Senior Personal Assistant

Job Description

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SENIOR PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Job Purpose

The role of an Executive Director Senior Personal Assistant is to work within the Senior Leadership Team to provide a confidential, effective, and efficient service to the Executive Directors, and make sure the procedures and services are completed to an agreed quality standard. An Executive Director Senior Personal Assistant may deal with complex issues, such as dealing with sensitive and confidential issues that might arise through the service. A high level of initiative is needed to be able to pre-plan work, schedule appropriate diary appointments and to be able to recommend the best course of action when prioritising mailboxes. Excellent communication skills are essential as there is an expectation to interact with internal and external 'customers' regularly as well as high importance stakeholders.

There could be an expectation for the Executive Director Senior Personal Assistant to provide day-to-day leadership and direction to the Director Personal Assistants and or the Business Support Team within the Senior Leadership function ensuing the objectives of the team are met and maintained on a daily basis.

Accountabilities/Responsibilities

• To act as a first point of contact dealing with correspondence and phone calls
• To proactively manage and coordinate the diary of the Executive Directors, by prioritising and arranging internal and external meetings, ensuring appropriate briefing papers are prepared and provided. Manage the diary to ensure that adequate opportunity is afforded for comfort breaks, responding to e-mails, staff, emergencies, relay messages and commission work.
• Plan and organise travel and accommodation when required
• Maintain effective filling and data storage including emails and retrieval systems ensuring the needs of the Executive Directors are met.
• To provide full personal assistant support by dealing with all correspondence and calls, drafting routine letters to a high standard, minute meetings, taking messages and other administrative tasks as required to support the Executive Directors.
• Manages the administration and co-ordinates SLT meetings, and other key meetings/projects including agenda planning, ensuring accurate minutes are taken, and maintaining action logs and follow up.
• Responsible for all arrangements in relation to meetings required by the Executive Directors (including joint meetings with partner agencies), including invitations, agendas, external speakers, liaison with facilities management/venues, taking and circulating minutes as necessary and working with a range of chairs to agree agendas.
• Know the Executive Director's business so there is an understanding of hierarchy of contacts, local protocols, issues of relative priority
• Keep up to date with changes in policy and legislation within the Executive Director's service
• Regularly communicate with other agencies and service providers to share information, build working relationship and to ensure joined up service provision
• Support and supervise the Director Personal Assistants and or Business Support Officers on a day-to-day basis
• Performance-manage the Director Personal Assistants and or Business Support Officers, set targets, manage performance issues through regular one to one and performance reviews
• Delegate tasks where appropriate and make sure workload is shared amongst the team
• Oversee the systems and processes
• Provide guidance on handling difficult situations and responses to complex issues
• Understand when to escalate problems when necessary
• Ensure the VIP Function runs effectively and follows procedures, escalate to management when appropriate

In addition to the skills knowledge and experience described above, you may be required to undertake a lower graded role as appropriate.

Due to the changing nature of the business, this job description serves as a framework to outline the main areas of responsibility. It is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive and will inevitably change. You may be required to undertake other activities of a similar nature that fall within the remit of your area of work, as directed by service management, and this may entail working from other locations.

Other

• Equal Opportunities

We are committed to achieving equal opportunities in the way we deliver services to the community and in our employment arrangements. We expect all employees to understand and promote this policy in their work.

• Health and safety

All employees have a responsibility for their own health and safety and that of others when carrying out their duties and must help us to apply our general statement of health and safety policy.

• Customer Focused

We put our customers' needs and expectations at the heart of all that we do. We expect our employees to have a full understanding of those needs and expectations so that we can provide high quality, appropriate services at all times.

Person Specification

Qualifications:

• 4 GCSEs at Grade A*-C or 9-4, including English and Maths
• Recognised qualification or broad practical experience in area of expertise or maybe working towards a professional qualification or be of graduate entry level with sound practical experience.

Experience:

• Experience of performance managing a small team of people
• Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft programmes especially Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel
• Experience of working alongside senior leadership in a supporting role
• Experience of supporting a director as a PA and the functions that come with that, such as minute taking and diary management

Knowledge and skills:

• Strong organizational skills that reflect ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail
• Detailed knowledge of own service area and relevant working systems, equipment and/or IT software, plus an awareness of council policies and services related to the role.
• Very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including staff, directors, and external partners
• Ability to anticipate problems, have foresight to prevent issues arising
• Ability to use own initiative when acting on behalf of the Chief Executive/Directors
• Problem-solving capability

Ability to influence others based on technical or professional expertise

Ability to build and maintain effective networks and relationships

Good written and verbal communication skills

Other:

Commitment to equality and diversity

Commitment to health and safety

Display the LCC values and behaviours at all times and actively promote them in others