Executive Assistant and School Administrator

Job Description This post will play a key role in directly supporting the Director of Operations & Strategy and the Executive team of the School of Professional & Continuing Education (PACE) and in ensuring the smooth running of the School office. Leadership of PACE is overseen collectively by the School Executive. The School Executive includes the Directors of the School’s areas - King’s Academy, King’s Foundations, King’s Language Centre, King’s Online, King’s Professional & Executive Development and Summer Programmes - as well as the Director of Operations & Strategy and the Vice President (Education & Student Success). The Director of Operations & Strategy has a wide range of responsibilities and the EA will provide high-level, effective, comprehensive and confidential EA support and be responsible for the smooth day-to-day running of the School Office and supporting the PACE Executive. We are therefore looking for a confident, highly proficient, and experienced person for this role to join PACE and be part of educational development at King’s. The post holder will need to prioritise their workload and juggle a varied range of responsibilities. They will be the primary point of contact for the Director of Operations & Strategy and will work closely with the Executive team. They will have a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures appropriate to EA and general office management, gained through significant experience complemented by formal qualifications and/or training. They must be highly organised and systematic in their approach to work, using their initiative and judgement to address and solve problems. This post will be offered on an open ended contract. This is a full-time post – 100% full time equivalent. Key responsibilities

• Undertaking effective diary management, prioritising and managing the Director of Operations & Strategy calendar/schedule, ensuring they have access to and time to review all the materials for meetings.
• Regularly reviewing emails on behalf of the Director of Operations & Strategy, forwarding and replying to emails where appropriate.
• Acting as the first point of contact for the Director of Operations & Strategy, the Executive team and for colleagues and external stakeholders.
• Providing diary management for the School Directors when needed.
• Dealing efficiently with communications and correspondence, using clear and precise language.
• Preparing, editing and proofing correspondence, communications, presentations and other documents.
• Drafting reports, discussion papers or briefing papers.
• Collecting, interpreting and analysing sets of data to inform decision making.
• Leading on event planning and management, including team meetings, committees, conferences and away days including organising travel.
• Supporting the set-up of the School office and overseeing the development and implementation of business and office processes/policies which facilitate efficient and effective working.
• Providing day-to-day support for operations activities within the School.
• Maintaining effective filing and data management systems for the School.
• Working closely with the Director of Operations & Strategy to develop approaches to improve operational effectiveness, create relevant new guidelines or procedures for the team, and explain any relevant systems or processes to colleagues.
• Embedding compliance with all regulatory requirements and reporting expectations across the School, liaising with university officers as appropriate.
• Acting as Secretary for School committees and meetings as required, setting up meeting dates, preparing, and distributing papers and taking minutes.
• Organising travel, purchasing resources, processing expense claims, and working to find the most environmentally sustainable and financially prudent use of funds and time.
• Being the point of contact for Health and Safety in the School Office.
• Supporting HR and recruitment activities, from post approval to interview and appointment.
• Monitoring the School office finances and prepare financial reports, including monthly reconciliation of purchases.
• Liaising with other professional staff to ensure consistency of procedure and effectiveness of service, providing support and advice to colleagues who need to navigate complex procedures.

The post holder will report to the Director of Operations & Strategy. The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience Essential criteria

• Experience of providing high quality executive support to senior roles in a busy environment.

• Exceptional organisational skills, including administrative/operations experience with an in-depth knowledge of a range of practices, methods, and procedures to deliver effective and efficient support.

• Excellent communication skills, in verbal and written form, including engaging with contacts across a range of seniority and roles.

• Experience of servicing committees, including formal communications such as report/minute writing.

• Strong interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills.

• Excellent IT skills with proficient use of the full Microsoft package – MS Outlook 365, MS Teams, PowerPoint, Word and Excel.

• Proactive and responsive to contacts in immediate area, across the organisation and externally, building relationships and a network.

• Solutions-focused self-starter, with excellent planning and organisational skills, a good eye for detail and able to manage competing priorities and work with minimal supervision.

• Experience of having responsibility for delivering administrative support in a complex setting with a large number of employees.

• Evidence of an active commitment to career development.

• Commitment to and understanding of equality issues within a diverse and multicultural environment.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of supervising colleagues.

• Have a full working knowledge of GDPR regulations and experience of complying with complex regulations/procedures.

• Experience of working in the higher education sector.

• Project management experience involving a range of stakeholders.

Further information Further information about the School of Professional & Continuing Education (PACE) Set up 18 months ago, PACE’s role is to widen the educational reach of King’s as an integral part of King’s’ lifelong learning offer and enhance the university’s scholarship of teaching and learning. The School offers an increasingly joined-up approach to a range of education experiences that are different to the typical degree, for individual learners, public and private sector groups, and partners, both in the UK and internationally. The School sits alongside the nine Faculties of the university and comprises six areas: King’s Academy, King’s Foundations, King’s Language Centre, King’s Online, King’s Professional & Executive Development and Summer Programmes. Each of these areas are well established, respected and recognised within and beyond the King’s community. PACE delivers teaching (King’s Foundations, Summer Programmes, King’s Language Centre) and works collaboratively with our nine Faculties enabling them to deliver professional and online education (KPED and King’s Online). The School also supports educational and learning development of King’s staff and students (King’s Academy, King’s Foundations). The PACE School Executive Team comprises: the Director of Operations & Strategy (PACE), the Academic Director of King’s Academy, the Director of King’s Foundations, the Executive Director of Summer Programmes, the Director of King’s Language Centre, the Director of King’s Professional & Executive Development and the Director of King’s Online. The School Executive is chaired by the King’s Vice Principal for Education & Student Success. Applications will be shortlisted, and those selected for interview will be invited to attend an interview and test, in person on the Strand Campus.