Assistant

The European Bank For Reconstruction And Development; England; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is seeking an Assistant to provide comprehensive administrative support to allocated professionals. The role covers travel planning, diary management, proofreading and coordination of meetings and team events, with a proactive, independent approach to ensure smooth operations across the office.

Key duties include managing travel, visas, contracts and legal docs, drafting routine correspondence, taking minutes, and maintaining robust

Qualifications

• Secretarial and administrative experience essential.
• Excellent organisational and planning skills.
• Ability to multi-task and work under pressure.
• Strong written and verbal communication.
• Discretion with confidential information.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate hotel/travel arrangements, itineraries and visas.
• Process consultancy contracts and liaise with consultants and outside lawyers.
• Provide secretarial support for Director/Manager, including diary management.
• Prepare meeting material, take minutes and draft correspondence.
• Maintain filing systems and handle document sign-off processes.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings and VC calls.
• Support periodic ad-hoc tasks and team events.

Skills

Administrative support

Secretarial experience

Organisational skills

Proactive and independent

Excellent written and oral comms

Multitasking

Interpersonal skills

Discretion with confidential info

Attention to detail

Education

High School Education

Fluent English

Secretarial qualification useful

Tools

Outlook

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

SAP (desirable)

55 wpm typing

Job description

Purpose of Job

The Assistant is responsible for administrative support to allocated professionals from the team and ad-hoc support to others during busy times and absences. This is a busy role, requiring a proactive, independent and capable approach. The Assistant needs to take full ownership of tasks to ensure the smooth running of the managers’ business activities including but not limited to travel planning and expenses, diary management, proof-reading, co-ordination of various types of meetings and team events. Each Assistant is also allocated various additional tasks, which are usually ad-hoc/weekly.

For this role to be successful they need to interact across the whole of the EBRD up to and including Managing Directors and where applicable external clients & service providers.

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

• Manage and coordinate hotel/travel arrangements, itineraries and arranging visas, renewing passports as required to ensure travel arrangements run smoothly.
• Process consultancy contracts/legal documentation and liaising with consultants, and outside lawyers as directed by manager.
• Carry out all secretarial and administrative duties for Director/Manager to enable smooth running of the office.
• Managing diaries, arranging internal and external meetings and VC calls, receiving visitors ensuring that each meeting is seamlessly executed.
• Correspondence – drafting, checking and/or proofreading as needed. Additionally, all documents being submitted to various approval boards within the Bank are proof-read by Assistants
• Obtain the appropriate sign off on documents when required ensuring that they are signed or coordinated in a timely manner.
• Take minutes at meetings ensuring all key points are captured, summarised and effectively presented to the manager.
• Prepare material for meetings / committees.
• Draft routine business correspondence for Director’s signature. Prepare, draft and check team documentation ensuring quality management control.
• Responsible for arranging all elements of travel according to EBRD policy and claiming expenses in a timely manner to ensure the Director/Manager does not incur any unnecessary delays in receiving payment.
• Maintain comprehensive filing in various hard copy and electronic systems and archiving for Managers’/team to ensure instant retrieval of documents.
• Organise and coordinate filing in various electronic systems i.e. Live link including all aspects of safekeeping if applicable. Overall coordination and responsibility for the information added, ensuring quality management and control of the information.
• May manage and coordinate conferences and events by being well organised, paying the utmost attention to detail and trouble shooting on the day to ensure that all runs smoothly and to time.
• May act as departmental co-ordinator, IT co-ordinator, HR co-ordinator, IM co-ordinator.
• Organise and coordinate internal departmental events ensuring they are professionally managed to a high standard.
• Conduct ad-hoc or specific tasks assigned by Line Manager which may be related amongst others to pipeline or reporting.
• Maintain Team shared calendar, Weekly Whereabouts, & Contact Database.
• Provide secretarial cover during absences and provide handover notes to ensure a smooth transition.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

• High School Education.
• A recognised secretarial qualification would be useful, but is not essential.
• Fluent English, with excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Knowledge of another language (e.g. Russian, German, French, or Arabic) both written and spoken would be useful.

Experience/Knowledge

• Secretarial and administrative experience essential.
• Good organisational skills, proactive and flexible attitude to work essential.
• Ability to use initiative to undertake tasks and projects without guidance.
• Good communications skills, including pleasant and efficient telephone manner.
• Attention to detail and eye for accuracy.
• Good knowledge of the Department’s procedures and the EBRD.
• Ability to cope well under pressure.
• Ability to build effective working relationships with clients and colleagues in a multicultural environment.
• Conscientious, reliable and flexible with a professional and helpful attitude.
• Strong team player, with the ability to work efficiently and to handle simultaneous assignments involving a wide range of bank-wide contacts.
• Ability to multi-task while remaining calm and professional and a capacity for hard work.
• Excellent interpersonal manner, including tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to exercise judgment on and deal discretely with confidential/sensitive information and data.
• Confidence to put self forward for various projects and responsibilities and quickly understand what is required of the task in hand.

Technical Skills

• Computer literate: Windows XP: Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Knowledge of SAP desirable but not essential.
• At least 55 wpm typing.

What is it like to work at the EBRD? / About EBRD

Our agile and innovative approach is what makes life at the EBRD a unique experience! You will be part of a pioneering and diverse international organisation, and use your talents to make a real difference to people's lives and help shape the future of the regions we invest in.

At EBRD, our Values – Inclusiveness, Innovation, Trust, and Responsibility – are at the heart of how we work. We bring these to life through our Workplace Behaviours: listening well and speaking up, collaborating smartly, acting decisively with full commitment, and simplifying to amplify our impact. These principles shape our culture and define our success. We seek individuals who not only share these values but are also committed to embedding them in their daily work, fostering a positive and high-performing environment.

The EBRD environment provides you with:

• Varied, stimulating and engaging work that gives you an opportunity to interact with a wide range of experts in the financial, political, public and private sectors across the regions we invest in.
• A working culture that embraces inclusion and celebrates diversity. Our workforce reflects a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, bringing fresh ideas, energy, and innovation and enhancing our ability to serve our clients, shareholders, and counterparties effectively.
• A hybrid workplace that offers flexibility to teams and individuals; that is based on trust, flexibility and connectedness.
• An environment that places sustainability, equality and digital transformation at the heart of what we do.
• A workplace that prioritises employee wellbeing and provides a comprehensive suite of competitive benefits.