Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive

Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Location: West London – currently operating an agile working policy with three core days in the office

Contract: Permanent

Pattern: Full Time (standard hours 9am – 5.30pm)

Closing date: 02/03/2023 at 10am

Salary: £45,000 to £55,000 - negotiable depending on experience

About the role:

This is an excellent opportunity for an Executive Assistant who enjoys a fast-paced and ever-changing work environment and wants to work for a successful and well-established charity. You will provide a consistently high standard of support to allow our CEO, Lucy Heller, to operate efficiently and optimise the use of her time.

We are looking for someone who has a proactive and flexible approach to their work, is highly-organised with strong communication skills, has excellent MS Office skills and experience of inbox management and diary coordination.

You will also support the Strategic Adviser to the Board, Sally Morgan. This will account for approx. 10% of the time commitment and will focus primarily on diary management.

This role offers a rewarding opportunity for an experienced Executive Assistant who enjoys complex work and being part of a supportive team. You will work to build relationships across the organisation and have the confidence and competence to challenge appropriately so that the CEO and Strategic Adviser’s time is effectively deployed.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage and coordinate the CEO’s diary, liaising with internal and external individuals, ensuring any associated travel and meeting rooms/venues are appropriate for the nature of each meeting.
• Manage the CEO’s inbox, bringing to the role a minimum of 5 years’ experience of email management which includes the escalation of important emails and the filtering of non-essential items.
• Exercise wise judgment to manage and prioritise competing demands on the CEO’s time.
• Provide flawless administrative support to the CEO, compiling information and drafting well-written documents consistent with the tone and style of the CEO and the wider organisation.
• Ensure that all enquiries and correspondence are dealt with promptly and effectively.
• Assist in the drafting letters, reports and documents (including confidential items).
• Use a variety of MS Office software to produce and maintain text documents, presentations, and spreadsheets etc.

Key Requirements:

• Experience of working as an Executive Assistant, Personal Assistant or Diary Manager to senior leaders in a fast-paced setting.
• Enthusiasm for diary management and the organisational and diplomatic skills required to do this well.
• Highly computer literate, with experience of data handling and necessary IT systems.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
• Strong attention to detail and confidence dealing with verbal and numerical content.
• Highly organised and adaptable with the ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Passion for and ability to work in a fast-paced environment and remain calm under pressure.

About Ark

We’re an international charity, transforming lives through education. We exist to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. In the UK, we’re a network of 39 schools, educating around 28,500 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference and we’re recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So, we create and incubate Ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems.

You’ll be joining a group of like-minded, ambitious individuals who work collaboratively and are all committed to our core mission, that every child has the potential to succeed. Having just celebrated our 20th anniversary, we are shaping our goals for the next 20 and there has never been a more exciting time to join us.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service and full office closure between Christmas and New Year.
• Hybrid working, with currently operating an agile working policy with three core days in our state-of-the-art office in West London working alongside colleagues.
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit.
• A flexible approach to working with understanding and consideration for work life balance and personal commitments.
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to. Depending on your role you may also be entitled to LGPS which is a defined benefit scheme where you contribute a percentage based on how much you earn (as do we) in exchange for a guaranteed amount in your pension pot every year.
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform.
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests.

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by Thursday 2nd March at 10am but please note: we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response. 

For further information or a confidential discussion, please contact Natalie Sullivan on Natalie.sullivan@arkonline.org.

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.  

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred.