Executive Assistant to Senior Partner - Legal Sector
Legal Sector
EA to Senior Partner
£45,000-48,000 per annum + benefits
12 month fixed term contract
City
Immediate start
Duties:
Primary Responsibilities:
Building a good understanding of the core business and of SP's specific client and matter responsibilities, understanding and ultimately knowing what the continually changing key priorities are at any given time. Accordingly, being able to properly support the SP to ensure focus and required attention is given to the priorities as they relate to the business.
To include: Proactively managing all communications in and out of the office:
- Communicating regularly and pro-actively, including quick calls and politely interrupting meetings to remind the SP of next commitments etc. Speaking rather than emailing is preferable as the volume of emails is challenging;
- Evaluating, collating and presenting inward communications. This includes an extremely high volume of email traffic and it is expected that the EA reviews these and actively manages the inbox;
- Filtering incoming communications, proactively dealing with queries, evaluating the priority of queries and ensuring they are brought to the attention of the SP or other business stakeholders as appropriate – at all times maintaining overall responsibility for ensuring that all communications are dealt with in a timely fashion, in consultation with the SP as appropriate;
- Responding to communications where possible and appropriate, answering queries and drafting and sending as appropriate routine correspondence such as replying to invitations and other miscellaneous correspondence;
- Recognising that the SP's primary time allocation is to clients and client matters. This requires to have time set aside when not in meetings to draft and review documents or call clients/colleagues. There will be many more requests, particularly internal, than there is time for;
- Understanding priorities. Specific initiatives the SP is committed to include: co-ordination of client strategies across the firm, leadership development and new trainee/qualified solicitor/partner inductions and key events, also key staff presentations. The SP is also a sponsor of certain initiatives including diversity and inclusion and mental health support, and participates in external bodies (e.g. a Trustee of Reform and member of an FCA panel);
- Producing outgoing communications and documents as instructed by the SP and from yourself (by way of audio dictation, copy typing, typing from notes taken and drafting yourself);
- Answering and screening all telephone calls, dealing with queries arising, forwarding matters of relevance to stakeholders as appropriate and relaying detailed and accurate messages promptly;
- At all times being aware of the sensitive and confidential nature of the office’s work and ensuring that all queries, communications and papers are dealt with accordingly;
- Developing and maintaining a robust file management system, with responsibility for ensuring the security of confidential information, for all emails, hard copy correspondence and documents (e.g. committee minutes, reports and presentations) that pass through the SP’s office.
- Skills, experience and qualifications
-
Proactively managing, controlling and fully understanding the SP's diary, using discretion and business knowledge to prioritise commitments: Ensuring that there is a good balance between time in the office and outward facing commitments. This will include reminding the SP what meetings are coming up, discussing requirements for and setting aside sufficient planning time for papers, presentations and reports to be prepared, monitoring the progress of and ensuring all committee/meeting minutes and actions are coordinated and prepared in advance of the meetings taking place;
- Extensive meeting arrangements (some of which are large scale, complex and with an international link) and setting aside preparation time in advance of and following the meetings as necessary;
- Also ensuring proper follow-up after all meetings to ensure actions are properly recorded and dealt with as appropriate, and necessary communications (such as thank you notes for example) are sent.
- High volumes of complex travel arrangements mostly with an international aspect involving sourcing flights and hotels, preparing detailed itineraries of travel information and business commitments (e.g. meetings – who/where, maps, contact information etc.) – including high level liaison with international offices;
- Taking responsibility for international visit co-ordination – ensuring that the purpose of the international visits is understood by all the relevant parties, that briefing packs are prepared and that all visit reports are appropriately communicated, filed and updated on the relevant databases;
- Arranging lunches, dinners and other events including reviewing venues and menu planning and negotiation on venue costs where appropriate.
- Building and maintaining good relationships across the Firm's network and being an information centre/hub for all colleagues;
- Proactively assisting key stakeholders around the business with all queries and requests for collaboration;
- In particular, liaising and communicating with the SP's key contacts across the business such as the CEO, Council members, Partnership Secretariat and wider Central Management Team, and the EA/PAs supporting those roles, together with client relationship and transactional lawyer teams and their PAs;
- An awareness that certain regular meetings and communications with the above groups of people need to take place, ensuring they are properly minuted/recorded as necessary and that subsequent actions points are delivered, whilst balancing time on this with client facing commitments.
Please send your CV for immediate consideration.
Not what you're looking for? Get headhunted for relevant jobs.
Upload your CV
More searches like this
Not what you're looking for? Get headhunted for relevant jobs.