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Executive Assistant to the Head of School (maternity cover)

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
Grade 5, £32,676-£37,297 per annum, including London Weighting
Closing date
26 Sep 2021

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Job Type
Professional Services
Contract Type
Fixed Term
Hours
Full Time

Job Details

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and experienced individual to join the School of Life Course Sciences Professional Services Team as Executive Assistant (maternity cover). This is a career development opportunity to become part of the School’s Professional Services Team supporting the Head of School in fulfilling her academic, research and professional responsibilities.

As the first point of contact for the Head of School, the Executive Assistant will coordinate and provide high quality, comprehensive and flexible personal assistant, administrative and secretarial support to the Head of School. The post holder will be expected to work closely with members of the School, staff and colleagues across the University and will be required to develop a working knowledge of the core activities of the School. Responsibilities will include diary management, travel arrangements, dealing efficiently with communications and correspondence, maintain record systems to facilitate information retrieval and manipulation, and process and manage expenditure against the Head of School’s budgets. The post will act as a Secretary for School committees, and other groups as required, and work closely with the School Leadership to foster a stimulating, innovative and inclusive cultural environment across the School.

The successful candidate will harness a proactive and professional approach to work, with the ability to work independently and manage a varied workload and prioritise effectively, highly effective communication skills, excellent administrative skills and with the ability to work in a challenging, busy and confidential work environment. Experience and/or an established understanding of education development, operation and policy within a Higher Education setting is essential, alongside an approachable and confident manner to collaborate effectively with colleagues across the university and with external partners, including the NHS, to ensure an efficient exchange of information and meet deadlines.

This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract, or a fixed-term secondment contract, for until 10/6/2022

This is a full-time  post - 100% full time equivalent

 

Key responsibilities

 

The post holder is a member of the School’s professional services team, providing high quality to the Head of School along with support to specific initiatives and activities determined by their line manager(s). Working closely with their line manager(s), the post holder will: 

• Provide in-depth knowledge of executive support practices, methods and procedures gained through experience and/or formal qualification, acting as the Head of School’s point of contact for staff, students and stakeholders across and outside King’s College London

• Be responsible for the delivery and day-to-day management of the Head of School’s diary, correspondence and budget, along with specific projects allocated to the post holder, working with information from various sources of different levels of complexity

• Manage own workload, pattern of work and resources, responding to changing priorities and an evolving environment/context, maximising the efficiency of the support being provided, resolving problems as they arise

• Use well-developed analytical skills to identify trends and patterns, in order to assist in work prioritisation and planning

• Problem solve using a systematic and timely approach, making decisions independently, using agreed guidelines, that have an impact of up to a year and occasionally being required to resolve predictable, longer term problems

• Communicate complex information, both orally and in writing, synthesizing and presenting complex information in a clear and precise manner

• Forge relationships with colleagues in the university and external to the university, in order to build relationships, disseminate information, coordinate and deliver the required support

• Be responsible for the compliance with relevant regulations, guidance and legislation governing the area of work and responsibility, and supporting the monitoring safe working practice, completing risk assessments where required and adapting the working environment to reduce the level of hazard

• Service School committees and other groups as required

• Manage/ supervise the installation, monitoring and maintenance of equipment, systems and software, with control over small budgets, stocks/stores equipment and supplies, ensuring an efficient use of resources

• Provide advice/ guidance and, where appropriate, training to colleagues, helping them to make decisions, providing feedback and identifying further training and development needs

• Facilitate an inclusive culture and ethos across the School teams, ensuring that Professional Services staff work in partnership with academic staff in departments/ centres/ institutes and Professional Services colleagues in the Faculty team and functional networks

• Create an ethos of collaboration and collegiality, establishing effective communications and relationships, and encouraging staff to work in partnership with colleagues across the university, to eliminate potential barriers, enhance collegiality and develop best practice through actively contributing to King’s initiatives, including professional networks and working  

• Participate in cross-School/ Faculty/ university projects and initiatives for 10% FTE, or potentially more

• Engage actively in Continuing Professional Development and training initiatives, for a minimum of 10 days pro rata per year

The post holder will report to the Head of School and to the School Manager.

The detail on tasks and responsibilities of the post will be provided in the job work plan, which will form the basis of the discussion during the post holder’s probationary review and subsequent PDR discussion.

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 

 i. Minimum level 4 qualification, e.g. higher apprenticeship, HNC or other Level 4 award, plus relevant work experience OR Considerable knowledge and skills gained through work experience in a relevant post, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding work 

ii. Evidence of an active commitment to career development  

iii. Have extensive administrative/operations experience with an in-depth knowledge of a range of practices, methods and procedures and have a good eye for detail 

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

v.  Solutions-focused self-starter, with excellent planning and organisational skills, an ability to manage competing priorities and who can work with minimal supervision 

vi. Good communication, orally and in writing, along with strong interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills 

vii. Good computer skills including Microsoft Office packages 

viii. A broad understanding of effective approaches to train and teach individuals in methodologies and techniques 

ix. Proactive and responsive to internal contacts in immediate area and across King’s and contacts outside the university (e.g. suppliers, colleagues in other HE institutions) in order to build relationships 

x. Commitment to an excellent student experience and concern for staff and student wellbeing, along with a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion 

xi. Able and willing to provide support beyond core hours, as required 

xii. Experience of providing high level administrative and/or personal support to a senior executive 

Desirable criteria 

xiii. Ability to supervise/advise junior team members and give feedback on performance levels, providing training/coaching where necessary  

xiv. Experience of servicing committees 

xv. Experience of drafting and proofreading documents 

xvi. Proven ability to maintain confidentiality 

 

Further information

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearance.

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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