The Officer Group

• The Officers shall be members of Council and members of the Executive Board and attend at Special and Annual General Meetings.
• The President will normally chair all Council meetings, Executive Board meetings and the Annual General Meeting. In his or her absence, the Senior Vice-President should assume the chair. In the absence of either of these Officers either the Junior Vice President or the Past President should chair the meeting.
• The Officers shall have the right to attend and speak at any Engineers Ireland Committee meeting.
• The Officers can request to view documentation and/or information bearing in mind GDPR compliance requirements.
• An Officer is appointed to act as Chairperson of the Liaison Committee.
• The Officers are members of the Remuneration, Development and Nomination Committee (RDNC), and the Finance Committee of Engineers Ireland.
• The President shall represent Engineers Ireland on all formal occasions. Where necessary and appropriate, the President may delegate this duty to one of the other Officers or to another nominee.

• The normal tenure of office of the President shall be one year but shall not exceed more than two consecutive years.
• The normal tenure of office of the Vice President shall be two years but shall not exceed more than three consecutive years.
• The normal tenure of the Past President shall be one year but shall not exceed more than two consecutive years.
• A member may serve on Council for not more than six consecutive years, except in the case of an Officer where service may be longer.

• The Bye Laws of Engineers Ireland provide that, subject to section 3.6.1, any member to be eligible for nomination to the office of President shall have served at least two years on the Council or the Executive Board and shall be a Chartered Engineer. Section 3.6.2 states that nomination for President shall be by Council from among the Vice Presidents.

• Bye Law 3.1.3 specifies a reserved function of Council which is: “(iv) Nomination of candidates for Vice President”. Further, section 3.6.3 of the Bye Laws provides that “Nomination for Vice President shall be by Council or by 20 Corporate Members”.
• The Bye Laws do not set out a step-by-step process regarding the nomination to the role of Vice President. The Terms of Reference for the Remuneration, Development and Nomination Committee (RDNC), as approved by the Executive Board, state the following as a key function of that Committee: “Under delegated responsibility from the Council, and consistent with Bye Law 3.6.3, identify suitable candidates for the role of Vice President of Engineers Ireland and following consultation with Council nominees make a recommendation to Council on the nomination of a Vice President”.

The following are the main steps and actions taken in the nomination process:
1. The Governance Calendar, approved by Council at its first meeting, sets out the timeline and milestones associated with the nomination process.
2. At the second meeting of Council (typically October) the process is set out and members of Council are requested to consider and provide names of members who in their view are recognised for their contribution to the engineering profession and may be suitable for nomination for the position of Vice President of the Institution.
3. Immediately following the meeting an email, clarifying the request, is issued to Council requesting names of potential candidates be submitted to the Director General (typically by end November). The email also requests two Council members volunteer to support the process on behalf of Council.
4. The Director General compiles a list of potential candidates and convenes a meeting of the Remuneration, Development and Nomination Committee, (typically December). Criteria and characteristics considered, by the Committee, in the selection process include the following:

• The discipline of engineering – civil, electrical, structural etc. in which the candidate qualified.
• Sector in which the candidate practices engineering – private, public, academia.
• The industry area in which he/she practices – energy, pharma, manufacturing etc.
• The need to ensure the institution’s Diversity & Inclusion agenda is supported.
• The geographical location the candidate is connected to.
• Affiliation with Engineers Ireland (i.e., type of involvement across their career) and recognition among the membership, through his/her public profile or active engagement with the institution.
• Experience of managing an organisation at a senior level as well as board-level experience preferably in a complex organisation of scale.
• Track record of engagement with opinion formers and decision makers, particularly in Government.

5. Following the identification of a potential candidate the Director General and President meet with the Council Volunteers in person to outline a rationale supporting the selection of one candidate (with reference to the criteria set out above).
6. After consultation with the Council volunteers, and assuming that there is no objection, the Director General makes contact with the candidate to ascertain if the candidate is willing to accept the nomination.
7. The President, as Chair of the Remuneration, Development and Nomination Committee, provides a briefing to Council (typically in February) on the process followed by the Committee to identify a potential candidate and presents a biography of the individual. The Council is asked to approve the nomination of the candidate for confirmation at the AGM.
8. If the combined number of Council nominations and nominations received under section 3.6.3 of the Bye Laws exceeds one, an election will be held concurrently with the elections for members to Council.
9. Notwithstanding the above, if only one nomination is made by Council, then the nomination of the Vice President is confirmed at the forthcoming AGM.