Assistant

EBRD; Greater London; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Flexible annual leave options

Retirement benefits

Gym membership discounts

Retail discounts

Relocation assistance

Job summary

A leading international development bank based in Greater London seeks an entry-level Assistant. The role involves providing administrative support to senior management, organizing travel, managing calendars, and proof-reading documents. Candidates should possess strong organizational and communication skills, a proactive attitude, and the ability to work independently. The position offers competitive compensation, including health insurance and a relocation allowance for international applicants.

Qualifications

• Fluent English with excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to use initiative to undertake tasks and projects without guidance.
• Secretarial and administrative experience essential.
• Good communication skills, including pleasant and efficient telephone manner.

Responsibilities

• Manage travel arrangements and itineraries.
• Process legal documentation and liaise with consultants.
• Draft routine correspondence for Director’s signature.
• Manage diaries, arrange internal and external meetings and VC calls; greet visitors and ensure meetings run smoothly.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Proactive attitude

Team player

Confidentiality

Education

High School Education

Recognized secretarial qualification

Tools

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

SAP

Job description

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.

The Assistant provides secretarial and administrative support to the leadership team as well as Senior Managers, Managers and assists other Assistants/Officers in the team as and when required. In the absence of the manager, ensures routine office support procedures are carried out, covering Assistants’ absence and providing guidance & coaching to junior secretaries when required. This role will entail dealing with colleagues in the Resident Offices as well as in the Headquarters, which in turn also includes various departments.

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.
• 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 communication 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.

Please be advised internal applicants are only eligible to apply once the probation period in your current role has been passed.

Please note that CCTs and applicants working directly for a Board office can only apply for jobs advertised via the external website.

Please note, that due to the high volume of applications received, we regret to inform you that we are unable to provide detailed feedback to candidates who have not been shortlisted (for further consideration).

Benefits

We believe that hard work deserves great rewards. We offer competitive base salaries and annual performance‑based bonuses. Permanent staff can enjoy additional benefits such as medical insurance, generous and flexible annual leave options, retirement benefits, reduced gym membership rates and staff discounts at a wide array of retailers.

We recognise the challenges of working far from home, so if you move from another country to take up a post with us, we’ll help by providing ongoing assistance and relocation allowance.

Seniority level

Entry level

Employment type

Full‑time

Job function

Administrative and Finance

Industries

Banking and Financial Services