appointment of independent treasury committee … · optivo appointment of independent treasury...

Optivo Appointment of Independent Treasury Committee Member

APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT TREASURY COMMITTEE MEMBERS APPOINTMENT BRIEF JULY 2020


CONTENTS 1. Introduction from the Chair 2. Optivo 3. The Board 4. The role 5. Person specification 6. Terms of appointment 7. How to apply 8. Optivo Coronavirus Update for Candidates

“At Optivo we know the importance of living in a safe and secure environment and how this enables people to flourish.”


INTRODUCTION

Thank you for your interest in Optivo and in joining our Treasury Committee as an independent member. Having had the privilege of Chairing Optivo since 2017, I am delighted to introduce you to this impactful and forward-looking organisation, dedicated to providing homes, creating thriving communities and enhancing lives.

Currently providing 44,000 homes for 90,000 people across London, the Midlands and South East England, Optivo has worked hard to realise the opportunities that came with the merger of AmicusHorizon and Viridian Housing back in 2017. We are proud to have created an efficient, well-

resourced and modern housing association, with a strong and lived set of values which really guide us in all we do. Our residents are at the heart of everything we do - it’s what distinguishes us and makes us unique. At every level of the business our residents work alongside us as one team, to co-design, scrutinise and improve our work so we can deliver brilliant service and value for money.

Today, we are an organisation of 1,515 people and whilst our principal activity remains providing homes for people who need them - we’re about more than bricks and mortar. Our founders were passionate about helping families with a housing need. As Optivo, we’re continuing that strong commitment to social purpose. As well as being a large-scale social landlord, we’re an award-winning developer, committed to building over 6,000 new homes over the next five years to 2024/25 and 1,500 each year beyond that. We believe in helping our residents reach their full potential and we offer financial and employment support as well as computer and internet training. We also run events and courses to promote good health and wellbeing.

As a major landlord and developer with the financial clout of a FTSE 250 business, the work of our Board can be challenging and complex. It is also really meaningful and energising, given the diversity and scale of the work we do and the real impact it has on people’s lives. We have a turnover of more than £340m and plans in place to invest £3.5bn in new homes over the next ten years. Our Board and Committee members enjoy using their commercial experience and acumen to ensure we have the resources and risk management structures in place to deliver against our stretching objectives. We encourage and support each other to use our good judgement, commitment to social purpose and passion for building thriving communities in all of our decision making.

Looking ahead, there is much to do and this is an exciting time for Optivo but also a challenging one, not least as we are now getting to grips with the social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the Black Lives Matter movement is rightly prompting all organisations to reflect and, even though we are proud of our long-standing commitment to diversity and our strong outcome-driven diversity strategy, we are equally committed to learning and adapting all the time. We recently launched our 2020-25 strategic plan, Co-Creating our Future which outlines range of important goals around our inclusiveness as an organisation, the quality, safety and sustainability of our homes and the ways in which we can support people and communities to thrive.

Our Treasury Committee plays a critical role in ensuring we have the financial resources, structures and partnerships in place, now and in the future, to deliver our objectives, and we are looking now to strengthen this Committee with the appointment of two new people. We invite applications from people with strong experience and knowledge of capital markets and of working with large and complex organisations on fundraising and restructuring, risk management as well as other treasury and related matters. This Committee is ably Chaired by Michelle Dovey, and both she and I will look forward to welcoming these Committee members in 2020. We are confident that the right people will find these roles challenging and enjoyable, and we hope you will read more about them in this briefing document and consider making an application.

Sir Peter Dixon, Chair


OPTIVO Optivo knows the importance of living in a safe and secure environment and how this enables people to flourish.

Optivo was formed in May 2017 and brought together the best of AmicusHorizon and Viridian Housing. With an annual turnover of £340 million, Optivo is a strong housing association working with residents, local authorities, and partners to meet housing need, and to create safe, sustainable communities for its residents.

Optivo is proud to work in communities in a range of ways beyond the provision of housing. Optivo deploys its capacity and resources to help residents make the most of their lives through jobs, training, financial support and digital inclusion.

Meeting housing need

Optivo works with residents, local authorities and partners to meet housing need and to create safe, sustainable communities for its residents. Optivo’s principal activity is to provide homes for people who need them, with its core tenure being social rented housing.

Enhancing lives

Enhancing lives is key to Optivo’s mission. Optivo operates in some of the UK’s poorest neighbourhoods and adapts its activities and projects to meet residents’ needs and priorities using local community insight. Optivo focuses on inspiring its residents to reach their full potential. Its activities boost confidence, skills, job prospects, health and wellbeing and bring communities together, often helping to resolve anti-social behaviour issues. Optivo aims to make a real and lasting difference, and works to support its residents and communities.

“We develop places with people, not profit, in mind, building homes and communities where people can thrive.”


Building new homes and creating great places to live Optivo plans to invest £3.5bn in new homes over the next ten years and will need to secure significant new finance to support these growth ambitions. Optivo is developing new homes in London, the South East and the Midlands for:

• Rent – including Affordable and Social Rent products • Shared Ownership • Open Market Sale

Optivo is seeking a pipeline of medium term and longer term development opportunities and acquiring sites that will deliver between 50-300 homes each, looking to build to a pipeline of 1,500 homes a year.

Attracting investment

We borrow to fund our development programme, not to support existing assets which are self-funding. We fund the programme through long term debt as the assets are principally intended to be held for the long term. We’ve debt facilities of £1.9bn, with £0.4m available but undrawn. We’ve nine bank lenders and three long term public bonds with £450m outstanding. All our business activities, and all our treasury activity, is in sterling. We use standalone derivatives to manage our exposure to interest risk. We’ve an A2 (negative) rating from Moody’s.

More information on Optivo’s funding mix and recent investor presentations can be found here https://www.optivo.org.uk/investors.aspx

“We’re investing £3.5bn in new homes over the next ten years”

https://www.optivo.org.uk/investors.aspx


Values and culture

Optivo puts people first and is proud of its culture, which is underpinned by CORE values.

Optivo’s values guide its people and inform their behaviours and decisions. The values are:

Customer Focused One Team Respect Enthusiastic. These underpin the successful delivery of Optivo’s objectives. They also:

• Inspire exceptional service to residents • Help Optivo work together successfully as ‘one team’ • Ensure that people are driven, committed and enthusiastic to deliver success • Are easy for staff to engage with and support the ethos of valuing Optivo’s people • Are relevant to the business objectives as a modern social housing provider.

78% of the team say they’re proud to work for Optivo 80% think Optivo is a great employer 91% understood the positive contribution they had made towards Optivo’s strategic goals (Optivo Pulse Survey 2019)


Governance

Optivo’s Board has 12 members, three of which are resident members. The Board is collectively responsible for ensuring the success of the organisation and its compliance with legal and regulatory obligations by setting and monitoring the strategic direction. It is also central to driving Optivo’s social purpose.

In addition, Optivo has a number of Independent Committee Members, who add vital capacity to the board’s key subcommittees.

Optivo prides itself on being different from a lot of other organisations. Residents are at the heart of what it does and resident involvement is central to its culture. At each level of the governance structure, from residents sitting on the Board, to local repairs panels, Optivo works side by side to improve services.

Optivo has a strong outcome-driven diversity strategy and want this to be reflected in how they recruit, engage and progress their colleagues. Optivo has set aspirational targets for its Board and Committees to include individuals from protected groups.

You can read more about current Board members and their profiles here: https://www.optivo.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/our-people.aspx.

https://www.optivo.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/our-people.aspx

https://www.optivo.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/our-people.aspx


THE ROLE Independent Committee Member – Treasury Committee

Optivo is now looking for two outstanding and committed individuals with broad, senior-level experience relevant to the work of a Treasury Committee, to join later this summer. This will be a particularly interesting time to come on board, not least as Optivo is anticipating a significant increase in its levels of debt, in order to support its ambitious plans around growth and capacity building.

The role of the Treasury Committee: • The Committee has oversight of treasury, cashflow management and funding plans (including the

management and mitigation of risk) • It acts as a sounding board for the Executive Team on treasury matters, advises Optivo Board on

performance and effectiveness of the treasury management function and provides additional scrutiny of treasury matters.

The Committee Member’s role is:

• To work with other members of the Committee to support the Board of Optivo by undertaking the duties as set out in the Committee’s Terms of Reference

• To uphold and demonstrate the agreed values and behaviours of Optivo • To add value to the organisation by contributing experience, expertise and insight to support and guide

decision-making • To scrutinise the performance of the organisation (relevant to the Committee) in meeting agreed goals

and objectives and monitor the reporting of performance. Committee members are expected to:

• Act in the best interests of the Group at all times • Uphold and comply with Optivo’s adopted Code of Governance and any other codes of conduct,

standards, probity or similar • Be responsible to the Chair of the Committee • Build and maintain effective and constructive working relationships with other members of the

Committee, Executive Team and other relevant staff • Attend induction, training and performance review sessions and other such sessions or events as are

reasonably required by Optivo • Prepare actively for meetings by reading papers and, where necessary, seeks clarification in advance • Represent the Group when requested • Be aware of, and keep up to date with, sector issues.


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PERSON SPECIFICATION For this key role, Optivo will welcome applications from:

• Committed individuals with broad, senior-level experience relevant to the work of a Treasury committee, including strong credibility and knowledge around one or more of the following areas;

debt capital markets, financial risk and liquidity management, bank and other investor relationships, debt and investment management, and long term financial planning.

• Previous experience as a non-executive would be advantageous but is not essential and in fact Optivo is determined to maximise the diversity of the candidate pool as part of a wider commitment to further diversifying its board over the coming years. .

For all Board and Committee appointments Optivo look for:

Technical Skills

• Governance, organisational leadership and management experience in an organisation of a similar scale

• A proven ability of operating effectively at high levels within a substantial and complex organisation and of success in influencing decision making

• A track record of motivating senior teams to deliver a strategic vision


• A background of general management, which will include an overview of complex budgets and high standards of probity

• Working effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including working with local communities.

Competencies and Knowledge

• Thinks and communicates constructively, critically, objectively and clearly

• Understands the role of governance in any large organisation

• Knowledgeable about the regulatory environment in which the organisation operates and of the expectations of the Regulator, and takes the wider strategic context of the organisation into account in debate and decision-making

• Expresses views succinctly and effectively in a formal Board/Committee meeting environment making reasoned contributions.

• Challenges constructively while respecting the roles, views and feelings of others

• Contributes to forming a consensus with other Board/Committee Members when involved in decision making, focuses on the matter at hand, and influences through persuasive discussion

• Builds trust and respect from colleagues and stakeholders

• Assesses risk and promotes risk awareness without being risk averse

• Actively monitors and drives organisational performance, supporting others to achieve the highest standards of corporate governance, scrutiny, legal and financial responsibilities

• Is IT literate and comfortable with handling, analysing and prioritising large amounts of complex data

• Makes reasoned judgements, while remaining accountable for the collective decision making of the Board/Committee

• Is able to analyse performance, financial and other information

• Has a strong awareness of equality and diversity issues and the need for all Board members, staff and other stakeholders to be treated fairly and equally.

Attributes

• Commitment to social housing and empathy with the aims, objectives and values of the organisation

• Commitment to balancing the interests of current and future residents

• High degree of probity and integrity

• Treats information gained as a Board/Committee member in confidence

• Upholds the values and objectives of the organisation and its core policies, including those for equality and diversity

• Declares all relevant conflicts of interest and significant changes in personal circumstances

• Prepares well for and regularly attends Board and Committee meetings, away-days, training and appraisals; devotes time and effort to understanding the business of the organisation

• Builds and maintains effective relationships with fellow Board/Committee members and senior management.


Improving diversity on the Board

• Improving diversity in the boardroom is a key priority for Optivo. Optivo should reflect the diversity of the community it serves.

TERMS OF APPOINTMENT

• Committee members are appointed for an initial term of a one year probation period plus a two year term, followed by a three year term. The remaining three years will be three one-year terms.

• There are 4 Committee meetings in a typical year (the next dates are given below).

• The expected time commitment, including meetings, preparation, reading and training averages out at around one day a month.

• Most meetings take place at Optivo’s office in Croydon – less than 20 minutes by train from London Victoria or London Bridge, with direct trains also from places such as Brighton/Haywards Heath and Epsom. However, given the current circumstances meetings are being held virtually.

• The annual remuneration for a Committee Member is currently £3,137

Meeting dates

Committee meetings – generally two hours are scheduled for each meeting • 26 August 2020 • 5 November 2020 • 4 February 2021

HOW TO APPLY Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to Optivo on this appointment. Candidates should apply for this role through our website at www.saxbam.com/appointments using code JAJASB. Click on the ‘apply’ button and follow the instructions to upload a CV and cover letter and complete the online equal opportunities monitoring form*. The closing date for applications is noon on Monday 20 July 2020 GDPR personal data notice According to GDPR guidelines, we are only able to process your Sensitive Personal Data (racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, health, sex life, or sexual orientation) with your express consent. You will be asked to complete a consent form when you apply and please do not include any Sensitive Personal Data within your CV (although this can be included in your covering letter if you wish to do so), remembering also not to include contact details for referees without their prior agreement. * The equal opportunities monitoring online form will not be shared with anyone involved in assessing your application. Please complete as part of the application process.


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appointment of independent treasury committee … · optivo appointment of independent treasury...

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