Personal Assistant to the Chief Nurse and the Director of Planning and Performance

University College London Hospital; Greater London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS Trust in Greater London is seeking a dedicated Personal Assistant to support senior leadership. This full-time role involves managing complex diaries, coordinating meetings, and acting as a primary contact for stakeholders. Ideal candidates will have over three years of experience in a similar role, exceptional communication, and discretion, alongside advanced Microsoft Office skills. This role promises exposure to strategic decisions that impact patient care, working within a dynamic team in a high-trust environment.

Benefits

Interest-free season ticket loan

Access to mental health support

Cycle to work scheme

Staff discount platform

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years' experience as a Personal Assistant or Senior Secretary.
• Knowledge of NHS procedures and practices.
• Ability to type a minimum of 55 words per minute.

Responsibilities

• Manage complex diaries and inboxes for senior directors.
• Coordinate meetings and projects effectively.
• Act as the first point of contact for senior stakeholders.

Skills

Judgement and discretion

Diary management

Communication skills

Minute taking

Microsoft Office skills

Job description

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Job overview

Are you a confident, proactive personal assistant ready to support senior leaders at the heart of a busy NHS Trust? This full-time permanent post offers a unique opportunity to work within Trust Headquarters, supporting both an Executive Director and a Corporate Director in a fast-paced, high-trust environment. You'll need excellent judgement, strong diary and inbox management skills, and the ability to handle sensitive information with professionalism and discretion. In return, you'll be part of a dynamic team shaping strategic decisions across UCLH, with exposure to senior stakeholders and the chance to contribute meaningfully to projects that impact patient care and organisational performance. If you thrive on variety, responsibility, and making things run smoothly behind the scenes, we'd love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

As Personal Assistant to an Executive Director and a Corporate Director, you'll play a pivotal role in enabling senior leadership to operate smoothly and effectively. You'll manage complex diaries and inboxes, coordinate meetings and projects, and act as a trusted first point of contact for senior stakeholders. The role demands excellent judgement, discretion, and communication skills, alongside the ability to prioritise competing demands and maintain momentum across a varied portfolio. You'll need to be confident working independently, proactive in anticipating needs, and comfortable handling sensitive information. If you thrive in a fast-paced, high-trust environment and enjoy making things run seamlessly behind the scenes, this role offers challenge, variety, and visibility at the heart of the organisation.

Working for our organisation

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world‑class research.

We provide first‑class acute and specialist services across eight sites:

• University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
• University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
• University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
• University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women's health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*

* UCLH top trust to work at in England - In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England - for the third year in a row.

UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff - To find out more, visit: Flexible working.

To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?

Person specification

Knowledge, Qualifications & Experience

Essential criteria

• Minimum 3 years' experience as a Personal Assistant or Senior Secretary.
• Knowledge of a wide range of Trust/NHS procedures and practices.
• Minute taking and meeting secretariat experience.

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

• The ability to deal with and respond to various external agencies particularly, Department of Health, Integrated care system, solicitors and other NHS Trusts.

Quality and service improvement

Essential criteria

• Advanced Microsoft office and keyboard skills, ability to type a minimum of 55 words per minute

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• Ability to be flexible and adaptable and cope with frequent and unpredictable interruptions.

At UCLH, we have a real 'One Team' ethos, and our values - safety, kindness, teamwork and improving, are central to the way we work. This is supported by our staff, who voted us as the #1 NHS Acute Trust to work for in the whole of England.

At UCLH we take equality of opportunity seriously and are committed to being a diverse and inclusive employer, with a culture that creates a real sense of belonging and trust. It is our fundamental aim, to recruit, retain and promote a diverse mix of people who are representative of our local communities. Applications are encouraged from candidates of all backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives to support our world class research, innovation and creativity.

UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff and has a dedicated policy which allows staff to apply for flexible working right from the beginning of employment. For more information please go to: https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/work-with-us/why-choose-uclh/flexible-working.

We offer our permanent staff an interest free season ticket loan for travel, all our staff have access to free independent and confidential support, large retail discounts, a staff discount platform, cycle to work scheme and on-site accommodation to name a few.

Additionally, UCLH Arts and Heritage's staff wellbeing programme, Creative Comfort, offers a variety of ways to engage with the arts as a member of UCLH staff. You can try out the weekly choir, weekly art club and join the Culture Club for exclusive access to free and discounted tickets for opera, exhibitions, theatre and more.

We recognise, reward and thank colleagues by nominating them for our annual Celebrating Excellence Awards, which are funded by UCLH Charity.

We are also members of https://www.mytrustbenefits.co.uk/ which offers discounts on high street retail stores, offers on travel deals, and also to take advantage of cash back schemes.

This vacancy may close before the current listed closing date. You are advised not to delay submitting your completed application.

Please note that all correspondence regarding your application will be via email. The emails will be sent to you via TRAC.jobs and not via NHS Jobs, we encourage you to check your inbox regularly.

Please note that if you have not heard from us within 3 weeks of the closing date of the advert to assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion.

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

For further support on submitting an application please refer to the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit: https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1.

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Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 304.4KB)
• Functional Requirements (PDF, 262.3KB)
• UCLH Values (PDF, 860.9KB)