Assistant Company Secretary

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What's in it for you?

The role offers a unique opportunity to manage a portfolio of companies operating in the fibre sector within the Octopus Inheritance Tax Service (OITS) portfolio. The role also provides varied exposure to senior stakeholders and all aspects of a company’s lifecycle, particularly if you enjoy providing valued governance support to boards and transactions. You will also be responsible for statutory compliance, corporate actions, and private company corporate governance for the fibre portfolio.

The Team

The Legal and Governance (LeGo) team provide corporate compliance, governance and legal services to Octopus group companies and managed funds. The LeGo team sit within the broader Risk & Compliance Centre of Expertise within Octopus Investments. The team also collaborates closely with investment, finance, and operational teams across the business.

What you'll be doing:

Board support

• Preparing and publishing board papers
• Minute taking at meetings
• Advising the boards and investment management team on corporate governance matters

Statutory compliance

• Annual report and accounts review and filings
• Reviewing or completing Companies House filings

Corporate actions

• Drafting and reviewing the relevant documentation, forms and cover emails for group funding including distributions, allotments and loan drawdowns 

Corporate transactions

• Manage transaction projects (sales and acquisitions) within the fibre portfolio, including collating due diligence documents, preparing board resolutions and funding paperwork, liaising with external lawyers, carrying out post-completion filings and onboarding new acquisition entities

Team tasks

• Keeping procedures and precedents up to date
• Maintaining the structure charts for the fibre portfolio
• Assisting with wider LeGo ad hoc group restructures, strike offs and projects
• Updating Diligent Entities and Statutory Registers with company changes
• Train and support junior team members
• Assisting with and contributing to wider LeGo team projects

Essential:

• ICSA/CGI qualified or equivalent experience.
• Proven experience working independently and collaboratively in a Company Secretariat team.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient in using technology and leveraging digital applications and media platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Office 365, board pack software (such as Board Intelligence) and entity management software (such as Diligent).

Preferred:

• Minimum of 3–4 years of experience in a company secretarial or governance role.
• Strong understanding of Companies Act 2006, corporate governance principles, Companies House filings, and regulatory compliance.
• Experience working in financial services, professional services, or similar large organisations.

What we offer

💰 A competitive salary, bonus, pension and share incentive plan 

✈️ Untracked holiday 

🏡 Hybrid working –  most of our people spend 3 days a week in the office

⚓ Anchor (our wellness hub) which includes Headspace, one to one coaching through Wellness Cloud, Digital GP & more 

👪 Up to 6 months paid parental leave regardless of gender 

❤️ Life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection 

🏥 Private medical insurance for you and your family 

🚗 Electric vehicle leasing 

🌍 The option to work overseas up to a month per year 

Our Values 

At our core, we believe that how a company behaves is just as important as what it does. That’s why we chose to become an accredited B Corp (the equivalent of a Fairtrade coffee stamp but for companies) and to change our Articles of Association so that the interests all our stakeholders – employees, customers, communities, environment and shareholders – are considered in every decision we make.   

We are committed to building a workplace where diversity is valued, and inclusion is a priority. By providing equal opportunities for growth and development, we embrace and celebrate all races, genders, religions, sexual orientations, ages, disabilities, and socio-economic backgrounds. We believe teams achieve their best when every member feels safe, respected and empowered to be their authentic selves.

We're proud to be disability confident and are committed to supporting candidates with a disability, including neurodiversity and mental health conditions, throughout the recruitment process. Applicants are welcome to opt-in to the disability confident scheme as part of our application process. If you require any adjustments to the interview process, we’ll be happy to accommodate where possible.