People & Culture Committee Member

Missing People is seeking volunteers with expertise in Charity HR, Employment Law, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Volunteering, and Organisational Development to join our People & Culture Committee.

This committee meets four times a year to oversee Missing People’s initiatives related to People, Culture, and Organisational Development, providing recommendations to the Trustee Board as needed. The Committee is chaired by a Missing People Trustee and meetings are attended by Missing People’s Director of People, Digital and Organisational Development, and Senior Managers, who present current projects, challenges and work for discussion.

Role description

Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK. Missing People is the only UK charity dedicated to reconnecting missing people and their loved ones. Our services include:

• A free and confidential helpline, available 7 days a week, for missing people and their loved ones,
• A specialist family support service,
• Case publicity to support loved ones with sharing appeals,
• Specialist services for children and young people, and their loved ones, experiencing exploitation,
• Commissioned Return Home Interview services for young people at particular risk,
• Research, consultancy and training for professionals working around the issue of missing.

We understand that Missing People cannot effectively carry out this work without advisors and Trustees who support the team to evaluate current practice by asking the right questions and sharing external expertise. Therefore, we are recruiting new People & Culture Committee members. Committee members are expected to:

• Attend and actively participate in Committee meetings, which are held four times a year, usually for one hour via video call, during working hours.
• Read papers in advance of meetings and occasionally advocate for approaches and recommendations to the Board of Trustees. This work between meetings will vary but typically requires no more than 1-2 hours.
• Optional opportunities to get further involved with the charity’s work if interested.

What impact will you have?

The Committee’s input is crucial for:

• Ensuring Missing People continues to be recognised externally as a great place to work and volunteer, with a focus on reward, wellbeing, culture, and engagement.
• Ensuring the charity remains a safe, effective, and legally compliant organisation in matters relating to HR and Volunteering.
• Overseeing and supporting all matters related to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, ensuring the charity’s staff and volunteers reflect the diversity of the communities we support, and that inclusion is central to the charity’s strategy, policies, and practice.
• Providing a sounding board on strategic organisational development and people issues.
• Reviewing HR, Volunteering, Learning & Development, and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policies.

This role is vital to our organisation functioning safely and effectively, to provide a lifeline to all individuals and communities impacted by missing.

What we’re looking for

We are looking for volunteers with:

• Professional expertise in one or more of the following areas: Charity HR, Employment Law, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Volunteering and Organisational Culture and Development.
• Alignment with the values and ethos of Missing People
• The ability to ask key questions and provide oversight and advisory support to Missing People staff and volunteers (Trustee Committee Members and other Committee Members).
• Commitment to attend quarterly Committee meetings for a period of 3 years (a three-year term).

As a charity, we aim for our Trustees and governance volunteers to reflect the diversity of the communities we support. As such we actively encourage applications from people whose identities and lived experiences are currently under‑represented in the charity sector. This includes, but is not limited to, individuals from global majority backgrounds, people from low‑income or working‑class backgrounds, men, LGBTQ+ people, Disabled people, and people with lived experience of missing and exploitation.

Next Steps

Applications are scheduled to close on 2nd March. However, the deadline may be brought forward should we receive a sufficient volume of submissions to ensure a manageable process. We therefore encourage you to submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

If you’re interested, click Apply Now to complete a short interest form.

Want to chat before applying? Email us at volunteering@missingpeople.org.uk.