EA to General Counsel & Company Secretary and Governance Administrator

An exciting vacancy has arisen for an EA to the General Counsel & Company Secretary (GC) to join the team at Great Portland Estates plc (GPE). This is a key stakeholder-facing role with responsibilities including:

• providing Executive Assistant support to the GC, who sits on the Executive Committee;
• administration of governance tasks and processes;
• main Board, Board Committee and Executive Committee meeting administration and engagement with GPE’s Non-Executive Directors;
• supporting with legal and compliance processes.

GPE is a highly respected central London property investment and development company quoted on the London Stock Exchange. The Company, which employs around 160 people, owns around £2.5 billion of real estate – primarily commercial but also retail – 100% in central London. The business focuses on acquiring, managing and repositioning properties – to unlock their full potential and value. This approach, combined with successful reading of the real estate market, continues to deliver strong performance and makes for a dynamic environment in which to work.

At GPE, we genuinely believe that diversity gives us strength, but we know this strength is only fully realised if our environment is truly inclusive. Our culture is grounded in genuine and mutual respect, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We hire talented, unique individuals who are encouraged to collaborate, be their authentic selves and support their colleagues to do the same.

Job Requirements

Legal & Company Secretariat is a small, fast‑paced team which reliably delivers work to a very high standard. An important part of the role involves regular interaction with GPE’s Board of Directors and senior executives. As such this role will suit a confident individual who thrives on challenge, enjoys delivering to deadlines, who has excellent organisational skills and attention to detail but is also prepared to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and work highly collaboratively with colleagues.

Job Responsibilities

You will have responsibility for supporting the Legal & Company Secretariat team (team of 4) as needed across a broad range of matters. In particular, you will:

• Executive Assistant support/diary management
• Assist in managing the GC’s diary, organising meetings for team members and booking rooms
• Schedule Board, Board Committee and Executive Committee meetings as required, liaising with internal and external teams (up to 24 months in advance)
• Schedule meetings for the Non‑Executive Directors as required with administrative support, including expense claims, hotel bookings, meeting logistics
• Organise Board dinners (4 to 5 per annum) – co‑ordinating venues, menus etc
• Prepare draft induction schedules for new Board members and scheduling induction meetings
• Booking venues for half‑year and year‑end results announcement presentations and GPE’s Annual General Meeting
• Board, Executive Committee and Joint Venture papers
• Prepare first draft Board and Board Committee agendas
• Collate, upload and distribute packs (via Diligent Boardbooks) and relevant papers for: the Board and Board Committees (Audit, Nomination and Remuneration) which meet monthly the Executive Committee which meets fortnightly Joint Venture Boards which meet quarterly/half yearly
• Liaise with both internal and external teams to ensure that all papers are received in a timely manner
• Executive Committee meetings (with oversight from the Deputy Company Secretary): manage the forward planner and actions logs, prepare draft agendas, communicate with presenters and collate all Committee papers prioritise agenda items, diarise attendance of individuals sponsoring papers and update all matters arising
• Company Secretarial Support
• Assist with statutory record keeping (including through Diligent Entities), the provision of documents in response to auditor requests and circulation of annual audit information request letters to external law firms
• Assist with statutory compliance and the filing of confirmation statements, accounts and other documents with Companies House
• Support the subsidiary statutory accounts process, including preparation of draft approval minutes, scheduling board meetings and arranging signature of documents
• Prepare first drafts of, and arrange release of, stock exchange announcements (Directors’ share dealing, SIP purchases and Major shareholder notifications) and making associated notifications to the Financial Conduct Authority
• Maintain key registers - the employee share dealing approvals, Directors’ share interests, PCA and conflicts of interest registers, Support with GPE’s insider list processes
• Assist with preparation and distribution of documents (including mail merges) for share scheme awards and vestings and share scheme administration
• Support with the preparation of internal and external audit performance evaluations, including creating and circulating questionnaires via Survey Monkey and collating results
• Legal
• Supporting the Deputy General Counsel with the management of the Gifts & Hospitality register and approvals process
• Supporting and administering the annual employee and supplier attestation processes
• Planning and scheduling risk review meetings for the half year and year end
• Document preparation and amendments
• Annual D&O insurance confirmation e-mails to Directors
• Ad hoc support
• AGM Support (July)
• Assist with meeting preparation and logistics, venue management, room set‑up, managing external providers
• Arrange the post‑AGM lunch for the Board with advisers, including venue booking, menu selections etc and liaising with internal and external guests
• Filing correspondence and keeping the system orderly and up to date and archiving where necessary
• Supporting with the team with invoice approvals
• Maintaining secretarial cover during working hours, including covering for others where necessary
• Opening and distributing team post. Replying to invitations and drafting replies as necessary
• Collating and inputting of expenses for the GC and the Non‑Executive Directors
• Document preparation and signature
• Support the team with the preparation of documents, including formatting in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Typing of general correspondence, emails, incorporating GPE’s corporate templates
• Arrange for document signatures when needed, including electronically via DocuSign

Experience required

• 3+ years’ experience in a EA role, ideally within a Legal/Cosec team, or 3+ years in a Company Secretarial Assistant or Board support role
• Experience of Diligent Boardbooks, Diligent Entities and software for releasing LSE stock exchange announcements
• Experience working with Directors and Executives.
• Experience of working in professional/technically orientated organisations.
• Predominantly commercial organisational experience (PLC environment preferred);
• Experience of working in a fast paced environment
• Advanced Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint skills.
• Prior experience of DocuSign and Survey Monkey is helpful
• Document proof reading (document drafting desirable)

Personal attributes

• Comfortable working in an agile way, responding to the needs of the business
• Organisation and control - Strong work planning and organisational skills with the ability to handle a large and varied workload; plan ahead but also prioritise and flex according to circumstances and complete work to tight deadlines; Excellent attention to detail and accuracy at all times
• Relationship management - Easily builds positive relationships with others including external stakeholders
• Emotional intelligence - Ability to remain calm in pressured situations, with confidence to manage upwards and challenge appropriately
• Ability to handle private and confidential information with discretion and diligence
• A continuous improvement mind-set – constantly looks for ways to deliver the best possible service and open to developmental feedback

Hybrid Working (a minimum of 3 days in office)

Competitive Remuneration

• Share Incentive Plan
• Supportive Annual Leave Policies
• Enhanced Parental Leave and Pay
• Private Medical Insurance
• And many others

At GPE, we are committed to diversity and inclusion. We believe that diversity gives us strength. Collecting diversity data allows us to measure the effectiveness of our efforts and ensure our hiring procedures are fair and equitable for all. Providing this information is voluntary and remains confidential. This data is anonymised and only used to assess the diversity of our applicant pool. It will not influence hiring decisions in any way. As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. Moreover, we will ensure that reasonable adjustments are made for applicants during the recruiting process. We encourage candidates to confirm any requirements that we can reasonably fulfil to make the application process a positive experience for all candidates.