About the role
The role of the Personal Assistant provides a unique opportunity to directly support the Directors and Leadership Team. You will provide a full range of administrative and professional support liaising directly and regularly with senior management and stakeholders across the business.
Key accountabilities of the role include:
• Provide high quality secretarial and administrative support by running an efficient office focusing effort on achieving objectives.
• The diary can constitute as much as 80% of your workload and its paramount to connect regularly to build a strong partnership and understand workstyles and align on priorities to keep the flow of work going and ensure things happen at the right time, and in the right order.
• It is important in a changing and challenging environment to adapt and establish new ways of working, pioneering change by sharing and introducing collaboration applications to provide support and services, in the office and remotely, simplifying processes and communication using digital technology and applications to achieve results.
• Diplomacy and discretion in keeping sensitive strategic, commercial and personnel matters; confidentiality and trust is paramount. Ability to work with minimum instruction, anticipate needs and takes the initiative without being prompted are essential
The role of the Personal Assistant provides a unique opportunity to directly support the Directors and Leadership Team. You will provide a full range of administrative and professional support liaising directly and regularly with senior management and stakeholders across the business.
Key accountabilities of the role include:
• Provide high quality secretarial and administrative support by running an efficient office focusing effort on achieving objectives.
• The diary can constitute as much as 80% of your workload and its paramount to connect regularly to build a strong partnership and understand workstyles and align on priorities to keep the flow of work going and ensure things happen at the right time, and in the right order.
• It is important in a changing and challenging environment to adapt and establish new ways of working, pioneering change by sharing and introducing collaboration applications to provide support and services, in the office and remotely, simplifying processes and communication using digital technology and applications to achieve results.
• Diplomacy and discretion in keeping sensitive strategic, commercial and personnel matters; confidentiality and trust is paramount. Ability to work with minimum instruction, anticipate needs and takes the initiative without being prompted are essential. In addition, key requirements include:
Time Management and Meeting Planning
• Accountable for managing and prioritising your Leaders diary, ensuring most effective use of time, and creating adequate breaks, prep and task time.
• Able to filter and prioritise requests, solve conflicts and delegate where appropriate; creating a reference library of prioritisation and meetings that can be delegated.
• Integrate and synchronise personal commitments and actively seek these out for the full year.
• Instigate regular office meetings to plan ahead and discharge actions and tasks.
• Be creative in using the calendar and creating reminders for completing tasks; team leave and attendance; apologies sent for meeting; storing meeting papers; adding travel time and importantly keeping slots free so that another PA can see Outlook availability.
• Co-ordinate and manage every aspect of travel itinerary (including venue bookings) anticipating all needs, ensuring cost effectiveness and compliance
Meeting Preparation
• Works with content owners on coordinating and preparing meeting papers (at least 48hrs in advance) and builds in prep time where required.
• Sets the process for reading papers (e.g., store in calendar, print, diary time).
• Strong at using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint as necessary to create and edit agendas, slides, briefing papers.
• Prompts when overrunning / late for next meeting.
Email Management / Screening
• Develops processes to ensure urgent or timebound emails are dealt with and actions completed.
• Responds to routine emails and delegates as appropriate. Regularly scans and cleans up Junk folders
Stakeholder Management & Collaboration
• Agreeing ways of working and regularly connecting to align on priorities and build understanding.
• Take responsibility for continuous learning and agreeing personal development.
• Develops and maintains internal and external relationships to improve impact across the business.
• Creates a PA support network for providing holiday cover and seeks out opportunities to cover EA role.
• Offers advice when requested for a single decision, making recommendations for or against.
• Uses knowledge of best practice to collaborate with peers across the business in different ways
Communications / Engagement
• Co-ordinates all people calls/webcasts/events working in partnership with content owners.
• Co-ordinates engagement & visibility plans
Technology
• Develops knowledge and skills of new technologies and how they are used in BT.
• Stays up to date on digital technology and applications making time for training and seeking out best practice.
• Proficient in Office 365 and IT applications and setting up Teams channels for chats, meetings, and collaboration.
• Advanced knowledge and expert on internal systems and processes, i.e., room bookings, catering, finance, and travel
Primary Point of Contact / Call Managementfor the office and virtual office. Screens and filters calls and visitors acting as a gatekeeper.
Safety, Security, Ethics & Compliance – ensure compliance to BT processes and policy demonstrating financial awareness for business requests (POs, Order desk, Travel, A/L)
Special Projects & Ad hoc – delivers administration tasks as requested, this may be, but not limited to:
• Produces or edits Microsoft Word or PowerPoint documents.
• Solves simple IT problems on behalf of the team.
• Responsible for onboarding of any new members of the team, creating a reusable guide to ensure the process is efficient.
• Attends meetings to take notes/actions, endeavouring to chase and close these.
Key Skills & Experience required
The ideal candidate will have significant experience support senior leaders and operating within a large, complex FTSE 100 company or equivalent organisation.
• Confidentiality: diplomacy and discretion in keeping sensitive strategic, commercial and personnel matters.
• Time Management and Planning: strong skills in planning, organisation and time management, Effe
• strong grasp of detail, working to deadlines.
• Autonomy: self-starter, takes the initiative without being prompted by others and able to work with minimum of instruction, anticipating needs.
• Emotional Intelligence: Awareness of how and when to communicate to help improve relationships or outcomes.
• Team Player: Actively contributes to a supportive team environment, going out of your way to help
and support others, offering advice and guidance freely.
• Relationship building: able to present a strong professional front, build strong relationships and develop wide networks internally and externally to get work done through others.
• IT proficiency: highly proficient with Office 365 and digital apps with a good level of IT skills to produce and edit PowerPoint and Word documents. Able to set up and manage channels in Microsoft Teams and OneNote.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills: with the ability to communicate clearly across all levels of stakeholders
• High level of flexibility: to provide business support as and when required. This may also include travel to other UK sites.
• Expert knowledge of internal BT systems
• Active Learner: you’re committed to continuous learning to attain skills for the future, dedicating time to focus on development and acquiring knowledge.
• Governance and compliance: you evaluate and quantify the impact of standard legal and regulatory risks. You use your knowledge of internal and external regulatory standards, legal requirements and principles.
Please note we believe in the strength that comes through a diversity of experience and backgrounds. If you do not meet all the criteria listed above, please do not be put off. We will review your application with an open mind.
What's in it for you, what are the benefits
• Online GP – Giving you access to a GP via telephone or video 24/7 for both you and your immediate family, fully funded by us
• Market leading paid carer’s leave, up to 2 weeks off for carers to give that bit of extra support to our colleagues who are caring for family or friends who are disabled, ill or elderly
• Family Leave - Equalised maternity, paternity, and adoption leave and it gives all parents 18 weeks full pay and 8 weeks half pay in the first year however they choose to grow their family
• Huge discounts of EE & BT products including your Mobile and Broadband – saving you hundreds of pounds every year
• Support in carving your own career path. We are passionate about developing our people and we’ll support you in achieving the career you want
• Season Ticket Travel Loan – Giving you the funds to pay for your travel to and from work up front, making a difference where it counts