General Trustee With Civil Society Experience

The Role and Qualities needed

Fairtrade Ireland is seeking new Trustees who share our passion for creating fairer and more sustainable supply chains, creating greater justice in trade between people in Ireland and small-scale farmers and workers, primarily in the Global South.

This is an opportunity to play an active role in the governance and future direction of Fairtrade Ireland, while helping to ensure that the voices and interests of farmers and workers remain at the heart of what we do.

We are particularly interested in individuals who can bring some of the following:

·       Experience or familiarity within the Civil Society/Charity sector in Ireland.

·       An understanding of charity governance and charity accounts

·       An ability to look beyond day-to-day operational matters and contribute to the longer-term strategic direction of the organisation.

·       Previous experience on Governance Boards in mission driven civil society organisations.

·       Advocacy, influencing experience to bring about positive social or economic justice.

Most importantly, we want people who will bring genuine commitment to the Fairtrade mission.

 General Trustee duties of a Charity Trustee

The function of the Board of Trustees is to govern the IFTN according to the strong values of the organisation, to provide strategic direction, and to maintain oversight on policy development, performance and risk management. The Board presently meets 6 times per year. Meetings are a mix of in-person, hybrid and online, and last approximately 4 hours at times agreed by the Trustees.

Responsibilities will include the following:

• Champion the mission, vision, values and ethos of the IFTN in pursuit of justice in trade between people in Ireland and farmers and workers primarily in the Global South
• Protect the established multi-stakeholder governance and representation model of the IFTN.
• Ensure compliance to all statutory obligations of the Company and as a Company Trustee and registered Charity Trustee.
• Support the other Trustees and the Chief Governance Officer to represent Fairtrade Ireland at the annual supporter conference and at relevant Fairtrade International meetings. 
• Provide Policy review and direction for policies as set out in the Policy Governance Manual on a rolling basis, and within the Board’s three year policy review cycle.
• Ensure Budgets and Annual Plans are aligned and integrated with the Organisational policies and priorities.
• Review the financial performance and position of IFTN at each Trustees meeting.
• Ensure IFTN upholds the highest standards of Governance including endorsing the IFTN Board’s Code of Conduct.
• Ensure adequate provision is made for safeguarding the assets of IFTN;
• To disclose any outside interest which may cause a conflict of interest, as outlined in the organisations Conflict of Interest Policy.
• To prepare for, engage in, and contribute to discussions at Board meetings, and provide professional advice, new perspectives, and/or constructive criticism in relation to issues raised.
• To engage in any review of the performance of the Board and/or the Chair of the Board.
• To volunteer for appointment to Board Committees currently the Finance and Human Resource Cttee (FAHR) and the Governance and Risk Cttee (GAR)