Trustee at front-line wildlife rescue charity

Organisation Overview 

East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) is a front-line wildlife rescue charity providing 24/7 emergency response, veterinary care, rehabilitation and public support for sick, injured and orphaned wild animals across East Sussex.

Role details 

The Trustee Legal Lead provides strategic legal oversight, governance support and professional insight across all areas of WRAS’s work. The role ensures that WRAS operates lawfully, safely and in line with best practice charity governance. This is a strategic and oversight role, not an operational legal service.

The Legal Lead helps the Board identify risks, strengthen compliance, and make informed decisions. The role does not require specialist expertise in every legal area; instead, it requires strong legal judgement, broad legal literacy, and the ability to recognise when specialist advice is needed.

The post-holder works collaboratively with the Chair, Senior Management, and other Lead Trustees to ensure joined up governance, robust risk management, and high standards of organisational integrity.

Essential skills and experience:

·     Qualified solicitor, barrister, legal executive, or equivalent professional legal background.

·     Strong generalist legal literacy with the ability to interpret legislation and assess risk.

·     Experience reviewing contracts, policies or governance documents.

·     Ability to identify when specialist advice is required and escalate appropriately.

·     Experience advising boards, committees or senior leadership teams.

·     Commitment to high standards of governance, safety and organisational integrity.

Desirable:

·     Knowledge of charity law or previous trustee experience.

·     Experience in one or more of the following:

·     Conveyancing or property law

·     Company and commercial law

·     Health & safety governance

·     Employment law

·     Data protection and information governance

·     Environmental or planning law

·     Dispute resolution or regulatory investigations

·     Understanding of safeguarding frameworks.

Time commitment: attending monthly Board meetings and participating in relevant sub groups (roughly 5-8 hours a month) 

Attendance: Hybrid, meetings on Teams and face to face 

To apply for or express an interest in this position, please email bicenquiries@weareadvocate.org.uk