Office Assistant

About The Role

We are looking for an Office Assistant to support the smooth day-to-day running of the office, including providing a welcoming and professional reception and front of house service. You will be the first point of contact for internal and external customers, providing excellent customer service and ensuring all visitors and employees receive a friendly and helpful experience.

You will play an important role in keeping the office running smoothly, including carrying out daily health and safety checks, replenishing stationery and kitchen supplies, and reporting any maintenance or equipment faults to the relevant teams.

You will also take an active role in the upkeep and presentation of the office, ensuring that the space is clean, tidy, well organised and ready for staff use. You will take pride in maintaining a welcoming environment and ensuring inventories are kept up to date and orderly.

The Office Assistant will report into Office Manager. This role is based in our West London Office on a permanent basis working part time.

Interviews will be taking place w/c 9th November 2026.

Key Responsibilities

• To provide professional reception and switchboard operation Monday to Wednesday with some flexibility to switch days to cover events and busier periods
• Managing the Reception and Ark Info email inboxes
• Meet and greet visitors to Ark and other organisations
• Support Ark network teams and HR with the new starter induction process
• Managing the calendar for restricted meeting rooms
• To ensure meeting rooms are presentable and client-ready with all equipment and furniture in place
• Collecting post from building security and handling accordingly
• Undertake daily health and safety walk throughs of the office
• Conduct opening and closing tasks for day-to-day office operations
• Holding responsibility for the ordering and monitoring of stationery and kitchen supplies

Key Requirements

• Right to work in the UK
• Minimum 4 GCSEs, 9-4 (A*-C) or equivalent
• Previous experience in a customer-facing role
• Knowledge of Outlook and Microsoft Teams
• Working knowledge of office equipment (e.g. printers and franking machines etc)
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Organised with the ability to prioritise and multi-task
• Reliable with patience and professionalism
• Committed to providing excellent customer service
• Excellent attention to detail
• Personable, approachable and professional
• Flexible and adaptable to a changing and developing role and environment

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to. Depending on your role you may also be entitled to LGPS which is a defined benefit scheme where you contribute a percentage based on how much you earn (as do we) in exchange for a guaranteed amount in your pension pot every year
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest‑free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

About Us

Ark is an education charity that exists to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life. Our network of 39 schools reaches traditionally underserved communities in Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth. We educate 30,000 pupils and have nearly 3,000 teaching staff across our network. We also incubate and scale innovative ventures, which we roll out beyond our network of schools for the benefit of teachers, pupils and the education system as a whole. Current Ventures include Ark Curriculum Plus, which equips teachers with the subject expertise needed to ensure students succeed, and Ark Start, a growing chain of nurseries offering affordable, high-quality early years education.

Recently, Ark moved to new offices at EdCity – a unique not-for-profit development in West London, in partnership with Hammersmith & Fulham council. EdCity is designed to bring mission‑aligned organisations together to focus on improving the lives of children, especially through education. It offers leased offices, a range of venues for training and events, and an innovation hub for the education sector to connect, collaborate and learn together.

Diversity and inclusion

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.

Safeguarding statement

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment – this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link.

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