Personal Assistant/ Secretary to Head of Department

NHS; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dedicated Personal Assistant to support the Clinical Director and Heads of Department. This role is crucial for the efficient operation of the Cellular Pathology Laboratory, where you will provide comprehensive administrative support, manage communications, and coordinate meetings. The successful candidate will thrive in a dynamic environment, demonstrating excellent organisational skills and a commitment to quality improvement. Join a supportive team that values flexibility and personal development, and make a real impact in the healthcare sector.

Qualifications

• Experience as a personal assistant or in a similar administrative role is desirable.
• Strong IT skills and knowledge of office procedures are essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive administration and PA support to the Clinical Director.
• Manage consultant absences and maintain effective communication within the team.
• Organise and minute senior management meetings.

Skills

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

Organisational skills

Confidentiality

Ability to prioritise

Policy implementation

Ability to organise meetings and conferences

Education

RSA 3 (or equivalent)

Tools

IT skills - word processing

Spreadsheet management

Databases and mail merge

Job description

Personal Assistant/ Secretary to Head of Department

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The Cellular Pathology Laboratory, part of the Integrated Laboratory Medicine (ILM) Directorate, seeks an enthusiastic and suitably qualified Personal Assistant.

This role involves working closely with consultant pathologists and senior management, alongside laboratory staff. The ability to work independently, with high attention to detail following policies and procedures for the department is essential. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate excellent communication skills, flexibility, reliability and must have an organised approach to work.

This role is varied, with ad-hoc demands therefore post holders must possess excellent time management and planning skills. This position provides the opportunity to work within a very supportive and welcoming team and to further develop existing knowledge and skills. Previous experience working within a similar role is desirable.

Interview Date: 24 April 2025

Hours: 37 hours 30 minutes/week

Main duties of the job

You will be part of a friendly team within Cellular Pathology providing comprehensive administration and PA support to the Clinical Director in ILM and the Heads of Department in Cellular Pathology. You will be essential to the smooth running of services and take an active role improving processes and promoting quality improvement.

This is a varied role and includes supporting with ordering of supplies, directorate wide communication, co-ordinating and minuting senior management meetings and maintaining and organising directorate wide documentation. A key responsibility will be the maintenance of NHS systems such as the use of ESR and Medirota.

Service provision will be required at the RVI on a full time basis Monday to Friday.

Job responsibilities

• Provide a comprehensive efficient and effective administration and clerical service to the Clinical Director and Heads of Department.
• Provide full administrative services to the Directorate Management meetings, including organisation, drafting minutes and attending / taking minutes.
• Managing consultant absences, communicating clearly within the team and across services.
• Dealing with enquiries in an effective and efficient manner and collaborating with members of the Executive team, clinical board and other staff in the maintenance of effective communications.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• RSA 3 (or equivalent)

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Organisational skills
• Confidentiality
• Ability to prioritise
• Policy implementation
• Ability to organise meetings and conferences

Knowledge

• Knowledge of all office procedures
• Administrative and senior secretarial experience in a busy NHS Department
• IT skills - word processing, spreadsheet management, databases and mail merge
• Knowledge of medical terminology
• Developing or modifying databases

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.