Personal Assistant and Senior Administrator

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology; Wallingford; Hybrid; GBP 33,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave

Pension

Life insurance

Hybrid working

Wellbeing benefits

Employee discounts

Job summary

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is seeking an organised and proactive Personal/Executive Assistant to support the Science Director for Water and Climate Science and other senior leaders. The role blends diary management, communications, and cross‑team coordination to ensure priorities are met and activities run smoothly.

Based in a hybrid environment with flexible scheduling, the successful candidate will handle confidential information, coordinate meetings, travel and events, and look for

Qualifications

• Essential: Experience as a Personal or Executive Assistant or similar senior administration support role, managing diaries and email on behalf of others.
• Essential: Experience maintaining records, coordinating information and supporting operational activities.
• Essential: Highly organised with ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Essential: Effective communication and interpersonal skills, building relationships at all levels.
• Essential: Excellent attention to detail.
• Essential: Ability to work independently while knowing when to escalate issues.
• Essential: Comfortable using Microsoft 365 applications including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Desirable: Experience supporting senior leaders or Directors.
• Desirable: Experience in research, scientific or technical environments.
• Desirable: Experience organizing large/complex meetings or events.
• Desirable: Experience taking minutes and managing action logs.
• Desirable: Coordinating activities across multiple teams or functions.

Responsibilities

• Manage diary, inbox requests and respond to routine enquiries for a Science Director and other senior leaders.
• Coordinate travel, accommodation and conference arrangements in the UK and internationally for specified leaders.
• Provide logistics for meetings, workshops, visits and stakeholder engagements, including papers and note taking.
• Handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.
• Identify opportunities to improve administrative processes and ways of working.

Skills

Diary management

Email management

Travel coordination

Administrative support

Microsoft 365

Communication

Discretion

Attention to detail

Tools

Outlook

Teams

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Salary - £33,284 - £35,322 Depending on experience Hybrid working (50/50) Location: Wallingford, Lancaster, Bangor, Edinburgh Closing date: Monday 2 November 2026 We reserve the right to close this advert early if we find the right candidate, so we encourage you to apply early.

We’re looking for an organised, proactive, and highly professional individual to join our team in a varied and rewarding support role. You’ll provide dedicated support to Glenn Watts, Science Director for Water and Climate Science (50% FTE), alongside supporting other senior leader(s) across the organisation (30% FTE). Working at the heart of the leadership team, you’ll play a key role in ensuring priorities are managed effectively and day‑to‑day activities run smoothly. This is a diverse position that combines Personal Assistant responsibilities with broader coordination and administrative support. You’ll work closely with senior leaders, colleagues from across UKCEH, and external stakeholders, helping to coordinate meetings, manage communications, and organise logistics to ensure everything runs efficiently and professionally.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage diary, inbox requests and respond to routine enquiries for a Science Director and a small number of other senior leaders. Escalating matters where appropriate.
• Coordinate UK and international travel, accommodation and conference arrangements for specific senior leaders.
• Provide logistics for meetings, workshops, visits and stakeholder engagements, including preparing agendas, circulating papers, note taking in meetings.
• Handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.
• Identify opportunities to improve administrative processes and ways of working.

We’re Looking for Someone Who:

• Essential Has experience as a Personal or Executive Assistant or similar senior administration support role, managing diaries and email on behalf of others.
• Essential Has experience maintaining records, coordinating information and supporting operational activities.
• Essential Is highly organised and able to manage multiple competing priorities and work to deadlines.
• Essential Has effective communication and interpersonal skills, building effective working relationships with colleagues at all levels.
• Essential Has excellent attention to detail.
• Essential Ability to work independently while recognising when issues require escalation.
• Essential Is confident using Microsoft 365 applications, including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Essential Can manage confidential information appropriately and exercise sound judgement.
• Desirable Experience supporting senior leaders or Directors.
• Desirable Experience working within research, scientific or technical environments.
• Desirable Experience organising large or complex meetings, workshops or events.
• Desirable Experience taking minutes and managing action logs.
• Desirable Experience coordinating activities across multiple teams or functions.

What we offer

• Generous annual leave - 27 days (rising to 29 days after 5 years) +3 for Christmas closure
• 10% employer pension contribution
• Financial protection through life assurance and income protection
• Enhanced family-friendly policies
• Flexible and hybrid working options (depending on your role)
• Lifestyle perks including dental, gym, retail and cycling discounts
• A commitment to wellbeing, supported by a range of internal initiative Employee Assistance Programme and health benefits, including 24/7 support with remote GP access, mental health, physiotherapy and lifestyle services
• Peer recognition and rewards that celebrate your contribution
• Salary sacrifice agreement benefits including Electric & Plug-in Hybrid vehicle and Cycle2Work schemes
• Interest‑free annual travel season ticket loans (terms apply)

Our commitment to inclusion

At UKCEH, we believe everyone should feel welcome and able to be themselves at work. We warmly encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and identities. As a Disability Confident employer, we’re happy to support you with any adjustments you may need throughout the recruitment process.

Our approach to AI and applications

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to support their application. We encourage you to ensure your submission reflects your own experience, skills and suitability for the role. Every application that meets the essential criteria will be reviewed by our recruitment panel. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role, and the role is not eligible for endorsement under the Global Talent visa route. If you already have, or intend to obtain, the right to work in the UK through another visa route that does not require UKCEH sponsorship, please tell us in your application.

Here you can explore the kind of roles we recruit for, search our latest vacancies, learn more about what it's like to work at UKCEH, and find out about the many benefits of joining our team. Every one of our 600+ staff and 50+ postgraduate students plays a vital role in delivering our ambition to understand the environment and the human impact on it, so that together people and nature can prosper. How we work is just as important as what we achieve. We want UKCEH to be a welcoming, inclusive, engaging and collaborative place to work. We embed our values - excellence, integrity and teamwork - into everything we do. For further information, please visit the UKCEH Website.