Appointment details

Commissioner to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

Summary

• Organisation: Equality Commission for Northern Ireland
• Sponsor department: Northern Ireland Office
• Location: Northern Ireland
• Sectors: Public Administration
• Skills: Communication, Consumer Advocacy, Casework and Complaints Handling
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 3 day(s) per month
• Remuneration: £5,000 per annum
• Length of term: 3 years
• Application deadline: Midday on 28 November 2025

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Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   5 November 2025

2. Application deadline

   Midday on 28 November 2025

3. Sifting date

   19 December 2025

4. Interviews expected to end on

   23 January 2026

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction from the Minister

Thank you for your interest in a position of Commissioner on the board of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

I am seeking an outstanding individual who can make a real contribution to the Commission’s ongoing work to promote equality and challenge discrimination and bring expertise and fresh thinking to some of the challenges in the coming months and years. These include, in particular, the operationalisation of the dedicated mechanism to oversee the commitment to no diminution of relevant rights in Northern Ireland, set out in Article 2 of the Windsor Framework. 

The enclosed information will, I hope, answer many of the questions you may have about the role and work of the Commission. I will be looking to appoint an individual to this statutory appointment who can bring vision, influence and innovation to the role; someone who will work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders for the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland.  

I welcome applications from all suitably experienced individuals regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief, political opinion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability and gender. I particularly welcome applications from those with a disability, those from a black or ethnic minority background, those from the LGBT+ community, and those who have not previously held public appointments as these groups are currently under-represented. I want to encourage the widest possible pool of talent for this important appointment. 

I hope that you will feel able to submit an application and, once again, thank you for your interest in this position. 

THE RT HON HILARY BENN MP

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

Appointment description

All Commissioners will be expected to:

• ensure the Commission fulfils its functions in accordance with its statutory remit; 
• provide effective leadership for the staff of the Commission, define and develop the strategic direction and set challenging objectives; 
• support and assist the Chief Commissioner in developing policy and in providing strategic direction and in ensuring effective and efficient performance of the Commission’s statutory duties; 
• monitor the Commission’s performance to ensure that it fully meets its aims, objectives and performance targets; 
• accept corporate responsibility for ensuring that the Commission complies with any statutory or administrative requirements for the use of public resources including acting in a way that promotes high standards of public finance, including the promotion of regularity, propriety and value for money; 
• assist the Chief Commissioner in ensuring that high standards of corporate governance are adhered to; 
• represent the Commission as required in public functions; 
• apply personal expertise in contributing to the work of the Commission as a whole;
• ensure compliance with the Code of Practice for Board Members of Public  Bodies; 
• appoint the Chief Executive and to ensure that his/her performance is regularly  assessed against clear objectives and targets; and  
• attend Commission meetings regularly.

Organisation description

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is a non-departmental public body established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Its powers and duties derive from a number of statutes which have been enacted over the last decades, providing protection against discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, race, religion and political opinion, sex and sexual orientation. It also has responsibilities arising from the Northern Ireland Act 1998 in respect of the statutory equality and good relations duties which apply to public authorities.  

The Commission is mandated in accordance with Article 2(1) of the Windsor Framework to oversee the UK Government’s commitment to rights and equality in Northern Ireland (NI) after UK Withdrawal from the EU.

Remit and responsibilities

In general terms, the Equality Commission’s statutory remit is to:

• promote equality of opportunity and affirmative action;
• work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination and harassment; 
• keep relevant legislation under review;
• promote good relations between persons of different racial groups and good disability practice; and 
• oversee the effectiveness of statutory equality duties on public authorities. 

This statutory framework enables the Equality Commission to:

• promote equality through a range of mechanisms (e.g. by providing direct advice and support to individuals and organisations); 
• produce publications and run conferences and seminars; 
• undertake research and educational activities; 
• influence policy makers; 
• assist individuals with complaints of discrimination under the law; 
• undertake investigations; and 
• use a combination of its powers to encourage and to enforce changes to policy, practices and procedures in favour of greater equality. 

Structure

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is governed by a Board of Commissioners consisting of a Chief Commissioner, a Deputy Chief Commissioner and up to eighteen other Commissioners all appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The current Chief Commissioner is Geraldine McGahey OBE.  

In making appointments to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland shall as far as practicable ensure that the Commissioners, as a group, are representative of the community in Northern Ireland. 

The Commissioners establish the overall strategic direction for the organisation, set the policy framework and oversee the delivery of the planned work. With the exception of the Chief Commissioner, all Commissioners are part time and are appointed for a term of up to three years. 

Although appointments to the Board of Commissioners are made by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is sponsored by The Executive Office, which carries responsibilities for equality policy and legislation in the Northern Ireland Executive.  

The Commission’s budget for 2024/25 was approximately £6.5m with around 75-80 staff delivering its annual work plan. The current Chief Executive is Louise Conlon.  If you would like more information on the ECNI you can access its website here. 

Regulation of appointment

This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner’s website 

Person specification

Essential criteria

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland requires a blend of expertise relevant to its work. An outstanding individual is sought to become a member of the board of the Commission, people who understand the considerations that influence the environment in which it works and can command the confidence of all sides of the community in Northern Ireland, work constructively with others, think strategically and make clear and well-informed judgements.

Candidates for this role will need to demonstrate: 

• that they understand the needs and interests of those affected by the Commission’s work on equality and good relations; 
• that they could make a personal contribution to the strategic direction of the Commission and assist it in carrying out its functions; 
• that they can build productive and respectful relationships with fellow Commissioners, colleagues and the communities which are impacted by the Commission’s work and decisions; and 
• a practical understanding of the Nolan Principles including accountability and personal integrity.

Application and selection process

About this appointment

Some public appointments are made by the Prime Minister, or the Crown on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Others are made by Secretaries of State or other ministers and are of interest to the Prime Minister.

Public appointments made by or of interest to the Prime Minister

How to apply

In order to apply, you will need to create an account or sign in. Once you are logged into your account, click on ‘apply for this role’ and follow the on-screen instructions by the closing date of 28 November 2025 at 12 noon. 

The selection panel reserves the right to only consider applications that contain all the elements listed below, and that arrive before the published deadline for applications.

For your application to be properly considered by the Selection Panel, you must upload:

• A supporting statement of no more than 1000 words summarising your proven ability related to the essential criteria and person specification. Your statement should provide specific and detailed examples to demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria (including what you did to achieve a specific result);
• A full CV (including education and professional qualifications, career history, and relevant achievements and responsibilities).
• Diversity / Equality Information; and
• Information relating to any outside interests of reputational issues.

Completed applications should be submitted by the closing date of Friday 28 November 2025 at 12 noon.

Further information on how to do this is set out below. However, should you be unable to submit an online application, or have any issues then you should contact us at the earliest opportunity by email or telephone at ecni2025@nio.gov.uk.

Overview of the application process

All applications received by the closing date will be acknowledged and put before a duly constituted Advisory Assessment Panel including an independent member. It is expected that candidates selected at shortlisting stage will be interviewed by the panel in January 2026, but this timescale may change at short notice. Interviews may be held remotely by video conferencing. 

If you require any further information about the process, you should contact the competition coordinator by email at ecni2025@nio.gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

• Clare Sloan - NIO Deputy Director (Panel Chair)
• Geraldine McGahey - ECNI Chief Commissioner (Representative of the Public Body Concerned)
• TBC - Nominated Official from The Executive Office & Senior ECNI Sponsor (Representative from The Executive Office)
• Jim Beatty - Independent Member and CPANI Assessor (Independent Member)

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. 

The information you provide is not used in the selection process. It will be removed on receipt and is not seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who will be assessing your application. We only use this information to monitor the diversity of candidates we attract and those we appoint.

Disability confident

As a Whitehall department the Northern Ireland Office has adopted the Department for Work and Pensions sponsored Disability Confident scheme, which has replaced the Guaranteed Interview Scheme or Two Ticks scheme that was widely used in Great Britain. Disability Confident is a voluntary scheme which supports the Government’s commitment to halve the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people by encouraging employers to think differently about disability and to take positive action to improve how they attract, recruit and retain disabled workers. 

We will make reasonable adjustments to help you attend the interview. You may wish to contact the competition coordinator (see contact details above) about your individual requirements should your application proceed to this stage in the process. 

We will also offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for the job - you must be able to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate relevant skills and experience for each of the selection criteria set out in the essential skills section. This does not mean that all disabled people are entitled to an interview. 

The aim of this commitment is to encourage positive action for disabled people, encouraging them to apply for positions in public life by offering them the assurance that, should they meet the minimum criteria as advertised for the position, they will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities at the interview stage. 

It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as an urgent appointment or if we receive a higher volume of applications that far exceeds the number of those expected then we may need to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered. This will include the number of interviews offered to disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job.  

Reasonable adjustments

If you have a disability and require reasonable adjustments then you may wish to contact the competition coordinator about your requirements at the interview stage, should you proceed in the process.

Principles of public life

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder.

1. Selflessness

Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.

2. Integrity

Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

3. Objectivity

Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

4. Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.

5. Openness

Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.

6. Honesty

Holders of public office should be truthful.

7. Leadership

Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

In the interests of transparency and openness, applicants are asked to consider whether their appointment may give rise to a conflict of interest and state this clearly as part of your application. You should provide information regarding interests that you, or your immediate family, have that might be construed as being in conflict with the role of board member of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.  

An appointee to a public body could find that matters or incidents which did not previously attract attention could become matters of legitimate public interest once the person concerned holds a public appointment. Actual or perceived conflicts might include, for example, a situation where a candidate has interests in an organisation that might benefit from a contract with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland or there may be issues in your personal or professional history (including any convictions or bankruptcy) that could, if you were appointed, be misconstrued, cause embarrassment to Ministers or the Commission or cause public confidence in the appointment to be jeopardised.  It is important that you bring them to the attention of the Advisory Assessment Panel and provide details of the issue/s in your application.  

In considering whether you wish to declare any issues, you should also reflect on any public statements you have made, including through social media and blogs. Due diligence may be carried out on any publicly available information and shared with the Advisory Assessment Panel and Ministers. The panel may explore any issues you declare with you or that have been identified from our due diligence checks before they make a recommendation on the appointment. 

A potential conflict will not necessarily preclude an individual from appointment but candidates must be prepared to have this explored during the recruitment process and before an appointment is confirmed.  

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

The position will be based in Equality House, Belfast. Candidates may wish to note the following: 

• The position is part-time with an expected time commitment of approximately 2-3 days per month. Occasional evening and weekend meetings may occur.
• The term of appointment is three years.

This competition may be used to fill any further vacancies that may arise within the Equality Commission over the next 24 months. 

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

The position of members attracts an annual remuneration of £5,000 which will be paid in equal monthly instalments.

Travel and incidental expenses will be reimbursed in line with the Equality Commission’s travel and subsistence policy.

This appointment is not pensionable.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. Feedback will be provided to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the sift and interview stages.

How to complain

If you feel that you have any complaint about any aspect of the way your application has been handled, we would like to hear from you. In the first instance please e-mail the competition coordinator at ecni2025@nio.gov.uk.

Complaints must be received by the competition coordinator within 1 calendar month from the issue or after the campaign has closed, whichever is the later. Your complaint will be  acknowledged within 2 working days of receipt and answered as quickly and clearly as  possible; at the most within 20 working days of receipt. If this deadline cannot be met we will inform you why this is the case and when you can expect a reply. If, after receiving our response you are still not satisfied, you may contact the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates and monitors appointments to public bodies to ensure procedures are fair. Information about the Commissioner’s policy and manner in which complaints are investigated are set out in the Commissioner’s leaflet Your Guide to Making a Complaint about a Public Appointments Process. 

More information about the role of the Commissioner and their Code of Practice is available from website address:  http://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/ 

How to complain to Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA)

If you are not content with the appointing department’s response you may wish to further complain to the Commissioner at publicappointments@csc.gov.uk.Further information on how the Commissioner handles complaints can be found on the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ website https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/regulating-appointments/investigating-complaints/

Data protection

Your personal information will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. You will not receive unsolicited paper or electronic mail as a result of sending us any personal information. No personal information will be passed on to third parties for commercial purposes. 

When we ask you for personal information, we promise we will:

• only ask for what we need, and not collect too much or irrelevant information;
• ensure you know why we need it;
• protect it and insofar as is possible, make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn't;
• ensure you know what choice you have about giving us information;
• make sure we don't keep it longer than necessary; and
• only use your information for the purposes you have authorised 

We ask that you: 

• give us accurate information;
• tell us as soon as possible of any changes; and
• tell us as soon as possible if you notice mistakes in the information we hold about you. 

The Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates and monitors appointments to public bodies to ensure procedures are fair. We are required by the Commissioner for Public Appointments to retain information about the people who apply for public appointments within his remit, and make this information available to him for audit purposes, if requested to do so. Information you provide in your application may therefore be made available to the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the Commissioner’s auditors on a confidential basis in order to help fulfil the Commissioner’s formal complaints investigation role and for audit purposes. 

Our data protection policy is in line with the requirements of GDPR and data protection legislation and the requirements of the Governance Code on Public Appointments. 

The Commissioner’s requirements relating to the information we collect about applicants are set out below: 

• your initial contact details, including your name and address may be held by the Northern Ireland Office for a period of at least 2 years.  
• if you submit an application form, then for audit purposes, the form and any supporting documentation will be retained for at least 2 years.  
• monitoring information which you provide will also be held for at least 2 years but may be held for statistical purposes for up to 5 years.  

If you would like these details to be removed from our records as soon as this recruitment exercise is complete, please inform the competition coordinator via the email address provided above.  

Contact details

If you require any further information about the process, you should contact the competition coordinator by email at ecni2025@nio.gov.uk.

Please note, we may be unable to receive your email if you are contacting us from a Northern Ireland Civil Service email address. If possible, please use an alternative email address.

Attachments

• ECNI2025 - Commissioner - Candidate Information Booklet 2025