Webinar: Launching your NED Career and how to Get Board Ready.
We held our first webinar of 2024 with our partners City CV in March. At Starfish we believe you are never too young to be a non-executive and it is an opportunity available to people at all stages of their leadership journey and from all walks of life. Over the last few years we have seen that the market is becoming more fluid as people begin to blend their executive and non-executive roles and move away from a traditional, linear career path. The whole process is more creative as leaders adopt their own routes to achieving what feels right for them. Accessing opportunities and getting started is often the hardest part however, and with an application to interview rate of 27/1 for most non-executive roles, this webinar was the opportunity for an audience of around 100 people to share in the insight, reflections and recommendations from the experts.
Planning your career success as a board member is as important as any other aspect of your career development. It can be a highly competitive recruitment process, even though the majority of trustee roles are voluntary, and many NED roles offer a relatively modest reward. Even so, the requirement for particular skills, experience and attributes as well as demonstrating a deep commitment to the mission and cause of the organisation are vital. Board roles can be a heavy commitment, but they also offer opportunities to discover a new sector, engaging with a new team of fellow board members and making an impact in another organisation as a leader.
Demonstrating your ability to think strategically and impartially, offering maturity of judgement whilst being a team player and engaging with the business can be very empowering and you learn to quickly recognise the difference between non-executive and executive leadership. It is important to convey this understanding within your application. The focus of your CV is less on delivery and more on strategic vision, oversight and impact.
Our advice for anyone getting board ready is to have a strategy. Consider where and how you would like to work as a NED or Trustee. How can this add value to your executive career or build out your portfolio coherently and with meaning. Be proactive and select your opportunities with care, bringing the entirety of your personal brand and collateral together , ensuring that your LinkedIn and social media profiles all support your application and demonstrate consistency and personal integrity as a leader . The experience of being a NED can enrich your personal and professional life in many ways and equally, broadening the talent pool of NEDs and Trustees brings diverse perspectives and attributes into the board room.
If you’re interested in a board career, our newly launched Board Practice will be a great place to start browsing opportunities – https://starfishsearch.com/board-practice/
Webinar Recap: Navigating Recruitment in the AI Age with PPMA
Starfish Search recently partnered with the Public Services People Managers Association (PPMA) to deliver a timely and thought-provoking webinar: “Navigating Recruitment in the AI Age.” Our own Sunita Patel was joined by Jason Makepeace from GovCats to explore how artificial intelligence is already reshaping recruitment, leadership, and workforce planning across the public sector. If you missed the session, the full webinar is available to watch here.
Lorraine Payne Named Among Top 10 Interim Consultants in the 2025 IIM Awards
We are incredibly proud to share that Lorraine Payne, Partner at Starfish Search, has once again been recognised by the Institute of Interim Management (IIM) as one of the UK’s top interim consultants, securing a place in the Top 10 for 2025. This honour, based entirely on feedback from interim managers themselves, celebrates the individual consultants who go beyond the brief — those who listen carefully, understand deeply, and deliver consistently for the interims and organisations they support.
Top Talent: Regeneration and Growth
The growth and infrastructure agenda remains central to the government’s mission, and local authorities across the country are key drivers.
ACCREDITATIONS
ESPO is a public sector owned professional buying organisation (PBO), specialising in providing a wide range of goods and services to the public sector for over 40 years. Starfish Search has been awarded a place on ESPO’s Strategic HR Services framework (3S). Services we offer under the framework include: Lot 1, Executive and Managerial Interim Recruitment Lot 2, Executive and Managerial Permanent Recruitment.
Starfish are proud to be certified Disability Confident Committed. This scheme provides employers with the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace.
Crown Commercial Service supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2020/21, CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to £2.04bn - supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers. Starfish Search has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s Executive and Non-Executive recruitment. Services we offer under the framework include: Lot 3 - Non-Executive and Public Appointments.
Bloom, launched in 2012 is the UK’s leading marketplace for professional services. They provide an end-to-end solution for the procurement, contract management and payment of all professional services, via the compliant NEPRO³ framework. Their public sector clients have access to 20 professional services categories and over 4500 accredited suppliers. Bloom provides swift routes to market via either direct award or mini competition. Starfish is an accredited supplier to BLOOM; our services can be accessed via this framework - Executive and Non-Executive Search and Interim Management.
Join the starfish team
We hire people who bring insight, integrity and ambition to their work. If you’re ready to contribute to shaping the future of leadership and you want to explore our current opportunities please get in touch.
