Salary
£26,870 leading up to £28,460 per annum
Contractual hours
37
Basis
Full time
Region
North
Package
Permanent. We will consider part time applications.
Job category
Non Teaching
Date posted
13/01/2026
Job reference
VV2041
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Governance and Compliance Officer - Job
We're looking for a proactive, detail focused Governance and Compliance Officer to play a key role in supporting high quality governance and robust organisational compliance. Working closely with the Director of Governance and Compliance, you will help ensure the College maintains the highest standards of transparency, integrity and accountability, as outlined in our Strategic Plan and Governance Framework. focused Governance and Compliance Officer to play a key role in supporting high quality governance and robust organisational compliance. Working closely with the Director of Governance and Compliance, you will help ensure the College maintains the highest standards of transparency, integrity and accountability, as outlined in our Strategic Plan and Governance Framework.
Governance experience is not essential — we're looking for a highly capable administrator with excellent organisational skills and a keen eye for detail, who can confidently manage documents, processes and provide meeting support.
This is a new and evolving role, offering the opportunity to help shape and refine how governance and compliance operate across the College. You'll bring strong organisational skills, confidence working with senior colleagues, and experience of formal minute taking and managing documentation or project lifecycles.
The role supports hybrid working, though in person attendance will be required for key meetings and governance activities
As part of our commitment to professional development, you will have access to ongoing training to deepen your governance knowledge and develop specialist compliance skills.
Key Responsibilities:
Governance Support
* Coordinate Board and Committee meetings, including scheduling, logistical support and communications.
* Act as a first point of contact for governors, providing timely, accurate and professional support.
* Prepare high quality agendas, papers and support materials using internal and external governance systems.
* Take accurate, balanced and well-structured minutes that clearly capture discussion, scrutiny, decisions and actions. Proven formal minute taking experience is essential.
* Maintain all core governance records, including declarations of interest, attendance, skills audits, induction documentation, terms of office and training logs.
* Support the full governor lifecycle, including recruitment, onboarding, induction and ongoing development.
Policy and Compliance Management
* Oversee and maintain the College's central policy register, ensuring accuracy, consistency and version control.
* Work with policy owners to track each policy through its full lifecycle — drafting, consultation, approval and publication.
* Monitor review dates, coordinate updates, and ensure approved policies are accessible and clearly communicated.
Data Protection
* Support the Data Protection Team with compliance activities, including logging and coordinating responses to data protection and Freedom of Information requests, data mapping, and monitoring actions.
What you'll bring
* Excellent organisational, planning and communication skills, with strong attention to detail and accuracy.
* Proven experience of formal minute taking and coordinating high level meetings.
* Proven experience of managing sensitive or confidential information.
* Confidence in working with executive colleagues.
* A proactive, solutions focused approach with the ability to work independently and manage competing priorities.
* Strong digital skills, especially across Microsoft 365, with the ability to produce clear, professional documents, logs and spreadsheets.
* Integrity, discretion and a calm, professional manner in all aspects of governance and compliance work.
About Gateshead College
At Gateshead College we're famous for education with Employment Edge, industry inspired education that combines high quality learning with real world skills. This means giving our students the knowledge and skills to be successful in work and life and supporting them to be the best they can be.
This means putting everything we've got into making sure our students are the most employable and this is what makes our college such an exciting place to work.
From bringing industry expertise into the classroom and working hand in hand with businesses, to delivering the highest quality teaching and learning and supporting students to develop personally as well as professionally, we're all about creating experiences that will set learners up for life
If you share our ambition, we'd love to hear from you.
In return we can offer a values-driven organisation and the chance to work with brilliant people who put students first. You'll be listened to and will have opportunities to make an impact. We prioritise health and wellbeing and your work life balance will be respected.
Our inclusive culture means you're valued for being yourself and diversity is celebrated, and our commitment to being a sustainable organisation means we always try to do business the right way to make our community better for everyone.
At Gateshead College we all have the opportunity to help our learners succeed and it's this clear purpose and shared effort that makes us such a great place to work; we hope you think about joining.
Our Benefits:
* Generous holiday allowance of 33 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata to hours worked)
* Mental health and wellbeing support, with 24/7 access to an employee assistance programme and counselling services.
* Career average pension with the Local Government Pension Scheme.
* Travel support including subsidised on site parking, discounted public transport scheme and cycle to work scheme.
* Retail and travel discounts.
* Volunteering Days.