Office Manager / Executive Assistant in Cheadle

Benefits of working for Charles Street:

• 26 days holiday, and a day off for your birthday (increasing with service to 30 days), plus bank holidays
• Free access to company holiday homes
• Buy & sell holidays
• Discretionary annual bonus plus an additional Shared Reward Bonus
• Matched pension contribution
• Health cash plan plus Private medical insurance
• Life assurance and Critical illness cover
• Travel season ticket loans and Ride to work scheme
• Free local gym access
• Local bar / restaurant discounts

Company Description:

Charles Street Finance ("CSF") is a specialist secured lender based in Cheadle, South Manchester. Established in 1983, we are a small team but have doubled the size of the loan book over 2 years such that we are seeking to grow and enhance the existing personnel in key areas to further facilitate our ambitions. We are all about a common-sense proposition built around attention to detail and speed of response whilst always putting the customer at the heart of everything we do. A can-do approach fuels our speed of response from enquiry through to payment. Honesty and integrity are fundamental principles across the customer journey and the many long-standing relationships we have cultivated are testament to our service levels and reliability.

Job Description:

As an Office Manager / Executive Assistant you will combine high-level Executive Assistant responsibilities with hands-on Office Management duties. You will support the Managing Director directly—managing diaries, prioritising workflows, preparing for meetings, and arranging internal and external engagements. You will also take ownership of office operations, events, colleague incentives, onboarding processes, and governance administration including minute-taking for management team meetings and Board meetings. You will be energetic, proactive, personable, and able to work with discretion, professionalism and a strong "can-do" attitude.

As an Office Manager / Executive Assistant, we are looking for someone to oversee the following:

• Executive Support
  • Manage the Managing Director's diary, emails, travel, and workflow.
  • Prioritise communications and flag key actions requiring attention.
  • Arrange meetings with internal colleagues, clients, brokers, solicitors and external stakeholders.
  • Prepare meeting papers, packs, agendas and summaries.
  • Provide confidential personal support where required.
• Office Management
  • Ensure the office is opened, closed, and staffed appropriately each day.
  • Liaise with Facilities Management and building teams on all office-related issues.
  • Manage office consumables, stationery, refreshment supplies and branded goods.
  • Maintain a tidy, professional, welcoming office environment.
  • Oversee the new office wallboard content in collaboration with Marketing and GTS.
  • Act as the on-site point of contact for visitors, deliveries and contractors.
• Meetings & Governance
  • Attend management team meetings and Board meetings.
  • Take accurate minutes, track actions and issue follow-up summaries.
  • Organise internal governance meetings such as MTM, Watchlist, Team Meetings and others as required.
  • Coordinate catering, room bookings and logistics for all meetings.
• Events & Colleague Engagement
  • Organise internal colleague incentive schemes such as: Colleague of the Month, Birthday celebrations (cards, collections, gifts), Colleague well-being initiatives.
  • Plan and deliver corporate events including: Annual end-of-year celebration, Seasonal team get-togethers (Spring/Summer/Autumn), Customer and stakeholder events (e.g., annual Golf Day), Charity fundraising events.
  • Arrange travel and accommodation for colleagues where required.
• People & HR Administration
  • Coordinate holiday requests and ensure adequate cover across the business.
  • Oversee onboarding for new starters (IT equipment, induction schedules, welcome packs, etc.).
  • Support offboarding processes including equipment return and leaver documentation.
  • Maintain accurate colleague records, particularly as the business moves towards performance management frameworks with annual objectives and quarterly 1:1s.
• Finance Administration
  • Raise Purchase Orders, receipt goods and services and coordinate invoice approval.
  • Manage expense claims for senior colleagues (MD and SLT).
  • Support procurement of office supplies, branded merchandise and consumables.

Essential:

• Strong administrative and organisational skills.
• Excellent time management and forward-planning capability.
• High attention to detail with the ability to multi-task effectively.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Competent with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Key Personal Attributes:

• Proactive and able to act on initiative.
• Self-starter with a positive, "can-do" attitude.
• Friendly, approachable and helpful with colleagues and visitors.
• Strong problem-solving abilities—able to anticipate and resolve issues.
• Professional, confidential and trustworthy.
• Strong team player who supports others and enhances team culture.
• Driven to deliver high standards for customers and colleagues.

Ethical Conduct & Professionalism:

• Uphold and act as a role model for the Charles Street Finance Code of Conduct, demonstrating integrity, fairness, transparency and professionalism in all interactions.
• Promote a respectful, inclusive and positive working environment.
• Maintain confidentiality and demonstrate sound judgement at all times.

If you feel you have some of the skills mentioned above, but not all, please do still apply and we would be happy to have a further discussion with you in regards to your suitability for the role.

Additional Information:

Charles Street embraces diversity and inclusion, and are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Not only do we welcome difference – we celebrate it, support it and really value our colleagues for who they are. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

Please note that all successful applicants will undergo relevant employment reference, financial and criminal record checks.