Executive Assistant

Part-time (28 hours per week throughout the year), permanent, required as soon as possible

Ipswich School has been listed as one of the top 130 schools in the country and is certainly one of the foremost independent schools in East Anglia. We were established prior to 1399, and moved to our present site in 1852. We have been voted Suffolk’s top independent school in The Sunday Times Parent Power League, and have over 1100 pupils aged between 3 months and 19 years.

The School is consistently judged to be ‘excellent’ in all that we do, with the most recent report by ISI Inspectors confirming, Ipswich School has a fine record of academic success, which is placed within the context of an extensive range of activities outside the classroom. We have a day nursery (The Lodge Day Nursery), Prep School and Senior School located near to Christchurch Park, with sports facilities located in Rushmere and at Nocutts, off Henley Road. With over 400 staff, and all operations, including catering and cleaning, managed ‘in house’, we are a large local employer of both teaching and support staff.

In this role, you will work very closely with our Director of Finance and Operations (DFO), who is also Clerk to the Governing Body of the School. You will help to organise and plan for governors’ meetings and events taking place throughout the year, including the preparation of agendas, the taking of accurate minutes and recording of action points. You will also act as a central point of contact for the School’s governors. The role will also involve providing support to the DFO in other aspects of her role, including procurement, governance, policy and procedure, and finance, and you will help to oversee the line management of our Reception team.

We are looking for someone with excellent knowledge and experience of minute taking and governance requirements in a business environment (ideally for Trustees of Charities in the Education Sector), who also has experience of financial management (ideally experience of procurement processes). You will also need to have excellent literacy, numeracy and ICT skills, with a good understanding of confidentiality issues. Experience in the line management of staff, and customer service, are also key essentials.

In this role you will also need plenty of tact, diplomacy, confidence, empathy and patience to resolve issues, and a positive approach to embrace change and seek out best practice.

Working hours

This is a permanent, part-time post, for 28 hours per week, to be worked over 4 or 5 days per week throughout the year (Mondays – Fridays), with the expectation that a majority of work will be completed on the school site. There is some flexibility with start and finish times, and working patterns, which can be discussed further with shortlisted candidates at interview.

Please note the normal core working hours in the Finance and HR team are Mondays – Fridays between 8.00 am – 5.00 pm and the team work throughout the year.

Salary and benefits

The starting salary for this post will be £23,092 per annum (this is the actual salary for the hours as outlined above). You will be entitled to 25 days’ paid holiday per year (plus public holidays), rising to 30 days, plus public holidays, after 5 years’ service.

Free lunch is provided in the School Dining Hall during term time when the kitchen is in operation, and staff are able to use the School’s swimming pool and fitness gym free of charge.

You will become a member of our support staff defined contribution pension scheme (with 10% employer contributions), and receive 3x death in service life cover. After you have accrued 3+ years service you will be entitled to generous fee remission.

We would encourage you to download the application form and the full job description for this role from our website: www.ipswich.school/vacancies or alternatively please contact the HR team on 01473 408300 hr@ipswich.school

Completed application forms should be returned by noon on 19 April 2024 to: Alison Knights, Director of HR, Ipswich School, 25 Henley Road, Ipswich, IP1 3SG or email hr@ipswich.school. Candidates shortlisted for interview will be advised as soon as possible after the closing date and interviews are likely to be held in late April.

Ipswich School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the job, including checks with past employers and an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service.