Personal Assistant

We are looking to recruit a personal assistant in Leeds.

Summary: This is a diverse role where you're interpersonal and organisational skills will contribute to the smooth-running of the service. You will manage the operational support function within Educational Engagement and provide a comprehensive and flexible personal assistant support to the Heads of Educational Engagement and Admissions. You will lead the development and implementation of a range of business and information processes and systems and have responsibility to ensure a comprehensive, effective and efficient administrative service to support the Educational Engagement team.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Proactive diary management, correspondence management, ensuring the management team are prepared and briefed for meetings/events, ensuring regular de-briefs take place and actions are taken forwards;
• Proactive planning, organising and servicing of a broad range of high level meetings and events and ensuring the management team are fully appraised of progress throughout, including preparing agendas and taking minutes;
• Making complex travel arrangements ensuring the most effective use of time and money, providing high quality and professional office hospitality to visitors;
• Providing a first point of contact for enquiries, ensuring efficient flow of communication and information, drafting and prioritising communications, preparing reports and presentations and responding to enquiries professionally using discretion and judgement to deal with urgent matters;
• Delegated responsibility for the management of the office budget;
• Supporting the Head's with new initiatives, projects and activities, whilst working with multiple stakeholders and taking responsibility for the effective planning, reporting and monitoring of theseDeveloping contacts and building effective working relationships internally and externally, liaising and networking with colleagues and external individuals and organisations as appropriate;Developing, maintaining and improving systems to ensure the effective flow of information within the Service and with other areas of the University, taking on feedback and adapting processes as appropriate including providing briefings to MT and colleagues as required;In liaison with HR, provide advice to the management team on HR related matters. This involves assisting colleagues with the generation of job descriptions, arranging interviews, assisting with recruitment and new appointments, providing a supportive induction to new starters, arranging probation and annual review meetings, and maintaining the HR related databases on the SAP system for things such as; sickness, training and reporting
• Maintaining an efficient system for storage and timely retrieval of confidential paperwork/electronic documents including making suggestions for improvements where appropriate and ensuring that the system is properly documented so that, when necessary, it can be operated by others;

• These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the post.

  Person specification

  • Organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and plan your work independently and effectively working under pressure to meet strict deadlines;
  • A proven track record of taking ownership and delivering;
  • The ability to work with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail, using a structured methodological approach in working with documents, processes and events;
  • The ability to review situations, using strong problem solving and analytical skills to identify and gather and assess relevant information, together with the ability to identify errors and inconsistencies;
  • Highly effective interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work with a diverse range of people at all levels;
  • Experience of handling sensitive information and an ability to maintain confidentially and work with discretion;
  • Good numerical skills with experience of managing and reporting budgetary information;
  • Team working skills with a willingness to work flexibly and effectively having the confidence to use your own initiative with minimum supervision;
  • Proficient IT skills including experience in MS Office software, Outlook, Office 365 and collaborative tools such as SharePoint.