Executive Assistant

The Role

Social Work England is the specialist body that regulates social workers in their vital role. Every day, social workers support millions of people to improve their chances in life. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate – to protect the public, enable positive change, and ultimately improve people’s lives.

The executive assistant is a member of the executive office and provides consistent and continuous administrative support that ensures our corporate governance requirements are met and comply with our statutory responsibilities. The role is responsible for providing support to executive directors and assistant directors. You will provide coordination and support for regular meetings, deal with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, plan ahead and proactively manage diaries to ensure consistent and smooth support for directors. As executive assistant you will ensure effective arrangements are in place to support and service our board and committees. Each assistant will have a specific focus area, however will work across to support each other when needed. Please note this role is a 12 month fixed-term contract working 22.2 hours per week across 3 days.

What you will do

• Establish strong working relationships and proactively support the executive and assistant directors.
• Help to plan and manage their varied workloads, including diary and meeting co-ordination ensuring efficient use of time, avoid duplication and ensure that deadlines are met.
• Develop close working relationships and communication with directors’ first tier management teams and develop a sound understanding of the relevant business area(s) and organisational priorities, in order to provide effective administrative support.
• Manage executive directors’ email inboxes, calls and correspondence and pre-empt and deal with risks and issues.
• Act as an interface between executive and assistant directors and key external stakeholders, responding initially to internal and external enquiries and managing the board inbox.
• Coordinate and support Board and sub-committee meetings and other regular governance and corporate meetings, with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Draft agendas, produce information packs with an emphasis on compliance, produce governance related papers, take formal minutes, and monitor actions and deliverables.
• Be the first point of contact for our Board members.
• Support Board members with visits, access to systems, and assist in the development and implementation/delivery of the Board induction programme, terms of reference and policies and procedures.
• Assist as required in the preparation, formatting, quality checking and publishing of corporate governance reports, presentations and correspondence.
• Ensure that our corporate governance follows the necessary policies and protocols, and is consistently delivered to the highest standard.
• Assist in the planning and execution of corporate events, forums and conferences for example, awaydays, and meet and greet events.
• This may include scoping out external venues and costing to ensure value for money.
• Booking travel, accommodation, catering and submitting expenses where required.
• Ensure the effective management and updating of the digital platform for the board.
• Ensuring the publication of information to the platform is both timely and accurate.
• Arrange timely publication of Board papers externally, in line with the agreed protocol.
• Support with adhoc tasks, time bound projects and task and finish groups, liaising with relevant stakeholders as and when needed.
• Maintain high levels of confidentiality by creating and maintaining accurate records, managing and auditing folders and databases to ensure safe storage, including filing and archiving, of information and files.

Your Skills, Knowledge And Experience

• Proven and effective administrative and diary management skills with experience of working in a similar role.
• Able to plan and prioritise work, manage time effectively and deal with changing priorities and multiple demands.
• Experience of effectively managing sensitive, confidential information with a high level of attention to detail.
• The ability to work autonomously, using judgement and initiative to assess and make decisions.
• Experience of coordinating meetings and events and creating accurate minutes.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, with experience of liaising at all levels, including senior leaders and Board members.
• Evidence of working supportively with others, building strong relationships as well as proven ability to work as part of a team.
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
• A track record of respectful, open and honest behaviour including a demonstrable commitment to inclusion and diversity.

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, rising with service to 30 days per annum (pro-rata), plus bank holidays.
• The option to purchase up to an additional 5 days of annual leave per annum.
• A TIDE award winning inclusive culture, made up of staff networks, social events and forums.
• A pension scheme, life insurance, an employee recognition scheme and cycle to work scheme.

Details

• Job type: 12 month fixed-term contract
• Working pattern: Part-time, 22.2 hours across 3 days per week
• Salary: FTE of £30,080 per year, rising to £31,262 per year after successful completion of a 6-month probationary period.
• Location: Sheffield/Hybrid