Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
We are seeking a highly organised, proactive, and professional Executive Assistant to join our Executive Office team.
This is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of the organisation, providing expert, high-quality, confidential executive and administrative support to the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Operating Officer. This role is critical in helping ensure the smooth operation of senior leadership portfolios and in supporting strategic functions across the Trust. The role demands initiative, discretion, and excellent judgement, with the ability to work autonomously and meet tight deadlines.
Main duties of the job
·Proactively manage complex executive diaries, meeting schedules, and travel arrangements for the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Operating Officer
·Coordinate and support high-level meetings, including agenda setting, minute taking, and follow-up on actions
·Draft and manage correspondence, reports, and presentations with professionalism and discretion.
·Liaising with internal teams and external stakeholders including NHS England, ICBs, and local authorities.
·Act as a point of liaison between the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, internal teams, and external stakeholders
·Maintain effective office systems and contribute to continual service improvement within the Executive Office
·Supporting recruitment processes and maintaining HR records.
·Upholding confidentiality and professionalism at all times.
Working for our organisation
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have coproduced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
We are kind.
We are respectful.
We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
High Cost Area Supplement – Outer London
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £4,714 to a maximum of £5,941 per annum (pro rata for part time).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
As a central figure in the Executive Office, the successful applicant will be expected to manage multiple, high-level demands while maintaining exceptional standards of confidentiality, responsiveness, and professionalism. The postholder will be required to build strong relationships across directorates and external stakeholders, contribute to the Trust’s strategic direction, and support executive-level governance and communication.
·Significant experience supporting senior leaders, ideally at Director level
·Proficiency in Microsoft Office and confidence in handling sensitive, complex information
·Excellent communication, judgment, and problem-solving skills
·Ability to work under pressure, manage competing priorities, and maintain high standards
·A collaborative mindset, with the ability to build relationships across teams and stakeholders
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Please apply as soon as possible as some posts close early to limit the number of applications.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. In depth experience or theoretical study of techniques/processes BTEC, relevant degree
2. RSA III, NVQ level 2 or equivalent experience
Experience
Essential criteria
3. Significant experience supporting Director/Senior Manager in a Personal Assistant role
4. Experience of preparation of reports and taking of minutes, together with setting agendas and distribution of associated papers
5. Experience of managing diaries, arranging conferences/seminars, and scheduling large meetings (including organising travel and accommodation requirements)
Skills
Essential criteria
6. Able to prioritise and plan work in a busy environment and meet tight deadlines delegating where appropriate and planning other’s workload without supervision
7. Solid ability to produce high quality meeting papers, excel spread sheets, graphs, reports using MS Office Packages or proofread for accuracy where required
8. Excellent organisational and time management skills
Knowledge
Essential criteria
9. Understanding of the importance of confidentiality/tact and diplomacy
Desirable criteria
10. Knowledge of NHS terminology and structure
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
11. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
12. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
13. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
14. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.