Vacancy -- Vice President

Purpose

The National Library of Wales’ purpose is to make our diverse culture and heritage accessible to all to learn, research and enjoy

 

As a Welsh Government Sponsored Body, the Library receives around £10m in annual revenue funding from the Welsh Government.  The Library is also a Royal Charter body and registered independent charity. Its management and operations are overseen by a Board of Trustees. 

 

The Library subscribes to the Welsh Governments wider policies and priorities, including  the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and integrates its work into supporting of all of the seven well being goals as well as the five governance elements of the Sustainable Development Principle.

 

For further detail on the Library’s purpose, vision and objectives, please see their link below; https://www.library.wales/fileadmin/fileadmin/docs_gwefan/amdanom_ni/dogfennaeth_gorfforaethol/2017-2021_Strategic_Plan_FINAL.pdf

 

The Role of ALL Trustees

The Board of Trustees provides leadership and governance to The Library of Wales and performs the important role of scrutinising all Library investments and activities. 

 

All Trustees share collective responsibility and accountability for the Board’s decisions.  The role of the Board is to provide effective leadership, define and develop strategic direction and set challenging objectives.  The Board promotes high standards of public accountability and upholds the principles of regularity, propriety and value for money.  It ensures that the Library’s activities are conducted efficiently and effectively and monitors performance to ensure that the Library fully meets its aims, objectives and performance targets. 

 

The Library is a registered charity and a Welsh Government Sponsored Body, and as such Trustees have individual and collective responsibility to the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport.  

 

The board consists of up to 15 members, including the President, currently Rhodri Glyn Thomas. Eight are appointed by the Welsh Government and seven by the Library.  The Trustees include three Officers of the Board – the President, Vice President and the Treasurer. The President and Vice President are appointed by the Welsh Government and the Treasurer is appointed by the Library itself. 

 

Although the Board is ultimately responsible for everything the Library does, it is the Chief Executive and Librarian who is responsible to the Trustees for the day-to-day operational management of the institution.  

 

The Role of Vice President

 

• The Vice President will assist the President in leading the overall direction of the Board and take on the roles of the President if he/she is absent. 
• Chairing other Library Committees and/or in the absence of the appointed Chair.
• Along with the Chair, act as a main point of contact between the Board and the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport and Government officials.
• Liaising with other officers and members of the Board as necessary, along with that of the Executive team.  In doing so scrutinise, challenge and support the executive to meet the Library’s aims, objectives and targets.
• Participate in the corporate planning process, including agreeing annual budget plans for operational programmes and corporate activities;
• Representing the Library in its dealings with the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government.
• Actively promote the benefits of the diverse cultural heritage sector within Wales and further afield.
• Have a clear vision as to how the Library can continue to contribute as a main deliverer of Government cultural heritage policy
• Have an understanding of how the public sector in Wales functions.
• Be actively engaged in encouraging board membership and the next generation of trustees.
• Ensure the Library achieves value for money within a framework of best practice, regularity and property.
• Act in a way that promotes highs standards of probity and public finance.
• Be politically independent. 
• Appoint, with the Welsh Government’s approval, a Chief Executive, should the need arise.
• Have a clear understanding and commitment to Nolan’s “Seven Principles of Public Life”.

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

Person Specification

• The ability to lead an executive board and support the leadership of a high profile organisation; provide strategic guidance and have the ability to build strong relationships.
• Excellent communication skills including the ability to operate effectively as  an ambassador for the Library, demonstrating tact and diplomacy in dealings with stakeholders;
• An understanding of the Library’s dual role as a major charity and a Welsh Government Sponsored Body in line with an understanding of public life and the principles of good governance.
• Ability to think logically and objectively and analyse complex information in order to identify key issues and make effective decisions.
• A commitment and enthusiasm for the Library’s work and an understanding of the diverse cultural sector as a whole.  Please describe how you can evidence this criterion.
• An understanding of the diverse communities of Wales and a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusiveness.

12/03/2019, 16:00

Contacts

If you would like further information, or would like to organise a visit at the Library please contact Carol Edwards, (01970) 632923 or e-mail: carol.edwards@llgc.org.uk.

If you need assistance with the “Appoint” application system on-line, please contact the Shared Service Helpdesk (sharedservicehelpdesk@gov.wales), 03000 255454.

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Unit on 03000 256332 or PublicAppointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments