Chair of Trustees

Life after Cancer is looking for its first Chair of Trustees as we become a charity and build our first Board. Our first Chair will have the opportunity to help shape our next stage - building an effective Board, working closely with our CEO and helping us grow our reach and impact across the UK. Our mission is simple: we're working towards a future where no one faces life after cancer alone.

• Location: UK, hybrid, with some meetings in London
• Remuneration: Voluntary; reasonable expenses paid
• Time commitment: Around three to four days per month during the first few months, reducing once the Board and charity are established
• Term: Three years, with the possibility of a second term
• Closing date: Monday 23rd November 2026
The opportunity As our first Chair, you'll have the chance to help shape the charity from the beginning. One of your first priorities will be working with the CEO to recruit our founding Board and put the right governance and structures in place. We are looking for someone who can bring a strategic perspective, ask good and sometimes difficult questions, and help us think ambitiously about what Life after Cancer could become. You will work closely with the CEO, acting as a trusted sounding board and constructive challenger, while maintaining a clear distinction between the role of the Board and the day-to-day running of the charity. What you'll do As Chair, you will:
• Help recruit and build our first Board of Trustees, bringing together the right mix of skills, experience and perspectives.
• Provide leadership and oversight as we transition from a Community Interest Company to a registered charity, helping establish the right governance and structures.
• Lead an effective Board that provides strong oversight, constructive challenge and clear decision-making.
• Chair Board meetings and work with the CEO to agree priorities and agendas.
• Build a Board culture where Trustees contribute fully, different perspectives are heard and the Board remains focused on governance and strategy.
• Work closely with the CEO as a trusted sounding board and constructive challenger, while ensuring appropriate accountability to the Board.
• Help shape Life after Cancer's strategy and plans for sustainable national growth.
• Ensure appropriate Board oversight of the charity's finances, risks, governance and legal responsibilities.
• Use your experience, networks and influence to strengthen relationships and create opportunities for Life after Cancer where helpful.
• Champion Life after Cancer and ensure the experiences and needs of people living beyond cancer remain at the heart of Board decisions., We expect the role to require around three to four days per month during the first few months, while the charity and founding Board are being established. The commitment is expected to reduce once these are in place.
This is likely to include:
• Regular meetings with the CEO, particularly during the initial set-up period.
• Time to help establish the charity and recruit the founding Board.
• Four Board meetings per year, including preparation.
• An annual Board strategy session.
• Occasional attendance at key Life after Cancer events.
Much of the role can be carried out remotely, with key meetings and events taking place primarily in London. Trustee responsibilities As Chair, you will also be a Trustee of Life after Cancer. All Trustees share legal responsibility for ensuring that the charity:
• carries out its charitable purposes;
• complies with charity law and its governing document;
• uses its money and resources responsibly;
• acts in the charity's best interests;
• manages risks appropriately; and
• is properly accountable for its work.
  
  We are looking for someone with significant leadership experience, sound judgement and the ambition to help build an organisation at an important stage of its development., Governance experience as a Trustee, Chair, Vice Chair or Committee Chair, with a strong understanding of charity governance and the ability to lead an effective Board
• Senior leadership experience, either as a Board member or in an executive leadership role
• A strong understanding of charity governance and the responsibilities of a Trustee and Chair.
• Experience of helping an organisation grow, develop or navigate significant change.
• Strong strategic thinking and an understanding of long-term financial sustainability.
• The confidence to support and constructively challenge the CEO.
• The ability to build strong relationships, influence at a senior level and open doors to new opportunities.
• A collaborative leadership style, bringing together different perspectives and making effective decisions.
• Curiosity, sound judgement and a practical, entrepreneurial approach.
• A strong commitment to Life after Cancer's mission and the time and energy to play an active role at this stage of our development.
Desirable
• We would particularly value:
• Experience of growing or scaling a charity or purpose-led organisation.
• Experience or strong networks in fundraising, philanthropy, major giving or corporate partnerships.
• Experience or strong networks in health, cancer or the NHS.
• Senior business or commercial experience.
• Experience of raising an organisation's profile and influence.
• A meaningful personal connection to cancer.
We don't expect one person to bring everything. Part of the Chair's role will be helping us build a Board whose skills, experience and perspectives complement their own.

Life after Cancer is a founder-led and community-led organisation supporting people after cancer treatment. Our Founder and CEO, Steph Davies, experienced first hand how little support there could be once cancer treatment finished. That experience led her to start Life after Cancer, with the first support group taking place in East London in 2018. Since then, we have supported more than 8,000 people directly through our services, with over 2,500 people now accessing our support each year. Our work includes our six-week Rebuild Your Life After Cancer programme, peer support, coaching workshops, expert sessions, wellbeing days and walks, retreats and our podcast. Our research found that 92% of respondents said life after completing cancer treatment was harder than going through treatment itself. We are supported by funders including the National Lottery, Mayor of London, Transport for London, North East London Cancer Alliance, City Bridge Foundation and Sport England. We have also built strong relationships across the NHS and cancer sector. Our ambition for the next stage is to increase our national profile, strengthen our partnerships, grow our income and establish Life after Cancer as a leading UK charity focused on life after cancer treatment., Life after Cancer has spent the past eight years developing support that is already making a difference to thousands of people. Our next challenge is to make that support available to many more people across the UK. As our first Chair, you will have the opportunity to help build a new charity and its founding Board, work closely with our CEO, and play an important role in shaping Life after Cancer's next stage.