Executive Assistant

West Sussex County Council; Chichester; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Laptop and mobile provided

27 days annual leave (28 after 5 years

Local government pension scheme

Staff discounts via West SussexChoices

Job summary

West Sussex County Council is seeking a confident executive assistant to provide high-level administrative support to the Director for Fire & Rescue Service. This hybrid role combines office and home-based work, with travel across the county as required.

The post is based at WSFRS Headquarters, Chichester, with a Thursday 12 November 2026 interview date. You will manage diaries, prepare briefs and papers, organise travel and events, draft correspondence and handle deadlines while maintaining

Qualifications

• Proven experience at executive level providing secretarial support.
• RSA II or equivalent qualification in Microsoft Office.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with attention to detail.
• Experience coordinating the work of others to ensure service delivery.
• Excellent written communication, diary management and mailbox management.
• Good judgement and problem-solving skills for complex matters.

Responsibilities

• Provide proactive diary management, prioritise meetings and arrange cover when needed.
• Manage correspondence and draft responses for consideration.
• Organise travel, accommodation, processing of expenses and large events/courses.
• Arrange meetings, prepare briefs, take notes/minutes and chase actions.
• Monitor deadlines and respond to complaints or enquiries.

Skills

Diary management

Executive support

Communication

Organization

Travel coordination

Education

RSA II or equivalent

Tools

Word

PowerPoint

Excel

SharePoint

Job description

We are looking for a confident, adaptable and highly organised professional to deliver first class executive support across a range of administrative and secretarial responsibilities.

Working closely with the Director, you will build a strong understanding of their priorities and working style, enabling you to provide proactive, effective support.

If you are an organised and proactive professional with excellent attention to detail and a commitment to delivering high-quality support, we would love to hear from you.

Salary: £37,563 to £40,444 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full-time (37 hours per week)

Location: WSFRS Headquarters, Chichester Fire Station. Northgate, Chichester PO19 1BD

Interview Date: Thursday 12 November 2026

This is a hybrid role, and the ability to work effectively across both office and home-based environments is a requirement.

Regular attendance at your designated base office is mandatory, alongside home working in line with agreed working arrangements. The role also requires occasional travel to other West Sussex County Council sites across the county. As some locations may not be easily accessible by public transport, flexibility to travel is essential. Pool cars and bikes are available for business use.

About the job

In this varied role, no two days are the same. As an Executive Assistant, you will provide a dynamic executive support service to the Director for Fire & Rescue Service by carrying out effectively a full range of high-level administrative and secretarial support tasks.

There will be some key responsibilities likely to feature in this role, including:

• Providing proactive diary management, assessing priorities to determine the need to attend, arranging alternative cover and removing conflict.
• Managing correspondence and drafting responses for consideration.
• Organising travel, accommodation, processing expense claims and large complex events/courses.
• Organising meetings, preparing briefs and taking notes/minutes and chasing agreed actions. Preparing and compiling papers and relevant information for meetings.
• Monitoring deadlines and delivery in activities such as responses to complaints or enquiries.

Required Qualifications and Skills:

• Proven track record of secretarial / PA / Executive Support experience at executive level, and familiarity with the required duties.
• RSA II, or equivalent relevant qualification or experience in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and SharePoint.
• Experience of working in a fast-paced work environment whilst remaining calm, organised, efficient, and maintaining attention to detail and quality.
• Experience of coordinating the work of others to ensure service delivery.
• Proven ability to communicate effectively in writing, including formal documentation, correspondence, letters, note taking, diary management and mailbox management.
• Excellent judgement and problem-solving skills for yourself, your colleagues and the people you support, dealing with complex matters in a prompt and effective manner.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please download the job description and person specification

Rewards and Benefits

We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

A laptop and mobile will be supplied if applicable to your role. You will benefit from 27 days annual leave, rising to 28 days after 5 years' service (pro rata for part time) plus the opportunity to buy additional leave and an excellent local government pension scheme

A range of discounts give our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.

For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is 200

Your cover letter should:

• Outline your motivations for applying.
• Explain how you meet the key skills in job description and person specification and experience you can bring to the role.

Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to right to work within the UK, enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, satisfactory references, and a health check.

Any candidates wishing to apply for this position, who would require sponsorship can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for the post by assessing their circumstances against criteria specified on gov.uk website.

Equity, inclusion, accessibility and diversity is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all cultures, ethnicities, identities, backgrounds and lived experiences, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.