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Get Involved with the IRMS
The Society has a number of roles both on and off of the Executive Committee, and detailed information on the nominations process, role profiles and governance of the IRMS can be found in the IRMS Articles of Association. Below is a summary of what roles are available, when they come up for nomination and how you can get involved in the meantime.
Become A MemberVacancies
Benefits of volunteering
Volunteering for any organisation has its benefits and drawbacks. All current volunteers agree these would definitely be some of the benefits:
- Experience working in different areas and completing new tasks. At our annual strategic meeting, for example, all members of the Executive Committee are invited to contribute and suggest any and all ideas that may help develop and sustain the Society, regardless of their specific focus.
- Leadership and project management experience. You are given support throughout your time as a volunteer, but you are also encouraged to be self-motivated and lead on your own tasks and projects in support of the IRMS’s strategy.
- Collaborative remote working experience. We use M365 and other electronic tools to help communicate and work together on tasks.
- Access to a range of professionals at various stages of their careers that make up the IRMS volunteer base. We are a supportive and friendly bunch that not only help each other with our IRMS tasks, but often will also bounce ideas off of each other for issues or matters we face in our day jobs, as well.
- Experience working with people from all over the UK and from a wide range of sectors. Currently we have volunteers from both the public and private sectors and from London to Scotland and even to Ireland.
- Subsidised attendance at our annual Conference.The Board and Executive team are encouraged to attend the annual conference and AGM, therefore your place is subsidised with a discount by the IRMS. The team are asked if they can be on duty while there and may be asked if they could host sessions, support delegates, man the IRMS stand and other tasks that may come up during Conference.
- Extra content for the CV. Showing a willingness to devote time and energy to help a professional society shows a commitment to the profession and your own development. It looks very good on the CV when you’re looking for a new role.
- It does take time, but life and work come first. Volunteering will require time and energy; however we operate an ethos of work and home first, followed by the IRMS. Our work plan and expectations of our volunteers, especially the officers, are all designed to be flexible and take up as little spare time as possible.
- Starting as an officer or Group Chair is a great way in to other roles. Sometimes going for one of the Constitutional roles can be quite daunting to those outside of the Executive. Coming on board as an officer or Group Chair first can often be a good way for you to see we aren’t kidding when we mean these are the benefits and this is how we work. If you like it and feel you can, you can then go on to seek nomination for one of the more senior roles – one day even nomination for Chair!
Executive Committee Posts
These are broken up into two types: Constitutional Officers whose role is defined by the Articles of Association, and Directors whose role is defined by the Executive.
- Chair (one year term)
- Vice-Chair (Internal Governance) (one year term)
- Vice-Chair (External Engagement) (one year term)
- Secretary (two year term)
- Treasurer (two year term)
Director posts are all two-year terms and work in a similar way as Constitutional Officers, with the exception of co-opted Directors which the Executive can appoint without seeking nominations.
- Commercial Director (co-opted)
- Conference Director (co-opted)
- Digital Director
- Groups Director
- Marketing Director
- Membership Director
- Professional Standards Director (co-opted)
- Training Director
Officer Posts
The Executive also relies on a number of formal officers to help run the Society. These are members of the leadership team, but have no formal vote on the Executive Committee. These are often seen as a way into a more senior role.
- Marketing & Communications Officer
- Conference Officer
- Digital & Data Officer
- Finance Officer
- Groups Officer
Group Chairs:
All of our geographic and special interest groups are run by volunteers. Each group will have at least one Chair and, if there are a sufficient number of volunteers, they can run the group with a committee. Each group is different and they are always looking for people to help out in any way they can. If you are interested, please take a look at our Groups pages.
Subcommittee Chairs and Members
The Executive Committee relies on dedicated sub-committees to focus on specific areas for development and focus in order to then bring ideas for review.
- Accreditation Subcommittee: tasked with running and developing the IRMS’ Accreditation scheme, mentoring programme and fellowship award.
- Awards Subcommittee: tasked with running and developing the awards of the IRMS.
- Skills Matrix Working Group: tasked with developing the Skills Matrix.
Each subcommittee has a dedicated webpage outlining who they are and what work they do.
You can volunteer to get involved at any time; however we will raise any vacancies with our members first. If you have any queries about how you can get involved, please do get in touch at info@irms.org.uk.
Getting involved with Accreditation
There are a number of ways that members can get involved with the running and development of Accreditation. These include:
- Being an application buddy
- Being an Accreditation Assessor
- Being a member of the Accreditation & Fellowship Sub-Committee
We have outlined below how you can get involved, and what is involved, with each role. If you have any queries please email accreditation@irms.org.uk or contact any members of the sub-committee via SocialLink.
Application Buddy:
Applying for Accreditation can be a daunting task – especially if you have never done anything like it before. While we take as many steps as we can to make this easy for applicants, it is none-the-less, something that can be quite daunting. We therefore offer you an application buddy. Someone who has been through the process and is willing to share some hints and tips on how to apply for Accreditation. A buddy doesn’t need to be an assessor however if they are an assessor they then won’t be the one to assess their buddy.
Buddies give as much or as little time to the relationship as the buddy and applicant agrees. Some buddies and applicants talk a lot, some not so much. We don’t set expectations, only that the buddy feels supported in their application. The rest we leave up to the buddy and the applicant.
If this sounds like something you’d like to do, and you are yourself accredited, please get in touch via accreditation@irms.org.uk and we can see about onboarding you as a buddy!
Application Assessors:
Assessors are accredited members themselves who have been through the process and now wish to assist in accrediting others. As an assessor you receive training and guidance on how to conduct the interviews and assessments and the sorts of things we are looking for in Accreditation applicants. As an assessor, you are expected to follow a Code of Conduct to ensure our processes are fair, transparent and accountable. You can find more information on the role of an assessor via the role profile.
In terms of time commitment, we expect assessors to complete at least 1 application a month (either a written or verbal) and depending on application ‘traffic’ (some months you might not get one at all). Reviewing applications can take around 2 hours. 2 hours for written (plus liaising with another assessor to agree an outcome) and 2 hours for verbal to include 1 hour interview and 1 hour for post and pre interview prep and write up.
After you have been accredited, if you would like to train to become an accreditation assessor, then please get in touch via accreditation@irms.org.uk. We are always looking for more assessors from various sectors and backgrounds so feel free to get in touch to find out more.
Member of the Sub-Committee:
Overseeing the development and running of Accreditation is the Accreditation and Fellowship Sub-Committee. Made up of 8 volunteers, the sub-committee is tasked with overseeing all Accreditation Operations, monitoring its progress and looking for ways to review and improve how it works. We have a range of members from different backgrounds but are always looking for more. You can find a copy of our Terms of Reference here, and read our annual reports in the Society’s annual reports found on the Governance page. To read more and apply to be on the sub-committee, check out the sub-committee’s home page on the IRMS website.
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