Personal Assistant to Director of Digital Technology Services in Belfast

Responsible for the provision of diverse, confidential administrative support to the Director. The post-holder will also be required to work flexibly and collaboratively with other administrative staff within the office, for example in order to provide cover for periods of annual leave or to support the effective management of peaks and troughs in workload.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Providing a high quality, confidential administrative support service across a diverse range of areas.
• Diary management including organising and prioritising diary commitments.
• Organising meetings, including collating papers, briefing delegates, greeting and escorting visitors and making cost-effective travel arrangements.
• Minute taking as required.
• Answering and vetting all incoming calls, whenever possible responding to callers directly by providing information or redirecting to an appropriate member of staff.
• Logging, prioritising and tracking all correspondence from arrival – drafting responses where appropriate, redirecting to and following up on responses from other members of staff, updating the Director and bringing important issues and target dates to his/her attention.
• Typing, compiling and issuing emails, letters, acknowledgements, minutes, memos and reports. Circulating documents on the Director’s behalf. Collating inputs from various sources into a co-ordinated response.
• Using sources such as the intranet/internet, Hansard or press articles to research information.
• Maintaining records, ensuring that information is recorded, stored, managed and disposed of appropriately and in line with relevant guidance.
• Supporting the Director in managing his/her relationships with education and business partners at a senior level.
• Any other duties, related to the role, which may arise from time to time.

This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.

In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.

Person Specification:

• You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.
• You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria, where relevant.
• The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.
• Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form.
• Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role.
• In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed.

Essential Criteria:

• Have a minimum of five GCSE passes (grades A* - C) or equivalent or higher examination qualifications and have a minimum of two years’ experience in a paid capacity providing administrative support which must include the following:
• Using Microsoft Word for compiling letters and reports
• Drafting correspondence
• Diary management
• Preparation and dissemination of papers for meetings
• Maintaining records
• OR have a minimum of five years’ experience in a paid capacity providing administrative support which must include the following:
• Using Microsoft Word for compiling letters and reports
• Drafting correspondence
• Diary management
• Preparation and dissemination of papers for meetings
• Maintaining records

Other:

• The successful candidate will be required to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of the functions of the Education Authority
• Knowledge of EA policies and procedures

Skills/Abilities:

• Good organisational skills and ability to organise a busy workload to deliver effective results on time
• Flexible and adaptable approach to work
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with others as part of a team
• Ability to use own initiative to solve problems and respond to others
• Ability to work to a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent ICT skills
• Ability to research, digest, analyse and present information clearly

Values Orientation:

• Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect EA’s ethos and values.

Desirable Criteria:

• Demonstrable experience in a paid capacity of minute taking at meetings.

The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.