Committee Officer

NHS; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A public health body in Greater London is seeking a full-time Committee Officer to support licensing committees and related functions. Responsibilities include managing meeting logistics, producing documentation, and ensuring compliance with legal standards. Ideal candidates will possess excellent writing and organisational skills, with experience in formal committee settings. The role allows for hybrid working arrangements and requires flexibility to attend meetings as needed.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Pension arrangements

Hybrid working flexibility

Qualifications

• Experience minuting formal committees in a public body.
• Ability to understand legal and governance risks.
• Experience with decision-making tools like decision trees.

Responsibilities

• Produce high-quality meeting bundles and draft accurate minutes.
• Manage clear agendas and ensure quoracy for meetings.
• Collaborate on licensing projects and provide expert input.

Skills

Excellent written communication

Strong time-management

Interpersonal skills

Organisational skills

Education

Professional minuting or governance-specific qualification

Job description

Job Summary

We are looking for a full‑time Committee Officer to support our full range of licensing committees and related work. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is quality focused and who wants to make a real and tangible difference to our work and the lives of patients.

Main Duties

The post holder will work within a small team of Committee Officers to ensure the Licensing Committees are well supported by monitoring the flow of business designated to committees and ensuring clarity of agendas, quoracy and conflict management. They will produce high‑quality meeting bundles, quality‑assure them with the Licensing Committees Manager, and circulate them on time to committee members and attendees. They will also attend all designated licensing meetings, draft accurate minutes and licence documentation in line with key performance targets for each Committee.

Applicants should have prior experience supporting and minuting formal committees and panels, ideally in a licensing, governance or quasi‑legal setting, and may have worked in another regulator or similar public body. They should be aware of legal risks and the nature of quasi‑legal decision‑making, possess excellent written communication skills with a track record of producing clear minutes to tight deadlines, and demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and confidence to engage sensitively with senior staff, board members and colleagues. Good time‑management and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise tasks effectively and a positive, resilient, flexible mindset, are also essential.

About Us

The HFEA is the UK’s independent regulator overseeing safe and appropriate practice in fertility treatment and embryo research. We licence and monitor clinics carrying out IVF, donor insemination and human embryo research.

This post can be office‑based – requiring attendance of at least one day per week – or home‑based, with office attendance specified by your line manager based on business need. Our office is in Stratford, east London, alongside several other health Arms‑Length Bodies. We offer generous annual leave and pension arrangements, hybrid working flexibility and recognise that diversity in the workforce enriches our organisation.

The HFEA is a member of the Community Race and Work Charter and the Disability Confident Charter. We are committed to an inclusive and supportive working environment free from any form of discrimination. In November 2024 and 2025, the HFEA was awarded People Insight’s Outstanding Workplace Award.

We are not able to offer sponsorship for this role – the right to work in the UK must be provided prior to interview. We reserve the right to close this role early should we receive sufficient applications. No agencies please.

Job Responsibilities

Meetings Management

• Forward plan meeting dates and associated arrangements in conjunction with the Licensing Manager, liaising with members, advisers and venues as needed.
• Ensure clarity of agendas, quoracy, conflict management and well‑run meetings with a focus on effective decision‑making.
• Manage the flow of business to committees, ensuring timely decisions that affect patients and clinic licence status.
• Produce, quality‑assure and distribute meeting bundles on time to committee members and attendees.
• Handle practical arrangements for meetings, including room bookings, catering, audio‑visual facilities, requisitions, and advisor bookings.
• Identify substantive issues of fact, policy or statute that may hinder decision‑making, and seek further information or escalation where appropriate.
• Provide a high‑quality service, ensuring venues, quoracy and conflicts are managed proactively.
• Ensure all necessary materials – such as the Standard Licensing Pack and decision trees – are available and highlighted to the Chair.
• Attend meetings to draft accurate minutes, subsequently managing discussion and finalisation with members.
• Clear rooms post‑meeting and keep confidential documents secure.
• Ensure licences, documentation and legal notices are issued correctly and on time, coordinating with the Legal Adviser and following up with PRs or inspectors as needed.
• Provide resilience support for other Licensing team members when covering annual or sick leave.

Licensing Information Management

• Collaborate with the Licensing Manager to conduct regular audits of Epicentre, the statutory register of licences, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
• Ensure new licences are activated on their due dates to prevent lapses.
• Maintain safe custody and filing of official licensing records, providing access to the organisation as required.
• Act as the primary point for day‑to‑day licensing queries, escalating complex matters appropriately.
• Provide performance data on items considered, minute approval times and other required statistics for corporate reporting.
• Use current, up‑to‑date templates, SOPs and other standard documentation consistently throughout the team, contributing to updates when relevant.
• Administer the processing system for all applications to the Licensing Officer as needed.
• Collaborate on licensing projects, providing expert input, reporting to the wider Licensing team and executing required outcomes.

Communication

• Publish reports and licensing minutes on the HFEA website following the publication policy, ensuring quality assurance.
• Identify action points from meetings and communicate them to relevant staff, scheduling follow‑up meetings for clarity and implementation.
• Support committee members and advisers, responding to queries or referencing other staff as appropriate.

Other Requirements

• Process requisitions, payments, expenses and goods received via the HFEA’s finance system WAP.
• Provide administrative support to the Licensing Manager and external lawyers for occasional representations and appeals hearings.
• Offer general administrative and quality‑management support to the Licensing Manager and assist teammates with cover during holidays or sickness.
• Carry out additional tasks and responsibilities as required from time to time.

Person Specification

Essential – Managing Work

• Strong time‑management skills and the ability to be flexible and proactive, using initiative to prioritise workload.
• Excellent organisational skills and record keeping, adept at using supplied software and systems.
• Concentration and accuracy during peak workload, with the ability to adhere to standard procedures and templates.
• Personal resilience, remaining calm under pressure.

Essential – Knowledge

• Ability to understand complex topics, recognise legal or governance risks, and capture decisions clearly for quasi‑legal and scientific subjects.
• Excellent interpersonal skills for cross‑team collaboration and liaison with board members and senior staff.
• Excellent written communication skills, with a track record of producing clear minutes to tight deadlines.

Desirable – Knowledge

• Detailed knowledge of a statutory licensing regime.

Essential – Qualifications

• Professional minuting or governance‑specific qualification, or relevant experience.

Essential – Experience

• Significant experience minuting formal committees in a public body.
• Experience in a regulatory setting where consistency and accuracy are paramount.
• Experience with committees that use formal decision‑making tools (e.g., decision trees, standing orders).
• Experience dealing with sensitive and highly confidential matters.
• Experience working closely with senior staff and board members, confident to seek clarification during meetings.
• Experience using and maintaining records, databases and spreadsheets accurately.

Desirable – Experience

• Experience producing and issuing formal legal notices or licences.
• Experience minuting committees with clinical, legal and/or ethical subject matter.
• Experience working in a team with varied job roles.
• Experience active participation in projects.

Employer Details

Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority

2nd Floor, 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ

Website: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/