Personal/Executive Assistant

Debenhams Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Highly competitive bonus scheme

Company pension

Private medical cover

Life assurance

On-site gym access

Discount across brands

Wellbeing package

Dog-friendly offices

Learning and development

Season ticket loan

Job summary

Debenhams Group is seeking a proactive Personal/Executive Assistant to support the CEO Office and join the current PA/EA team. You’ll manage tasks, coordinate meetings, travel and events, and take ownership of small projects to help the CEO run the business efficiently.

You’ll gain exposure to senior leadership, learn quickly, and develop skills in a fast-moving retail environment while contributing to smooth daily operations and high-quality executive support.

Qualifications

• Experience providing executive support is a plus.
• Excellent organisational and multi-tasking abilities.
• Ability to manage confidential information with discretion.
• Strong communication and calendar management skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day administrative support to the CEO Office.
• Prepare meeting rooms, documents, packs and information ahead of key meetings.
• Coordinate lunches, dinners, events and internal/external meetings.
• Support expenses, invoices, purchase orders and general administration.
• Help manage visitors and ensure a brilliant experience for external guests.
• Keep documents, contacts and records organised and accessible.
• Occasionally cover for the CEO’s PA/EA when required.
• Anticipate issues and resolve small problems before they arise.

Skills

Diary management

Proactive mindset

Attention to detail

Organisational skills

Tools

Google Workspace

Job description

THE ROLE

We’re looking for a brilliant Personal/Executive Assistant to join our CEO Office, supporting our CEO and working alongside his existing PA and Executive Assistant.This is a unique opportunity for someone early in their EA/PA career who wants exposure to the very heart of a fast-moving, listed retail business.

Our CEO already has an established support team:

• His PA manages his day-to-day diary, meetings, travel and personal administration.
• His Executive Assistant works closely with him on business operations, attends key meetings and drives actions and follow-up across the Senior Leadership Team.

Now we’re looking for a third person to strengthen that team.

You’ll provide hands-on day-to-day support across the CEO Office, keep things organised and moving, and take ownership of smaller projects and pieces of work that need someone reliable to simply pick them up and get them done.This isn’t a traditional Junior PA role where you’ll spend your whole day managing a diary.You’ll absolutely help with the detail and administration that keeps a busy CEO Office running;but you’ll also be given exposure, responsibility and projects that will allow you to learn quickly and develop.

For the right person, it’s an incredible opportunity to understand how a CEO and senior leadership team actually run a business.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• You’ll work closely with the PA and EA to make sure the CEO and wider office are brilliantly supported.
• Provide day-to-day administrative support to the CEO Office.
• Prepare meeting rooms, documents, packs and information ahead of key meetings.
• Coordinate lunches, dinners, events and internal/external meetings.
• Support expenses, invoices, purchase orders and general administration.
• Help manage visitors and ensure external guests receive a brilliant experience.
• Keep documents, contacts, information and records organised and accessible.
• Step in and provide additional cover for the CEO’s PA and EA when required.
• Spot the small things before they become problems.

Support the CEO

You’ll gradually build a strong understanding of how the CEO works and what great support looks like.

That could mean:

• Finding information quickly.
• Coordinating something at short notice.
• Preparing materials for a meeting.
• Chasing an outstanding action.
• Helping rearrange a day when priorities suddenly change.
• Liaising with internal teams on the CEO’s behalf.
• Supporting personal administration when required.
• Making sure the CEO has what he needs, where he needs it, when he needs it.
• You’ll learn to anticipate rather than wait to be asked.

Projects & Follow-Up

• This is what makes the role different from a traditional Junior PA position.
• There will always be projects and pieces of work coming out of the CEO Office that need someone to take ownership.

You’ll support the PA and EA with:

• Tracking actions and deadlines.
• Following up with teams across the business.
• Researching information and pulling together summaries.
• Creating simple presentations, documents and trackers.
• Supporting CEO-led projects and initiatives.
• Coordinating activity across different functions.
• Helping organise leadership events, offsites and business meetings.
• Taking ownership of smaller projects from start to finish.
• Picking up ad hoc requests and finding a way to make them happen.
• Some projects will be planned.
• Others will land at 10am and need sorting by 2pm.
• You’ll need to be comfortable with both.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We’re not necessarily looking for someone with years of CEO-level experience.We’re looking for potential, attitude and judgement.

You might currently be a:

• PA | Junior PA | Team Assistant | Executive Assistant | Office Coordinator | Personal Assistant | Project Coordinator
• Or you may be supporting a senior leader and ready for significantly more exposure.

You’ll need to be:

• Exceptionally organised with brilliant attention to detail.
• Naturally proactive;you see something that needs doing and get on with it.
• Comfortable working at pace and changing direction quickly.
• Confident communicating with people at every level.
• Discreet and completely trustworthy with confidential information.
• Calm when plans change.
• Happy doing the small jobs as well as taking on bigger pieces of work.
• Commercially curious and interested in understanding the business.
• Confident using Google Workspace and comfortable learning new technology.
• Resourceful;if you don’t know the answer, you’ll work out how to find it.
• Positive, energetic and willing to get stuck in.
• And importantly, you’ll have no ego about the job.One minute you might be helping prepare for an important leadership meeting.The next you might be booking a restaurant, chasing a document, reorganising travel or sorting something that’s gone wrong.

YOU’LL THRIVE HERE IF

You’re the person who naturally thinks:

• “Leave it with me.”
• You like being busy.
• You love lists, organisation and getting things finished.
• You’re curious about business and want to learn.
• You notice details other people miss.
• You don’t panic when someone’s diary changes completely.
• You can work with senior people without being intimidated by them.
• And you’re looking for a role where you’ll be exposed to far more than your job title suggests.

WHY DEBENHAMS GROUP?

• Debenhams Group is home to some of the UK’s best-known fashion and ecommerce brands, including Debenhams, PrettyLittleThing, boohoo, boohooMAN and Karen Millen.
• We’re a business in transformation — leaner, faster, increasingly technology-led and focused on our next stage of growth.
• Working in the CEO Office means you’ll get a view across the entire Group.
• You’ll see how decisions are made, how priorities are set and how a senior leadership team operates.
• You’ll work alongside experienced PA and EA support,allowing youto learn from them while developing your own responsibilities.
• For someone ambitious who wants to build a career as a top-level PA, EA or within business operations, it’s an opportunity to learn very quickly.

THE BOTTOM LINE

• We don’t need someone who wants to sit on the sidelines of the CEO Office.
• We need someone who wants to be useful.
• Organise it. Chase it. Fix it. Own it. Get it done.

Our benefits include (subject to level and eligibility):

• Highly competitive bonus scheme, company pension, share schemes, private medical cover and life assurance
• Access to an on-site gym and free weekly Pilates, yoga and fitness classes
• Discount across all brands
• Comprehensive wellbeing package
• Dog-friendly offices (in selected locations)
• Ongoing learning and development with strong internal progression
• On-site canteen serving breakfast, lunch, snacks and hot drinks
• Free season ticket loan