The President is an Officer of the Society, and is a member of the Society’s Council and is thereby a trustee of the Society.

The President is a figurehead of the Society, whose role is to promote the Society and to uphold its principles.

The President Chairs the Annual Lowbury Lecture.

The President is elected by Council for a single period of 4 years.

The Chair is an Officer of the Society, and is a member of the Society’s Council and is thereby a trustee of the Society.

The Chair provides effective leadership and management to the Board of Trustees (Council), enabling them to fulfil their responsibilities for the governance and strategic direction of the charity, and ensuring that appropriate decisions are correctly made and acted upon, in accordance with the governing document, legal and regulatory guidelines.

The Chair works in partnership with other trustees (especially the Secretary and Treasurer), committee chairs and administrator to ensure that the Society is managed effectively.

The Chair is elected by Council for a three year term of office, and may be re-elected for a further three year term.

It is the responsibility of the Chairman to:

1. Undertake a leadership role in ensuring that Council fulfils its responsibilities for the governance of the charity.
2. Chair Council meetings and Society general meetings.
3. Lead the trustees in the development of strategic plans for the Society.
4. Ensure that the performance of Council as a whole, and the trustees individually, is reviewed on an annual basis.
5. Ensure that the Society is run in accordance with the decisions of the trustees, the Constitution, and appropriate legislation.
6. Provide leadership and support to the administrator, and undertake the Chief Executive's annual appraisal.
7. Liaise with the Secretary and administrator over the drafting of agendas and supporting papers for Council meetings and ensure that the business is covered efficiently and effectively in these meetings.
   Liaise with the administrator  over the writing of the annual Trustees’ Report.
8. Act between full meetings of Council in authorising action to be taken intra vires, e.g. banking transactions and legal documents in accordance with relevant mandates.
9. Ensure that the Society maintains productive relationships with stakeholders, acting as the primary spokesperson.
10. Provide reports to Council, and at the AGM, on the overall performance of the Society.
    In addition, the Chairman will be a cheque signatory and may sign legal documents on behalf of the Society.

The Secretary is an Officer of the Society, and is a member of the Society’s Council and is thereby a trustee of the Society.

The Secretary is responsible for ensuring that the trustees take decisions and act in line with the governing document. The Secretary is also responsible for the smooth and efficient running of meetings of the trustee board and any sub-committees, providing assistance and support to the Chair.

The Secretary works in partnership with other trustees (especially the Chairman and  Treasurer), committee chairs and the Chief Executive to ensure that the Society is managed effectively.

The Secretary is elected by Council for a three year term of office, and may be re-elected for a further three year term.

It is the responsibility of the Secretary to:

1. Arrange meetings of trustees and of any sub-committees and ensure that they are administered in accordance with the Constitution, in partnership with the administrator .
2. Act as the custodian of the Constitution, and in liaison with the trustees regularly review its appropriateness and ensure that the Society’s activities reflect the objectives set out therein.
   Oversee elections of Officers and other Council members.
3. Support the trustees in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities, helping to devise trustee induction and ongoing training.
4. Seek to facilitate the Society’s liaison with external stakeholders, including the Society’s submissions and responses to consultation documents.
5. Provide reports to Council, and at the AGM, on areas covered by the Secretary’s role description.
   In addition, the Secretary will be a cheque signatory and may sign legal documents on behalf of the Society.

The Treasurer is an Officer of the Society, and is a member of the Society’s Council and is thereby a trustee of the Society.

The Treasurer is responsible for overseeing the financial management of the Society in line with good practice and in accordance with the Constitution and legal requirements, and will report to Council at regular intervals about the financial health of the organisation. The Treasurer will ensure that effective financial measures, controls and procedures appropriate to the Society are put in place.

The Treasurer works in partnership with other trustees (especially the Chair and Secretary), committee chairs  and the administrator  to ensure that the Society is managed effectively.

The Treasurer is elected by Council for a three year term of office, and may be re-elected for a further three year term.

It is the responsibility of the Treasurer to:

1. Liaise with the Chief Executive over the financial management of the Society.
2. Liaise with third parties who are contracted to undertake work on behalf of the Society.
3. Liaise with the Society’s auditors, to ensure that the charity’s annual accounts are compliant with the current Charities SORP.
4. Draft the financial report to be included in the annual Trustees’ Report.
   Monitor and advise on the financial health of the Society, after liaising with the Society’s auditors and accountants.
5. Liaise with the Society’s investment manager to ensure that investments are providing a satisfactory return and that investments are being managed in line with the Society’s investments policy.
6. Ensure that sound financial controls and systems are in place and are adhered to.
7. Advise on the financial implications of the charity’s strategic plan.
8. Liaise with the administrator and Officers over the development of the Society’s budget, and over the monitoring of the Society’s financial performance, ensuring income and expenditure is in line with expectations.
9. Advise Council on the Society’s Reserves Policy.
10. Advise Council on the Society’s Risk Register, ensuring that this is kept up to date.
11. Oversee the Society’s banking arrangements.
12. Ensure that the Society’s stationery, including electronic communications (emails, websites etc), orders, invoices, cheques and other relevant documents include all the details required under company law and, if applicable, charity law and/or VAT law.
13. Oversee facilities management.
14. Provide reports to Council, and at the AGM, on areas covered by the Treasurer’s role description.
15. The Treasurer will be a cheque signatory and may sign legal documents on behalf of the Society.

The Editor-in-Chief  is a member of Council and is thereby a trustee of the Society. The Editor is appointed to the post by Council for a period of 5 years.

Overall aims of the post

The JHI is the Official Journal of HIS, and the HIS Council is the ultimate decision making body with respect to the Society and its journal.

The Editor is responsible for safeguarding the reputation of the Journal and for the achievement of the Journal’s Aims and Scope, liaising with the Publisher of the Journal and HIS Council.

The Editor is responsible for overseeing the Journal peer review process, including assignment of articles to Assistant Editors and selection of articles for publication. Every effort should be made to make decisions based on quality reviews from appropriate referees, whilst minimising refereeing handling times and providing the Publisher with sufficient papers to maintain the Journal publication schedule.

The Society employs an Editorial Production Manager to assist the Editor and help to develop the JHI strategy.

The Editor appoints and chairs the International Editorial Board.

Key responsibilities

1. To further the aims of the Society, adhering to the Trustee Code of Conduct.
2. To ensure that the editorial quality and focus of the Journal are in line with the Objectives of the Society and the Aims and Scope of the Journal.
3. To contribute to the development and implementation of the JHI Business Plan, working with the Publisher and the Society’s Chair and reporting to the Council of HIS .
4. To seek to increase the Journal impact factor.
5. To appoint and replace Assistant Editors when necessary.
6. To develop the referee database, complying with data protection requirements.
7. To encourage authors to submit manuscripts based on guidelines included in the Instructions to Authors.
8. To assign submissions to Assistant Editors as appropriate.
9. To use best endeavors to ensure a first decision is made within 12 weeks of submission, working closely with the Editorial Co-ordinator.
10. To finalise all decisions regarding acceptance or rejection of papers and to edit reviewers’ comments for transmission to authors.
11. To ensure that accepted articles are edited to an acceptable standard of English understanding.
12. To make reasonable efforts to ensure that the Journal content is not libellous or unlawful and does not infringe intellectual property rights of any person or entity.
13. To submit to the Publisher accepted articles in agreed formats and in accordance with a schedule that permits the Publisher to publish issues of the Journal on a timely basis.
14. To review proofs and to plan and provide an order of content for each issue.
15. To liaise closely with the Editorial and production Manager to maintain accurate data on the number of articles submitted, commissioned, accepted and rejected per month, and to provide a full written report on such data to the Publisher on an annual basis and presenting such data at Editorial Board meetings.

To consult with the Publisher on:

Publication schedule
Approval of supplements (approval not to be unreasonably withheld)
Approval of advertising (approval not to be unreasonably withheld)

To consult with the Society on:

Approval of supplements (approval not to be unreasonably withheld)

To hold regular teleconferences and meetings with the Publisher, and to keep the Council and Chair informed of important issues and developments.

To attend Council meetings and AGMs, providing written reports on JHI activities in a timely manner so that they can be circulated with agendas.

Trainee Committee Chair

The Chair of the Trainee Committee is a member of Council (ideally as a trustee, or as a co-opted member), appointed by Council for a three year term, or until they CCT. 

The role can be undertaken by an individual who is a member of Council (as a trustee) or who is co-opted onto Council.  Co-opted members are not a trustee and therefore may not vote at Council meetings.  

It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Trainee Committee to:

1. Chair the Trainee Committee meetings
2. Provides leadership to the Trainee committee
3. Be an active ambassador for the Society, promoting Trainee membership and other activities of the Society to trainees
4. Be a member of the Professional Development Committee, providing input on the training and educational needs of trainees
5. Provide reports to HIS Council, and at the AGM, on areas covered by the Trainee Committee.

The Chair of the Professional Development Committee (PDC) is appointed by Council.  The role can be undertaken by an individual who is a member of Council (as a trustee) or who is co-opted onto Council.  Co-opted members are not a trustee and therefore may not vote at Council meetings

It is the responsibility of the Chair of the PDC to:

1. Chair the PDC meetings.
2. Liaise with Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee of the FIS and/or HIS International Conference to provide input from the PDC as appropriate.
3. Oversee the development of programmes educational initiatives in line with the Society’s objectives.
4. Allocate individuals to convene and organise the programmes of scientific meetings and educational programmes as needed, on a time limited basis in some instances.
5. Liaise with HIS head office and Council, where applicable, over the running of the Society’s educational initiatives.
6. Ensure that HIS provides appropriate scientific input into other organisation’s conferences and joint events.
7. Liaise with kindred societies to plan joint events.
8. Ensure that applications for the Public Engagement and Sponsored Events grants and HIS educational certificate applications are reviewed in a fair and robust manner.
9. Oversee the content of related training courses in conjunction with Public Health England.
10. Liaise with the Editor of JHI and IPIP over the publication of material from the Society’s meetings, and the development of meetings based on journal content.
11. Liaise with the Chairs of the Research Committee and Guidelines Committees over the organisation of events that will help disseminate the conclusions of HIS-funded research and working parties.
12. Provide reports to Council, and at the Annual General Meeting, on areas covered by the role description.

The Chair of the Research Committee is appointed by Council for a three year term, which can be extended by Council by up to a further two years.

The role can be undertaken by an individual who is a member of Council (as a trustee) or who is co-opted onto Council.  Co-opted members are not a trustee and therefore may not vote at Council meetings.  

It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Research Committee to:

1. Chair the Research Committee meetings
2. Develop and implement the Society’s policies for the awarding of grants.
3. Review and update the Grants Standard Operating Procedures on an annual basis, liaising with the Research and Development Manager.
4. Oversee the process of reviewing grant applications, awarding grants and communicating decisions, liaising with the Research and Development Manager.
5. Review grant reports.
6. Respond to questions regarding the grant awarding process.
7. Respond to questions from grant holders (e.g. regarding extensions or additional funding).
8. Organise sessions at HIS conferences to showcase projects funded by HIS, liaising with the Chair of the Professional Development Committee.
9. Evaluate the impact of the Society’s grants programme.
10. Provide reports to HIS Council, and at the AGM, on areas covered by the Research Committee.

The Chair of the Guidelines Committee is a member of Council (ideally as a trustee, or as a co-opted member), appointed by Council for a three year term, which can be extended by Council by up to a further two years. Ideally the Chair will have experience of clinical guideline production and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE).

The role can be undertaken by an individual who is a member of Council (as a trustee) or who is co-opted onto Council.  Co-opted members are not a trustee and therefore may not vote at Council meetings.  

It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Guidelines Committee to:

1. Chair the Guidelines Committee meetings
2. Develop and monitor working party activities and the creation of guidance documents.
3. Identify key scientific and clinical practice developments to bring to the attention of the HIS Membership, e.g. via the Society’s Newsletter or website.
4. Identify representatives for the Society at relevant external committees and working parties.
5. Regularly review outputs of the Committee, including guidelines, supplements and other articles for JHI, recommendations to Council and funding and outcome of research awards.
6. Ensure close liaison with the Editorial Team of JHI to facilitate timely publication of relevant activities, and to alert the Editor-in-Chief of any issues regarding co-publication of guidelines.
7. Ensure working parties are properly constituted and agree budgets with the Treasurer.
8. Provide reports to HIS Council, and at the AGM, on areas covered by the Guidelines Committee.