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Board Members, including a Resident Board Member and a Treasurer Designate
cds co-operatives

Job Description

Is this role for you?

  • Are you passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of co-operative/social housing residents?
  • Can you help amplify the voice of those we work with through your personal or professional experience?
  • Could you bring diversity to our board to make us more insightful and inclusive in our decision making?

About CDS

We exist to provide, support and promote co-op and community-led housing (CLH), and to champion co-operation as a business model that can help to alleviate hardship.

CDS was founded on co‐operation, which we believe can help people improve their opportunities and choices. We are passionate about helping people to make the most of their individual and collective opportunities and expect to show this in all our work, which covers three areas.

  • Provider: we own around 830 general-needs, social-rented and shared-ownership leasehold homes in London, Kent and the Home Counties.
  • Supporter: we provide managing agent services to around 35 housing co-ops to help them thrive.
  • Promoter: we reinvest some of our surplus to promote mainstream growth in co-op and community-led housing.

We will try always to work in ways that promote trust, optimism and kindness as a springboard for releasing potential and creativity – and this applies to how we operate as a Board.

Being a Board member

Board members ensure that CDS is a well governed organisation, championing our vision and embodying our values. You will ensure that the work we do stays on track so that we can achieve our strategic goals and work towards our purpose. In doing so, you will contribute to the lives of people living in co-operative and CLH, through our work to support them to shape their housing, their lives and their communities. As a Board member you will support the team through bringing challenges and ideas in a way that is curious, creative, supportive and respectful. You will add value by putting who you are – your experience, your approach and collaborative and supportive style – to work, in pursuit of our goals.

About you

We aim to work towards having a board that reflects the diversity of our residents, so we especially want to hear from people of a wide range of ages, identities, geographical locations, backgrounds and ethnic groups; and/or who have a disability; or who have close experience of others with disabilities; and/or people who live in or have lived in co-operative/social housing.

In addition, these are some of the qualities, abilities and skills we are looking for in our new Board members and Treasurer Designate:

  • Passion for our work, mission and values
  • Enthusiasm and energy
  • An interest in housing and/or co-operation and community action
  • Willingness to share knowledge, information and thoughts
  • High standards and integrity, and kindness
  • An ability to thrive as part of a team

If you feel that we are describing you in any of the above, then we’d love to hear from you. Your interest would be greatly valued and appreciated.

Key Details

Term: Board members serve on an initial three-year term and are eligible for re-appointment for an additional consecutive term of three years.
Remuneration: Remuneration is currently £2,000 per annum, plus reimbursement of expenses (£3,000 for the Treasurer).
Meetings: Meetings are usually every two months, plus involvement in annual Strategy Day and occasional events. Board members are expected to join one sub-committee of the board. The Treasurer chairs the Finance and Audit Committee and is also a member of the Governance and Remuneration Committee.
Location: Meetings will be a mix of in-person and via Zoom. When attending, the location is Borough, London SE1. 

How to express your interest

Thank you for your interest in joining the CDS Board as a non-executive Board member.

Firstly, read more about CDS Co-operatives and becoming a Board Member in the attached Information Pack.

To express your interest in becoming a Board member, send your CV and a covering letter (as an attachment, max two sides A4) explaining why you are applying, how you meet the person specification in the Information Pack, and what in particular you would bring to CDS. The contact details are in the Information Pack.

THE DEADLINE IS EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY 27 OCTOBER

If you are interested in becoming the Resident Board Member or Treasurer Designate, please clearly indicate this in your letter.

We value diversity, equality and inclusivity. We appreciate and respect all the differences that make us who we are, including: age, cultural background, ethnicity and race, disability and mental health, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, social background and lived experience. People who bring diversity and lived experience are particularly encouraged to apply.