Executive Assistant to the Executive Committee

Location: Near Manchester Airport - 4 days in the office & 1 day at home (36.25 hour working week) 

Role: Executive Assistant

Overview: Our client, a prominent corporate organisation located near Manchester Airport, is seeking a dedicated and highly organised Executive Assistant. This role requires significant experience at the general counsel or board level, with essential skills in preparing Board packs and minute-taking. The successful candidate will provide comprehensive secretarial, administrative, and organisational support services to the Executive Committee, including assisting the Senior EA with Board meetings and undertaking PMO responsibilities.

Principal Accountabilities:

Executive Assistance:

• Organise diaries – planning, co-ordinating and prioritising meetings and visits and organising travel / accommodation arrangements to ensure efficient and effective use of time. This will include international travel.
• Maintain and develop filing systems, using technological developments to ensure that there is an accurate and constantly updated source of information.
• Facilitate meetings as required, organising agendas and necessary paperwork and taking minutes where necessary.
• Receive and prioritise incoming mail, filtering items that do not require the individual attention of the Executive Committee, by dealing with them personally or distributing to the appropriate person or department. This will include the management of all incoming Customer complaints received verbally, by email, via local MP or by letter.
• Make and receive telephone calls, evaluating communications, taking messages, re-directing and filtering calls to ensure all enquiries are dealt with by the appropriate person.
• To have access, as required, to ExCo member emails to manage their inbox, highlighting any urgent emails or urgent actions arising from them.
• Handle confidential information with discretion.
• Undertake, audio, copy typing and word-processing of reports and correspondence etc., ensuring efficient use is made of available systems and adapting to new systems/technology where necessary.
• Provide hospitality for visitors to the Company ensuring that a good impression is formed at the first point of contact.
• Processing of corporate and personal expenses on behalf of the Executive Committee along with the review of the immediate teams expenses to ensure they are aligned to company policy.
• Provide light touch IT support when required.
• Working to support ‘satellite’ office locations across the Group providing direction and guidance on policy & Process.

Board Meeting Support:

• Assist the Senior EA with preparation of Board meeting materials, including compiling reports and presentations.
• Ensure all Board members receive necessary documentation in advance of meetings.
• Take detailed minutes during Board meetings and distribute them promptly.
• Track and follow up on Board action items.

PMO Responsibilities:

• Track and manage ongoing projects to ensure they are completed on time and within budget.
• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, and status reports.
• Facilitate project meetings, capturing and disseminating meeting minutes and action items.
• Monitor project progress, identify risks, and work with stakeholders to develop mitigation plans.
• Ensure that all project documentation is up-to-date and accessible to relevant parties.
• Maintain an action tracker for all tasks and projects.
• Regularly follow up on outstanding actions with responsible parties to ensure timely completion.
• Provide regular updates to the ExCo member on the status of tasks and projects.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Proven experience in an Executive Assistant role at the general counsel or board level, in a corporate environment, is essential.
• Strong organisational skills with attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and other relevant software.
• Ability to handle confidential information with discretion.
• Experience in project management and PMO responsibilities.

This is a great EA role, supporting a newly-appointed General Counsel. This role will move quickly.

Lily Shippen are experts in recruiting top business support and Human Resources talent, including PAs, EAs, Receptionists, Private PAs and Office Managers as well as Generalists, L&D, Recruitment (Experienced and Graduate) and HR Operations, on a temporary, permanent and fixed-term contract basis. We work with clients across the UK from our offices in London and Manchester, as well as servicing international and remote roles.