Company Secretarial Assistant

Howden is looking for a Company Secretarial Assistant to join our Company Secretarial function. In this role, you’ll support the team in delivering high governance standards through accurate record-keeping and assisting with a range of company secretarial duties. You will help manage services to the Group’s boards, shareholders, and business, ensuring compliance with Group policy while contributing to the team’s goals and delivering exceptional service.

The role calls for a confident and upbeat Company Secretarial Assistant with a good understanding of the company secretarial role and company law who is eager to learn and apply their knowledge.

Please note this is a full-time, permanent role based in our Central London office. Following a hybrid work pattern, the expectation is for you to be onsite 3 days per week on average.

Responsibilities:

• Assist in the arranging of board and committee meetings, including pack production via Diligent Boards and the follow-up on action points;

• Attend and minute regulated and non-regulated subsidiary board and committee meetings;

• Maintain divisional statutory books to ensure timely and accurate filings, including tracking and diligent filing of meeting minutes;

• Liaise with and manage overseas entities in regard to their statutory records, filing and regulatory requirements;

• Assist with the update and management of Group corporate structure charts and process maps;

• Assist with the drafting and proof reading of documents (including minutes, annual reports etc.);

• Assist in the implementation and maintenance of an up to date, structured Company Secretariat filing and archiving system;

• Prepare and circulate written resolutions of directors and shareholders;

• Provide assistance with the management of UK and non-UK divisional subsidiaries, including in the UK Companies House filings and applicable corporate governance, and the maintenance of statutory registers using the Diligent Entities system;

• Assist with the integration of the company secretarial systems and records of newly formed and newly acquired subsidiaries;

• Co-ordination of the board approval, signing and filing of UK statutory accounts;

• Assist with liquidations and dissolutions of Group subsidiaries which are inactive and dormant;

• Support the Group’s international businesses with various requests, including KYC requests;

• Manage certain Company Secretariat BAU matters as agreed from time to time, for example the Review Manager process and the Group Structure Chart;

• Assist the Company Secretary, International & Strategic Projects in the delivery and implementation of strategic projects; and

Requirements:

• Previous experience in a company secretarial role, ideally within the insurance or financial services sector.

• Strong written skills, including the ability to draft high-quality regulated entity minutes.

• Proficiency with technology and systems relevant to company secretarial work, such as Diligent Entities and Diligent Boards (or equivalent).

• Knowledge of current UK statutory and regulatory legislation.

• A recognised degree or equivalent qualification, ideally in Finance or Law, and either holding GradCG status or actively studying for the Chartered Governance Qualifying Programme.