments and preferred rather than essential for others. Employers may also find that practical experience of boards, governance processes, regulation or leadership matters more for a particular role.
The recruitment brief should therefore separate:
Essential requirements: experience or qualifications without which the candidate could not perform the role effectively.
Desirable requirements: experience that would strengthen the appointment but could reasonably be developed after joining.
That distinction is particularly important in a specialist market. A long list of mandatory requirements can exclude strong candidates before their wider experience has been considered.
Define the Role Before Writing the Job Description
The job description should come out of the recruitment planning process rather than starting it.
Before drafting one, the organisation should already understand:
- why the appointment is needed;
- what governance capability is missing;
- the appropriate seniority;
- the reporting line;
- whether the requirement is permanent, interim or fixed-term;
- the realistic salary range;
- which experience is essential;
- where the employer can be flexible.
The job description can then describe the role the organisation actually needs rather than combining requirements from previous vacancies or similar jobs elsewhere.
The same applies to interview questions. They should test the capabilities identified during the planning stage and reflect the situations the successful candidate is likely to encounter.
What Will Attract the Right Governance Candidates?
Experienced governance professionals need enough information to decide whether the opportunity is worth pursuing.
Employers should be ready to explain what the role offers beyond a list of responsibilities.
That might include:
- greater exposure to the board;
- progression into a more senior governance position;
- an opportunity to build or reshape a governance function;
- greater ownership of governance activity;
- experience within a listed or regulated environment;
- leadership responsibility;
- involvement in organisational change or growth.
The salary and working arrangements still need to be competitive, but candidates also need to understand the scope of the opportunity.
A clear brief makes that easier. A vague one can make a good role look less attractive than it is.
Advertising or Targeted Search?
Not every corporate governance appointment needs the same recruitment approach.
Advertising may work well where the candidate pool is relatively broad and the organisation has a clearly defined vacancy.
A more targeted search can be useful when:
- the appointment is senior;
- confidentiality matters;
- a narrow type of experience is required;
- listed-company or regulatory experience is important;
- the available candidate pool is limited;
- suitable professionals may not be actively looking for another role.
The recruitment route should therefore follow the brief. There is little benefit in deciding how to search before deciding who the organisation actually needs to find.
Our guide to choosing a Company Secretary recruitment agency looks at this in more detail for company secretarial appointments.
Avoid Making the Brief Too Narrow
Specialist recruitment becomes harder when too many preferences are turned into mandatory requirements.
An employer might ask for someone who has:
- held exactly the same job title;
- worked in exactly the same sector;
- supported the same type of board;
- gained a particular qualification;
- managed a similar-sized team;
- worked within a narrow geographical area;
- and fits within a fixed salary range.
Any one of those conditions may be reasonable. Requiring all of them can leave a very small market.
A better approach is to decide which factors genuinely determine whether someone can perform the role.
A candidate who has never held the exact title may already be operating at the required level. Conversely, someone with the preferred title may have worked within a much narrower remit.
The detail of the experience matters more than the label.
Planning the Recruitment Process
The practical process should also be agreed before candidates enter it.
Confirm:
- who owns the recruitment internally;
- who approves the appointment;
- how the organisation will approach the market;
- when the search will launch;
- who will interview;
- how many stages will be required;
- who makes the final decision;
- the target appointment date.
This is also the point at which the role-specific job description and interview questions should be prepared.
Agreeing these details early reduces the risk of changing the brief halfway through the search or introducing avoidable delays once suitable candidates are involved.
Recruiting the Right Corporate Governance Professional
Good corporate governance recruitment starts with understanding the requirement.
Before approaching candidates, the organisation should know what governance capability it needs, the appropriate level of appointment and which experience is genuinely essential. From there, it can prepare the job description, agree the interview process and choose the right way to approach the market.
Some appointments can be handled effectively through direct advertising. Senior, confidential or particularly specialist searches may require a more targeted approach.
For organisations that need support accessing the governance candidate market, our Company Secretarial Recruitment service covers permanent, interim and senior governance appointments.
The aim is not simply to fill an empty position. It is to appoint someone whose experience matches the governance work the organisation actually needs them to do.
Corporate Governance Recruitment Frequently Asked Questions
What is corporate governance recruitment?
Corporate governance recruitment is the process of identifying and appointing professionals who support, manage or lead governance within an organisation. Roles can range from Governance Officer and Assistant Company Secretary through to Head of Governance, Company Secretary and Director of Governance.
What should employers look for when recruiting a governance professional?
Employers should consider the governance experience required, level of board exposure, regulatory or sector knowledge, professional judgement, stakeholder skills and the seniority needed for the role. Essential requirements should be separated from experience that could reasonably be developed after appointment.
How do you decide what level of governance professional to hire?
Start with the responsibilities and capability the organisation needs rather than the job title. Consider whether the requirement is for additional delivery capacity, management of an area or team, or senior leadership of the governance function.
Does a governance professional need a professional qualification?
Not every governance role requires the same qualification. Professional qualifications can be valuable, but employers should also consider the practical governance, board, regulatory and leadership experience needed for the particular appointment.
When should an employer use a specialist governance recruiter?
Specialist recruitment can be particularly useful for senior, confidential or difficult-to-fill appointments, or where the organisation requires specific listed-company, regulatory or governance experience and may need to approach candidates who are not actively applying for roles.
What should an employer do before starting a corporate governance recruitment process?
Before going to market, employers should establish why the appointment is needed, identify the governance capability gap, agree the appropriate seniority and employment model, set the recruitment parameters and decide how suitable candidates will be reached. A job description and interview questions can then be prepared for the specific appointment.
