Position Description

OSH is at a pivotal point in its development.

Over the past few years, OSH has grown from a small, founder-led organisation into a national movement with increasing reach, complexity, and ambition. Our income has risen from £250,000 to £500,000, our staff and volunteer base is expanding, and our programmes are reaching more young people than ever before.

OSH now needs confident, experienced, and future-focused governance that can support scaling while protecting the culture, values, and relational way of working that make the organisation distinctive.

The Chair of Trustees will play a central role in this next phase. They will:
* help the board develop alongside the organisation;
* support the CEO with clear accountability and thoughtful challenge;
* ensure systems and strategy keep pace with growth;
* steward OSH through a period where long-term sustainability and leadership development are critical.

This is not a ceremonial role. It is an opportunity to shape how a values-led charity grows well – strengthening governance without dampening spirit, and building structures that enable lived-experience leadership to thrive.

For the right person, this role offers the chance to have real influence at a formative moment. Working closely with committed trustees, staff, volunteers, and young leaders, the Chair will help OSH become a resilient, impactful organisation for the long term.

Selection Criteria

Essential

• Significant experience in organisational and strategic leadership, ideally including guiding a charity or mission-driven organisation from small to medium scale
• A proactive and forward-thinking mindset, demonstrating the ability to anticipate potential issues and risks while identifying opportunities.
• Strong understanding of good governance, with the confidence to lead a board and hold senior executives to account
• Experience of or exposure to fundraising, financial sustainability, and organisational development
• The ability to balance support and challenge, particularly in a Chair – CEO relationship
• Commitment to OSH’s mission and values, including a genuine willingness to engage with and be guided by those with lived experience of the asylum system
• Highly organised and dynamic, with the ability to prioritise the effective use of Board time, facilitate the timely and focused distribution of information, and ensure appropriate follow-up to Board decisions.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the emotional intelligence to lead inclusively, collaboratively, and sensitively

Desirable

• Lived experience of asylum or forced migration
• Previous experience as a Chair or Vice-Chair of a charity or similar organisation
• Experience working with youth-led or lived-experience-led organisations
• Familiarity with safeguarding in youth or community settings

How to Apply

Find out more HERE

If you are inspired by Our Second Home’s mission and have the experience and vision to lead our board, please email [email protected] to arrange an informal chat with our CEO or Chair.

If you would like to make a formal application, please send a cover letter, CV, and the details for two references to [email protected].

Please highlight your motivations, relevant expertise, and leadership style. All shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview, and the process will include attending a board meeting and OSH activities in person.

We recognise that applicants may choose to use AI tools to support the preparation of their applications. We welcome the use of tools that help you express your experience more clearly or confidently. However, we believe that the strongest applications also include personal insight, genuine motivation, and a clear connection to Our Second Home’s mission. These are things no tool can replicate.

OSH is committed to building a board that reflects the communities we work with. We strongly welcome interest from people with lived experience of the asylum system and from those who bring perspectives that are under-represented in charity governance.

We are open to conversations about access needs and flexible ways of engaging in the role.