Personal Assistant

Salary: Scale 6 SCP 20-24 £31,586 - £34,314 per annum

Hours: 37 hours per week, Monday – Friday 9.00 am – 5.00 pm. A flexible working hours scheme in operation. The postholder may be required to work additional hours and outside normal working hours to meet the needs of the post.

JOB PURPOSE To provide a shared confidential comprehensive, diverse and professional administrative support service within the Deputy Chief Executive’s Department/Directorates/Executive Management Team; to include a Personal Assistant role for the Deputy Chief Executive’s Department/Directorates/Executive Management Team. The post holder will be required to provide administrative support to a number of corporate support areas, including administration for meetings and will require a high level of customer service and ability to deal with and resolve issues using personal and professional judgement, building relationships with internal and external officers at all levels, promoting the profile of the Council. The post will also be flexible to allow for new challenges and to assist with high level of demand from other Sections of the Deputy Chief Executive’s Department/Directorates/Executive Management Team which may arise from time to time.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 1. Provide a high quality, confidential Personal Assistant role, to include: • Organising, managing and monitoring the diary of the Deputy Chief Executive/Directors’/Executive Management Team on a daily basis and meeting regularly with them to discuss, prioritise and action diary commitments; • Identifying and prioritising tasks on an ongoing basis, ensuring that there is sufficient time allocated for planning, preparation and strategic review of priorities; • Acting as a first point of contact for incoming telephone calls; • Providing cover in the absence of the Chief Executive’s Personal Assistant. 2. Provide comprehensive administrative support to the Deputy Chief Executive/Directors’ and Executive Management Team on a daily basis.

3. Log, prioritise and track all correspondence, draft responses and general correspondence, where appropriate, including that of a highly confidential and sensitive nature, update senior officers and bring important issues and target dates to their attention. 4. Develop and maintain accurate and effective records and systems relevant to the work of the Deputy Chief Executive/Directorate/Executive Management Team and ensure files/documents are held and maintained in line with the Council’s Retention and Disposal policy. 5. Undertake research/obtain information and draft reports on behalf of the Deputy Chief Executive/Directors/Executive Management Team as required. 6. Schedule and organise meetings of the Council’s Executive Management Team, Strategic Directors and Heads of Department. This includes providing a comprehensive administrative service for meetings, organising venues and catering, ensuring officers are equipped, briefed and made aware of any pertinent issues, compiling agendas and papers, attending meetings and preparing minutes/action sheets. 7. Manage the compilation and preparation of Committee and Executive Management Team papers, ensuring their submission in a timely manner to the required standard. 8. Operate the Council’s computerised Purchase Ordering System in line with the Council’s Financial Regulations, Procurement Policy and other relevant policies/procedures. 9. Develop and maintain records and assist with the analysis of financial reports, reconcile financial data and assist with recording and receipt of all monies, including credit card payments and verification of expenditure in accordance with financial regulations. 10. Co-ordinate and compile Freedom of Information responses and Corporate Complaints responses on behalf of the Department/Directorate, ensuring that FOI obligations and Complaints Procedure requirements are met. 11. Assist with the processing of a range of data including checking for accuracy and transfer of data to other agencies in line with statutory and service requirements. 12. Represent the Directorate/Department on internal working groups as required 13. Undertake any other relevant duties that may be required and are commensurate with the nature and grade of the post. Qualifications and training • Five GCSEs (Grades A – C) or equivalent/comparable including Maths and English Language; Applicants must list all subjects, grades and level attained • OCR Level 2 Award in Text Processing (Business Professional) (Text Processing and Word Processing) or OCR/RSA Stage II Typewriting/Word Processing (Parts 1 & 2) or equivalent. Experience

• Two years’ experience of providing high-quality PA administrative support to senior management to include each of the following: ▪ Diverse administration duties; ▪ Drafting of documents including correspondence and reports; ▪ Working with senior officers; ▪ Diary management; ▪ Organisation of meetings; ▪ Minute-taking and production of minutes; ▪ Preparation and dissemination of meeting papers and follow through actions; ▪ Dealing with confidential/sensitive matters; ▪ Managing a heavy workload and challenging/changing/conflicting priorities and deadlines. Key skills, knowledge and attributes • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; • Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships at a range of levels, including senior management and elected members. • Ability to successfully plan/prioritise/manage a range of tasks simultaneously within required timescales; • Ability to demonstrate initiative to work flexibly with minimal direction and supervision; • Ability to research on a variety of issues and collate information; • Competent in the use of Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and Access). Working arrangements/flexibility 37 hours per week, Monday – Friday 9.00 am – 5.00 pm. A flexible working hours scheme in operation. The postholder may be required to work additional hours and outside normal working hours to meet the needs of the post.