Executive Assistant

Executive Assistant to Director of Marketing and Commercial Enterprise for the Royal Botanic Garden – Kew Gardens, London

Full time hybrid role – 3 days in the office and 2 days from home - 30 days holiday, 36 hour week, and fantastic benefits!

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-famous scientific organisation founded in 1759. Over the past 260 years, RBG Kew has been at the centre of global discovery, collection, identification, naming and ordering of all things plant and fungi related.

Kew Gardens is a leading visitor attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and its world-class herbarium and enjoyed by 2m visitors per year. Set in 330 acres, it is a beautiful place to work and employs committed staff who are working to achieve Kew’s mission to be the global resource for plant and fungal knowledge, building an understanding of the world’s plants and fungi upon which all our lives depend. RBG Kew has 1000 employees and 500 volunteers.

The Marketing & Commercial Enterprise (MCE) directorate leads the development of audience strategy to drive visitor numbers and communicate Kew’s brand to the public through digital, marketing and PR activities.

This is a unique opportunity to support a high-level executive at one of the world’s most prestigious scientific organisation.  

Job Context:

Reporting to the Director of Marketing & Commercial Enterprise, this position has overall responsibility for the management and administration of the Director’s office. This includes providing direct support to the Director in all matters relating to the running of the Marketing & Commercial Enterprise directorate, both internally and externally, and driving management and delivery of projects as required.

The post holder must provide effective administrative support to the Director of Marketing & Commercial Enterprise and act as an ambassador for the Director and MCE at all times, upholding the values of RBG Kew.

The post holder needs to be highly organised and proactive, able to work in a structured way to prioritise tasks, work independently and go the extra mile to facilitate the needs of the Director.

They will thrive on working at pace, to a varied set of tasks, and will need occasionally to work outside of regular office hours. The role will suit a motivated, highly organised team player who is calm under pressure and operates with high levels of discretion.

They need someone with a real commitment to excellence, someone who genuinely loves being a PA and sees their role as a true ambassador and has a passion for all things botanical and wildlife.

Key duties:

• Strategic complex diary management.
• Set-up one-off and recurring meetings along with room bookings as directed.
• Co-ordinate and arrange travel, prepare itineraries based on the Director’s priorities and demands.
• Provide secretarial support to a range of committee meetings, including diarising them, coordinating attendance, booking rooms, arranging room set-ups, arranging refreshments as required.
• Attend meetings alongside the Director on a regular basis and to produce high quality minutes of meetings for circulation on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis – will train if not experienced.
• Events co-ordination – high level liaison with stakeholders to ensure all events run smoothly
• Print, compile and prepare material for reading in advance of all meetings.
• Compile reports for quarterly operational review meetings, Trustee Board and sub committee meetings.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Previous experience in a PA /EA role ideally within a similar industry sector
• Able to communicate confidently and effectively with internal and external stakeholders at all levels, both verbally and in writing
• Able to work with a high degree of autonomy and independence
• Proactive, able to organise and prioritise workload
• Able to manage a varied workload and meet deadlines
• Be flexible and able to undertake additional or alternative tasks and duties as the needs of the business dictate
• Be able to maintain the highest degree of confidentiality and discretion
• Ability to quickly respond to changing requirements
• Strong Microsoft Office skills (Word, PowerPoint)
• Minute taking skills – BUT WILL TRAIN
• Calm under pressure