Head of Executive Office

Hollybank Trustees Ltd; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Hollybank Trustees Ltd is seeking a Head of Executive Office to support the Chief of Staff & Company Secretary, ensuring the Executive Team operates at its best. You’ll connect people, priorities and information, creating the structure that enables senior leaders to focus on leading the charity.

Reporting to the Chief of Staff, you’ll lead governance, organisational coordination, project delivery and Executive support, strengthening how the organisation operates in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Background in an Executive Office, governance, or company secretariat.
• Experience in programme management or senior executive support leadership.
• Strong organisational, planning and coordination skills.
• Confident stakeholder management and clear written outputs.
• Proven ability to lead, coach and develop others.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day operation of the Executive Office and coordination across the Executive Team.
• Coordinate agendas, forward plans, papers, minutes and actions for the Executive Board.
• Build trusted relationships with Executive Directors and senior leaders.
• Identify opportunities to improve governance, planning and ways of working.
• Lead and develop two Executive Assistants.

Job description

• Ready to play a key role in how an Executive Team operates, makes decisions and delivers organisational priorities?
• Do you enjoy bringing structure to complexity, building strong relationships and ensuring important priorities keep moving?
• Are you looking for a varied leadership role where you'll combine Executive governance, organisational coordination, team leadership and project delivery while working at the heart of a fast-paced organisation?

About the Role

As our Head of Executive Office, you'll become a key support to the Chief of Staff & Company Secretary, helping our Executive Team operate at its very best.

Working at the centre of the organisation, you'll connect people, priorities and information, creating the structure, pace and visibility that enables senior leaders to focus on leading the charity. You'll play an important role in ensuring Executive decisions are translated into action, governance operates effectively and organisational priorities continue to move forward.

Reporting to the Chief of Staff and Company Secretary, you'll lead the Executive Office function, bringing together Executive governance, organisational coordination, project delivery and Executive support. From coordinating Executive Board business and improving governance processes to supporting delivery of key organisational initiatives and leading the Executive Assistant team, you'll help strengthen how the organisation operates.

No two days are the same. One day you might be coordinating Executive Board business, reviewing papers ahead of key decisions or monitoring progress against Executive priorities. The next, you could be supporting delivery of a CEO Office initiative, improving Executive governance processes or helping coordinate a leadership event. You'll thrive in a fast-paced environment, balancing competing priorities while ensuring important activity continues to move forward.

What You'll Be Doing

Day to day, you'll:

• Lead the day-to-day operation of the Executive Office, ensuring high-quality support and effective coordination across the Executive Team.
• Lead the planning and operation of the Executive Board and key leadership forums, coordinating agendas, forward plans, papers, minutes and actions that support effective decision-making.
• Act as a central point of coordination across Executive activity, maintaining visibility of priorities, actions, dependencies, identifying issues and helping ensure progress is maintained.
• Coordinate Executive Office projects and support delivery of CEO Office initiatives, ensuring priorities are planned, delivered and effectively communicated.
• Review Executive papers and outputs, ensuring they are clear, consistent and decision ready.
• Build trusted relationships with Executive Directors, senior leaders and colleagues, strengthening collaboration across the organisation.
• Identify opportunities to improve governance, planning and ways of working, helping strengthen organisational effectiveness.
• Lead, coach and develop two Executive Assistants, building a proactive, collaborative and resilient Executive Office.
• Work closely with the CEO's Executive Assistant, Company Secretariat and Governance & Legal colleagues to ensure seamless support across the Executive function.
• Provide leadership across emerging priorities, Executive events, away days and wider organisational activities, adapting flexibly to changing organisational needs.

About You

You'll enjoy bringing people, priorities and information together to help organisations operate effectively. You're someone who naturally creates structure, builds trusted relationships and keeps work moving, even when priorities shift, issues emerge and organisational needs change quickly.

You'll combine excellent organisational skills with sound judgement, strong communication and the confidence to work with senior leaders, influence outcomes and challenge constructively where needed. You're equally comfortable leading a team, coordinating complex activity or rolling up your sleeves to solve problems and make things happen.

You may already be leading an Executive Office, managing executive governance processes, working in a company secretariat function or coordinating priorities within a complex organisation. This is an opportunity to broaden your influence, lead a high-performing Executive Office and work closely with the Executive Team across the organisation.

You will bring:

• A background in an Executive Office, governance, company secretariat, programme management or senior executive support leadership environment, supporting Executive-level decision-making and organisational priorities.
• Financial services or other regulated-sector experience would be advantageous, particularly where this has involved governance, risk and organisational accountability.
• Strong organisational, planning and coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, adapt to changing demands, maintain momentum and deliver high-quality outcomes in a fast-paced environment.
• Confident stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships, influence senior leaders and produce clear, high-quality written outputs.
• Proven ability to lead, coach and develop others, creating a collaborative, resilient and high-performing team.
• Sound judgement, professionalism and a proactive, solutions-focused approach, with the ability to balance strategic awareness with attention to detail, anticipate issues, resolve challenges and continuously improve ways of working.

You'll thrive in this role if you're motivated by:

Purpose

Helping our Executive Team operate effectively so the charity can deliver better outcomes for people experiencing problem debt.

Growth

Broadening your experience across Executive governance, organisational coordination and leadership while working closely with our Executive Team.

Balance

Hybrid and flexible ways of working that support collaboration, wellbeing and high performance.

Belonging

Leading a collaborative Executive Office where trust, teamwork, professionalism and continuous improvement are valued.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Belonging is central to who we are. We're committed to building a workforce that reflects the people we support and creating a culture where everyone feels valued, respected and able to be themselves.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. If you need a reasonable adjustment during the recruitment process so you can perform at your best, just let us know—we're here to support you.