Cycling Time Trials: CTT National Secretary (Legal and Corporate)

CTT is looking to recruit a National Secretary (Legal and Corporate) to replace Nick Sharpe who is retiring from the post he has held for several years. Below is a job description.

CTT National Secretary (Legal and Corporate) – Activities and Responsibilities

This is a basic job description and while it is not all-encompassing, it outlines what the successful applicant would be expected to deliver. The position would be ideal for someone who works from home but had the flexibility to attend various Board Meetings which take place at weekends, and National Council AGM which is a very full first weekend in December with plenty of preparatory work, and subsequent follow-up.

to understand the sport (this is absolutely essential!)
to assist the board, CTT staff, district officials, clubs, and individuals from time to time over a widely varied range of issues that can crop up. There have been many examples over the years and matters of an unexpected and odd nature can and do crop up with surprising regularity. A good example is the issues over the last two years arising as a result of Covid-19.
to have a very good knowledge of the Articles, Rules, and Regulations. That can be learned of course, although an ability to understand the Articles and basic Company Law as it affects CTT in a general sense would be an advantage.
to deal with the accidents reported and referrals to the insurers/assessors if needs be. This is more than simply passing on information as claims can be affected by any number of unexpected features so their impact must be appreciated.
to assist the districts or the event organiser in such cases.
to liaise with the insurers over accidents that are expected to, or do, result in a claim against CTT (to include organisers, competitors or those involved with promoting CTT events). This can include meetings with the loss adjusters and/or any witness who witnessed the particular accident. Thus it needs someone who has some understanding of personal injury claims as well as an ability to communicate effectively with insurers, loss adjusters and the like.
to prepare witness statements as necessary for use at Coroner’s Inquests or in civil proceedings.
to have a basic knowledge of data protection. This can crop up quite often and if things go wrong, the consequences could prove to be extremely time consuming and potentially expensive.
to help the districts when there are potential problems with the police or highways.
an ability to draft legal agreements would be useful. These are not unduly complicated although one does need to know one’s “way around” such an agreement. Within this are the various contracts CTT has with external bodies e.g. press/PR, photography.
to answer queries from district secretaries, clubs, and others in a professional manner; bringing to the attention of and seeking direction from the Chair and/or the board of directors on such matters as is required.
to liaise with UK Anti-Doping as and when required and to facilitate doping controls at CTT events.
to recognise CTT’s insurance requirements and to negotiate with insurance brokers to obtain appropriate insurance cover within agreed financial limits. An understanding of insurance generally would be helpful.
to assist districts with disciplinary matters; to draft letters on behalf of some district secretaries. On occasions district secretaries do ask for assistance on how best to approach disciplinary matters, and any help provided is always very much appreciated.
to organise ‘Appeals Hearings’, arrange venues, prepare and circulate such documents as are relevant to the Hearing and any other related activities.
to advise the Board where it conducts a disciplinary hearing (from matters arising in a National Championship).
to liaise with other governing bodies on mutually recognised suspensions and disciplinary matters.
transgender, paracycling and equality issues crop up from time to time. A basic understanding the of the relevant legislation would be an advantage.
to organise the National Council AGM (traditionally the first weekend in December) together with CTT’s Events Manager.
to put together the annual report and Agenda for this which requires liaising closely with members of the CTT team to finalise it.
to receive motions from the districts which, when received, may require re-wording so that the motion is in a form that is suitable for inclusion in the agenda, with the agreement of the proposer, of course.
to review amendments tabled to the above motions for “competence” i.e. unintended side-effects and contradiction of other Articles, Rules and Regulations.
to make sure that everything that needs to be in the agenda is there.
although difficult to specify, to deal with the “legals” following the appointment of new directors (DBS checks, confidentiality agreements, social media policies etc.).
to occasionally advise directors on the finer points of the Articles and Company Law and any other issues that may arise.
to be generally the point of contact for many, and often be a “sounding board” for those who do not know what to do next and how to proceed for the best. This is not something that could realistically be asked when considering a candidate for the role. It develops over time and is earned once one has the confidence of others. This is something that some can do, others perhaps not so.

Commitment:

Current contractual Hours: 21 hours per week, based on a nominal three-day week.

In practice, Nick has always worked the hours across the whole week, to include weekends when necessary. He has never worked a fixed three days. It would be difficult to do the job if working a fixed three days. Issues crop up that often need looking at quite quickly.

Salary:

Dependent on experience

Contact:

In the first instance interested parties are invited to contact CTT Director Peter Rogers by email at peter.rogers@cyclingtimetrials.org.uk