Executive Assistant

EAST LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST; Ilford; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

East London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced Executive Assistant to provide essential support and coordination to the Corporate Governance Team, ensuring smooth operation at Board level.

The role requires managing complex diaries, preparing reports, taking minutes, arranging travel, and handling confidential information with discretion, while maintaining a calm, professional approach under pressure.

Qualifications

• Significant previous experience supporting Director/Senior Manager in a PA role.
• Experience of preparation of reports and taking minutes, with setting agendas and distributing papers.
• Experience coordinating complex diaries and large meetings.
• Expert knowledge of IT systems, especially Microsoft Office.
• Experience arranging travel and accommodation.
• Ability to work autonomously and handle confidential correspondence.

Responsibilities

• Provide essential support and coordination to the Corporate Governance Team.
• Manage complex executive diaries and coordinate calendars across multiple Directors.
• Prepare reports, take minutes and set agendas for meetings.
• Coordinate travel, accommodation and events as required.
• Maintain discretion and handle confidential information with professionalism.
• Contribute to smooth running of the Directorate and respond to changing priorities.

Skills

Executive Assistant

Diary management

Report preparation

Minutes taking

MS Office

Travel arrangements

Discretion with information

Prioritisation

Communication skills

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Executive Assistant

NHS View all jobs

• Location: East London
• Salary: £38,488-46,852 per year
• Contract: Fixed term
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Posted: 10 hours ago

Are you an experienced Executive Assistant with strong administration and organisational skills looking to support our Executive Leadership Team? Do you have excellent attention to detail and the ability to prioritise conflicting demands? Do you have a track record of dealing with highly confidential information and the ability to be discreet? Do you have a positive attitude, the ability to work under pressure, manage conflicting deadlines and work as part of a close team? If you have answered 'yes' we want to hear from you. An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and enthusiastic Executive Assistant to join ELFT to provide essential support and coordination to a busy and friendly Corporate Governance Team.

The role requires someone with a flexible, focused and positive approach to managing a varied and demanding workload and to recognise the changing needs of the Executive Directors, Directors and the Corporate Secretariat Team.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will:

• Have a proven track record as an Executive/Personal Assistant at Board level.
• Be assertive and confident but also able to display empathy and tact in sensitive situations.
• Be experienced in the preparation of reports and taking of minutes, together with setting agendas.
• Be someone who enjoys working in a fast paced, challenging and changing environment.
• Stay calm when working under pressure.
• Have extensive experience in co-ordinating complex diaries and diverse work areas.
• Be a forward thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions.
• Have extensive written and verbal communication skills.
• Have strong organisational skills that reflect the ability to perform and prioritise multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail.
• Be a highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to work effectively and independently.
• Have proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion, be adaptable to various competing demands, and demonstrate the highest level of customer/client service and response.

About us

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Details

• Date posted: 28 September 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 5
• Salary: £38,488 to £46,852 a year Per annum inc HCA
• Contract: Fixed term
• Duration: 12 months
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: 363-CP8197378
• Job locations: East London NHS Foundation Trust, Robert Dolan House, 9 Alie Street, London, E1 8DE, United Kingdom

Job description

Job responsibilities

If you share our Trust's values, have a passion for high performance, continuous improvement and exceptional standards of customer service, are self-motivated, can work with all types of people and have a professional outlook to work, then we would love to hear from you.

Closing date: 11 October 2026. Interviews will be in person and will take place on Wednesday 21 October 2026.

If you would like to have an informal conversation, please contact Stephanie Quitaleg, Head of Executive Office on [e-mail]

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Significant previous in-depth experience supporting Director/Senior Manager in a Personal Assistant role
• Experience of preparation of reports and taking of minutes, together with setting agendas and distribution of associated papers
• Experience of arranging complex conferences/seminars and large meetings
• Expert knowledge of IT systems in particular Microsoft Office software packages
• Experience of organising travel and accommodation requirements
• To work autonomously with regard to originating correspondence to aid the smooth flow of the Directorate

Desirable

• Experience of maintaining and updating intranet/web pages and database

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Able to prioritise and plan work in a busy environment and to tight deadlines delegating where appropriate and planning other's workload
• Able to type minutes/notes directly onto a laptop at meetings
• Well developed office management skills including the reviewing and/or setting up of systems.
• Solid ability to produce accurate meeting papers, excel spreadsheets, graphs, reports using MS Office Packages.
• Ability to proofread documents checking for accuracy.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Excellent communication skills including the ability to persuade, motivate and influence others into taking a different course of action.
• Ability to adapt to change and develop services and systems to meet changing needs
• Able to work on a variety of tasks with deadlines at any one time without supervision
• Capable of dealing with non-routine activities
• Ability to organise and evaluate data, assessing its importance by creating and maintaining databases and spreadsheets
• Ability to construct clear, grammatically correct letters and reports, presenting work accurately and neatly
• Takes initiative and uses own judgement in anticipating and dealing with queries and problems and prioritise accordingly

Desirable

• Comprehensive knowledge of NHS terminology and structure and the outside influences which may affect its fabric

[Note: The content repeats, so it can be summarized or omitted if necessary]

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive - so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations