Personal Assistant - ( Ref : 6339 )

Natural England; Folly Gate; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

An environmental organization in the UK seeks an Administrative Assistant to support directors with scheduling, correspondence management, and relationship building with key stakeholders. Ideal candidates should possess strong communication skills, be proficient in Microsoft Office and SharePoint Online, and demonstrate a collaborative approach to improve organizational processes. The position offers a starting salary of £26,400 along with a Civil Service pension and flexible working options.

Benefits

£7,648 contribution towards the Civil Service pension scheme

Tailored learning and development

Flexible working options

Culture promoting inclusion and diversity

Qualifications

• Use clear language and communication styles that engage your audience.
• Be ambitious and inspire others to make improvements.
• Share expertise and collaborate for better outcomes.
• Respect diverse needs and be inclusive in everything you do.
• Manage your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines.
• Handle data responsibly and comply with relevant policies.

Responsibilities

• Develop understanding of directors' key objectives.
• Manage busy mailbox and prioritize requests.
• Oversee diary management and arrange meetings.
• Book travel and accommodations per policy.
• Build effective relationships with customers.
• Contribute to process improvements and solutions.
• Mentor newly appointed Personal Assistants.

Tools

Microsoft Office

SharePoint Online

Job description

Overview

Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands‑on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop an in‑depth understanding and knowledge of the directors' key objectives, business priorities and direct reports along with Natural England's governance structures and processes in order to provide advice and guidance to others.
• Proactively manage the director's busy mailbox; prioritise, filter and respond to requests on their behalf.
• Be responsible for diary management and arranging meetings, 121s or telecalls with internal and external customers with a high regard for excellent service.
• Arrange and book travel and hotel accommodation, desks, meeting rooms and conference facilities while demonstrating compliance with the Travel, Accommodation and Related Expenses Policy and ensuring Health, Safety and Wellbeing practices are followed.
• Deal with any issues in the day‑to‑day role, exercising professional judgement in making recommendations or decisions and escalating issues accordingly.
• Build and sustain effective relationships with a range of internal and external customers based on understanding customers' needs and priorities, providing advice and guidance and efficient delivery of service to make a positive impact to achieve the best outcomes.
• Actively contribute to continuous improvement of processes, systems, and standards in order to develop new ways of working or suitable solutions that will have a positive impact on work delivery.
• Mentor other newly appointed Personal Assistants, as part of your own and their development.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience.
• Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act.
• Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together.
• Respect the diverse needs and experience of other people, be inclusive in everything that you do.
• Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England.
• Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England's vision, mission and aims.
• Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines.
• Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures.
• Be a competent user of Microsoft Office and SharePoint Online.

Additional Information

• Occasional travel will be required to conduct team meetings and other meetings, visits and training. This may sometimes require overnight stays.
• Flexible working patterns will generally be accommodated unless stated otherwise.
• Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements provided must be truthful and taken directly from your own experience.

Competencies

• Competence 1 – Technical Skills and Knowledge
  • Listen to and understand diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and the organisation you represent.
  • Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver the organisation you represent’s vision, mission and aims.
• Competence 2 – Personal Effectiveness
  • Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and the organisation you represent and inspire others to act.
  • Act with integrity, addressing challenging issues and managing conflict through being open and objective.
  • Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together.
• Competence 4 – Work Delivery
  • Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures.
• Highly organised, well‑motivated self‑starter; prioritise workloads and adapt to changeable deadlines.
• Excellent communicators in both written and verbal form and confident in engaging with senior leaders and customers over the phone and in person.
• Able to maintain a high level of accuracy and apply very high levels of attention to detail.

Pay & Benefits

• Pay: £26,400 with the entry point of the salary range and a £7,648 contribution towards the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.