People Committee - Independent Advisors

Job reference:002944

Salary:Voluntary

Closing date:

Department:CEO's Office

Location:Remote within England and Wales

Employment type:Fixed Term

Hours Per Week5-10 days per year, including ad hoc activities and advice, often by email or in online meetings

Job posted date:04/03/2026

Contract Duration:Permanent

Job Description

Citizens Advice offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. Through our national network of charities, we give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

Do you want to work for an organisation that makes a difference, every single day, to people from all walks of life? The people that turn to Citizens Advice need help overcoming an obstacle in their lives – from debt to evictions to trouble at work – and you can be key to them getting the support they need in the quickest, easiest, and most effective way.

We’re looking for an independent advisor from outside the Citizens Advice service who is a senior human resources professional with a good breadth of experience and skills across HR. Experience in managing culture change, being part of broad equity, diversity and inclusion programmes or using people data and insight to drive strategic decision making would be advantageous.

This role might suit a candidate interested in exploring a Trustee or non-Executive Director role - now or in the futurePerson specification
■ Experience or skills in one or more of the following areas: people strategy development;
culture change and transformation; employee experience and engagement; equity, diversity and inclusion; people data and insight
■ Ability to assimilate information quickly and deal with fast moving, strategic discussions.
■ Effective communication skills, and the ability to work effectively with colleagues and management.
■ Ability to give and receive feedback objectively and sensitively and a willingness to challenge constructively.
■ Ability to work within the aims and principles of Citizens Advice.
■ Comfort with bringing a different perspective, combined with an appetite to learn.

Desirable skills or experience
■ Experience in similar roles, e.g. through senior professional or non executive positions.
■ Understanding of the wider environment in which Citizens Advice operates, the objectives of the organisation and its current significant issues and risks.

Our People Committee
The committee provides assurance about the wellbeing, capability, culture and leadership of our national colleagues, and oversight and assurances about volunteering. It provides oversight and assurance to the board on a range of people matters, including:
■ implementation of national people policies
■ recruitment and succession planning, development, and retention of colleagues
■ compliance with employment law and bestpractices in people management
■ national colleague engagement
■ pay negotiations
■ support and challenge to the Citizens Advice network of relevant people frameworks including(but not limited to) safeguarding, volunteering, EDI,
and learning and development
■ referral and mediation for any executive-level grievances and settlements

To apply, please provide:
● A CV (no more than three sides) or equivalent biographical information.
● A short covering letter that explains your motivation, suitability, availability and confirms that you would not be subject to any conflict of interest.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of strategic importance within the organisation and recognised as integral to all we do as a service.

Central to pursuing our EDI mission is building diverse and inclusive teams in which everyone has a sense of belonging. We believe inclusion is a social justice issue - a principle that underpins our all EDI work. To that end, we particularly welcome applications from people we would like to see better represented in our organisation and sector - people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people. We follow the social model of disability. We will offer an interview to disabled candidates who indicate they wish their application to be considered under our Disability Confident Interview Commitment where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

We’re a flexible employer, so this role may suit anyone who’d prefer a flexible arrangement to help their work/life balance, many of our colleagues spend most of their time working remotely. Whilst we prefer a blended approach between a local office, if one is near you, and home we’re open to being flexible on location, occasionally a role may require you to be based in a certain location if that's the case it will be detailed in the advert or job description. This can be discussed in more detail during your interview.

The National Citizens Advice operates from offices in England and Wales, with 4 regional offices based in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Leeds, therefore all successful applicants must be based within England or Wales.

Please be aware that Citizens Advice is not a sponsoring organisation. Therefore the successful applicant must already possess the right to work in the UK or be able to secure the right to work in the UK independently.

We have been awarded the top charity in Third sectors' employer index, where it's recognised that Citizens Advice is an organization that not only prioritizes the people we serve but also values the wellbeing of its employees.

Citizens Advice seeks to redeploy internal staff who are at risk or under notice of redundancy and will prioritise them in the recruitment process where necessary. If you have been confirmed as at risk or under notice of redundancy please ensure you indicate this in the at-risk box in your application.

Please note, in the event of a high number of applications, we reserve the right to close the application early.

This vacancy closes at 23.59 on the closing date.

For more information about the organisation, our values and benefits please see the following link - Information, values and benefits

Need help with your application, see our useful how to guides on the following page - Guidance notes for applicants