Executive PA to MD & Board (Maternity Cover)

South Staffs Water; Walsall; Hybrid; GBP 36,000 - 44,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Maternity benefits

Pension scheme

Health & wellbeing programmes

Cycle to work scheme

Staff discounts & benefits

Training & development

Employee networks

Job summary

South Staffs Water is seeking a proactive Personal Assistant to the Managing Director for a maternity-cover, full-time role based in Walsall. The position supports the MD, Water Executive Team and Board, with hybrid work requiring four days in the office and occasional travel to Midlands/Cambridge sites.

Key duties include diary and inbox management, travel coordination, board and regulator support, minute-taking, and packaging board papers.

Qualifications

• Experienced corporate PA/EA to an MD, C-suite or equivalent, able to become effective quickly, coordinate senior meetings and manage competing priorities with limited supervision.
• Excellent document production and proofreading: turn multi-author contributions into coherent, professional packs, checking consistency, numbering, completeness and versions.
• Demonstrable Microsoft 365 proficiency: Outlook diaries/inboxes; Word styles, templates, sections, pagination, tables, tracked changes and comparison; PowerPoint formatting; Excel trackers, filters and basic formulas; Teams groups, sharing and document management, SharePoint and OneDrive collaboration, permissions and version control.
• Practical Adobe Acrobat Pro skills: create/convert PDFs, combine and reorder papers, add bookmarks and page numbers, reduce file sizes and securely redact information; check finished packs before issue.
• Strong communication and stakeholder relationships, with demonstrable minute-taking skills; clarify unfamiliar technical or regulatory terms rather than assume.
• Discretion and sound judgement: handle sensitive information securely, act within authority, challenge conflicting demands constructively and elevate consequential issues promptly.
• Evidence of proactive ownership: anticipate needs, spot gaps, propose solutions and see tasks through without reminders, adapting as priorities change.
• Regulated utility experience, ideally water, with awareness of Ofwat, the Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and public accountability; able to learn sector terminology quickly.
• Experience supporting an independent Board and its committees, working with a Company Secretary and using a secure board portal.

Responsibilities

• Own diary and inbox management: balance priorities, resolve scheduling conflicts, flag urgent matters and track follow-up.
• Coordinate travel, accommodation, events and stakeholder visits, including Board and regulator visits, with appropriate logistics, briefings and follow-up.
• Support arrangements for company roadshows, external meetings, industry events and stakeholder engagements.
• Prepare correspondence and coordinate information and briefings so the MD is well prepared for internal and external commitments.
• Coordinate meeting calendars, agendas, papers and logistics with the MD, Chair and Company Secretary; chase contributions and actions against agreed deadlines.
• Take concise, accurate Executive meeting minutes recording material discussion and challenge, decisions, reasons and actions with owners and deadlines; circulate promptly for approval.
• Support Executive preparation of Board papers and quality-check packs for completeness , order, pagination and version accuracy. Coordinate secure distribution with the Company Secretary, who retains Board minutes and secretariat responsibilities.
• Liaise with the Chair and non-executive directors on arrangements and information requests; keep Group reporting distinct from independent Water Board governance.
• Coordinate regulatory correspondence and deadlines with accountable colleagues, who retain technical content and sign-off. Protect confidential Board and regulatory information through controlled access and approved records.

Skills

Diary management

Microsoft 365

Minute taking

Communication

Stakeholder relations

Discretion

Proactive ownership

Regulated environment awareness

Meet regulatory terms

Tools

Outlook

Word

PowerPoint

Excel

SharePoint

OneDrive

Adobe Acrobat Pro

Job description

South Staffs Water is seeking a proactive Personal Assistant to the Managing Director for a maternity-cover, full-time role based in Walsall. The position supports the MD, Water Executive Team and Board, with hybrid work requiring four days in the office and occasional travel to Midlands/Cambridge sites.

Key duties include diary and inbox management, travel coordination, board and regulator support, minute-taking, and packaging board papers.