Your Role
and What You'll Be Doing
The role of Personal Assistant in our Private Client team is key to the delivery of effective, efficient and professional client service. It is a key communication route with clients and with other areas of the business. The role must ensure that the fee earners are able to focus their time on activity which increases revenue by coordinating all other activities and taking responsibility for delivering consistency.
1. Support the delivery of high levels of client communication. Providing support wherever possible across the team and clients by dealing with queries and enquiries and ensuring Partners and fee earners can respond to queries from clients and other parties.
2. Co-ordinating fee earner diaries – arranging diary appointments, organising meetings.
3. Arrange meetings, follow procedures to book meeting rooms and video conferences when required and cancel those as soon as possible if arrangements change. Ensuring that room booking are made with sufficient information to enable Reception to have full details; use the appropriate room booking form to do this.
4. Coordinate an efficient and accurate billing process and support fee earners with providing the right level of information to clients to ensure swift payment of invoices. Liaise with our Finance Team in the delivery of this. Undertake regular reviews of matter lists with fee earners to ensure high levels of financial hygiene.
5. Work collaboratively with our Document Production Team who undertake all typing and document production work. Ensuring style of the document / correspondence produced is maintained which will accord with Irwin Mitchell’s house style.
6. Ensuring safe keeping of client original documents and that such items are returned to clients at the end of their matter.
7. Prepare papers for meetings ahead of the meeting in a timely manner, take minutes of meetings and produce those minutes as soon as possible after the meeting.
About You
Essential:
8. 5 GCSEs Grade C or above (or equivalent) (including Maths and English)
9. Work on own initiative and diplomatic
10. Good communication skills
11. Build effective working relationships
12. Problem solving
13. Detail handling
14. Time management and organisation
15. Grammar and punctuation
16. Accuracy and attention to detail
Sector/Industry Specific:
Essential:
17. Experience of working unsupervised for an experienced fee earner
Desirable:
18. Knowledge IM and its procedures
19. Knowledge and use of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint within the working environment.
Interpersonal Skills:
20. Team Player
21. Integrity
22. Diplomacy
23. Concern and commitment to quality
24. Professional telephone and face-to-face manner
25. Ability to work under pressure
Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You
26. 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
27. Generous and flexible pension schemes.
28. Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
29. Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.
We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives our colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working subject to role, team and client requirements.
We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024!
Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.
Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.