Personal Assistant

Innovate UK; Swindon; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A governmental research organization based in Swindon is seeking a dedicated PA to provide comprehensive administrative support to the Deputy and Associate Directors. The successful candidate will excel in diary management, travel arrangements, and communication with stakeholders while maintaining confidentiality. This role offers a supportive environment with various employee benefits including 30 days of annual leave and a defined benefit pension scheme.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension scheme

30 days annual leave

Employee discounts

Employee assistance programme

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Excellent management skills of complex diaries and email accounts.
• Excellent time management skills with ability to identify, prioritise and plan.
• Proactive and forward-looking ability to identify issues in advance.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, with attention to detail.
• Good interpersonal and collaborative skills.
• Discreet and respectful of confidentiality.
• Ability to work flexibly as part of a team.
• Proven administrative skills supporting senior level managers.

Responsibilities

• Provide proactive PA support to Deputy/Associate Directors.
• Arrange travel and accommodation for UK and overseas visits.
• Manage inboxes of Deputy/Associate Directors, prioritizing emails.
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders.
• Maintain confidentiality of senior colleagues.
• Arrange internal and external meetings and support them.
• General administrative support for Directors.
• Provide ad-hoc administrative support as needed.
• Work as part of a PA team.

Skills

Management of complex diaries

Time management

Proactive identification of issues

Written and verbal communication

Interpersonal skills

Discretion and confidentiality

Teamwork

Administrative support

Tools

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Job description

Job Overview

Providing comprehensive administrative and PA support to the Deputy/Associate Director team in UKRI International. You will act as an important interface with internal and external colleagues at all levels. The role will be highly visible internally and to UKRI's external stakeholders and as such you should exemplify the values and behaviours of the wider organisation. All work must be carried out to high professional standards in a timely manner, while maintaining confidentiality at all times. You will need to be able to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment, responding to different types of challenges and tasks on a daily basis.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactive PA support to 2-3 UK-Based Deputy/Associate Directors within the International Shared Capability, including diary and inbox management.
• Arrange travel and accommodation for UK visits, and complicated overseas visit programmes, including travel bookings, visa arrangements, coordination of briefings and meeting papers etc. in line with the UKRI travel guidance and policy.
• Management of Deputy/Associate Directors inboxes; ensuring emails are prioritized and dealt with. Including close monitoring when Directors are on leave to ensure correspondence is delegated appropriately.
• Professional approach to communicating effectively with internal and external stakeholders using Microsoft packages, Outlook, Word etc
• Maintaining confidentiality of the Deputy/Associate Directors and senior colleagues across UKRI.
• Arranging internal and external meetings (including virtual) and providing support for meetings, including secretariat support for internal management meetings, consisting of coordinating and circulating agendas and papers, note taking and action monitoring.
• General administrative support for Directors, including processing expenses, support for team meetings and team activities for example appraisals and objective setting.
• Ad-hoc administrative support as required for discrete projects and activities.
• Working as part of a PA team, providing reciprocal cover as required, and contributing to team wide projects.
• Occasional travel to meetings as required.

Person Specification

(S) Shortlisting Criteria (I) Interview Criteria (S & I) - Shortlisting Criteria & Interview Criteria

Essential

• Excellent management skills of complex diaries and email accounts. (S & I)
• Excellent time management skills with ability to identify, prioritise and plan. (I)
• Proactive and forward looking ability to identify issues and information required for the Director in advance and to develop systems for managing a heavy workflow. (S & I)
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, with close attention to detail a priority. (S & I)
• Good interpersonal and collaborative skills, able to foster productive working relationships with a broad range of internal and external contacts. (I)
• Discreet and respectful of confidentiality, able to recognise and deal appropriately with potential sensitive issues. (S & I)
• The ability to work flexibly as part of a PA team, demonstrate good teamwork and support for other team members. (I)
• Proven administrative skills, with a track record of support to senior level managers. (S & I)

Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.

Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance! For further information on our benefits please see: Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Other Important Information

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

Please Note: As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK. You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y

Please note that we may close this vacancy early should we receive a high volume of applications. We therefore recommend submitting your application at the earliest opportunity.

How To Apply

Applicants are required to provide an up-to-date CV and a cover letter outlining their suitability for the role. Further information on how to apply and the selection process is listed on our careers page.

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