Senior Executive Assistant to Chair and trustees

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. For over 90 years we have shaped brighter futures through education, arts, culture, language, and creativity.

We work with people in over 150 countries and reach over 700 million people.

We connect. We inspire.

The Role:

This role provides high-quality Senior Executive Assistant support to the Chair and Board of Trustees, enabling them to lead, govern and represent the organisation effectively in support of its cultural relations purpose.

The role involves providing trusted advice and executive support to the Chair and Trustees, helping them to prioritise their time and ensuring that they receive timely, accurate information. It leads a wide range of Executive Assistant services, including diary and meeting management; commissioning, reviewing and editing briefings and speeches; managing and drafting correspondence; coordinating administration, communications and finance; and supporting agreed governance processes in partnership with the Governance team.

It is a predominantly office-based role, working a minimum of four days a week in the office, and up to five days a week whenever needed, at the British Council’s Headquarters in Stratford, London. The role works closely with the rest of the Chief Executive and Chair’s Office (CCO) as well as colleagues in teams right across the organisation to ensure CCO operations run with maximum efficiency and to a high quality.

The Chief Executive and Chair’s Office is at the heart of the British Council and is critical in supporting leadership to lead our organisation and achieve its purpose. It is an interesting and varied environment to work in, responding to external and internal situations, and requires the postholder to be able to work flexibly, manage a high volume of work, be comfortable with ambiguity and pressure, and hold the highest degree of confidentiality and integrity. It is an extremely busy office which engages with our work and our people at every level. Working in it offers the opportunity to be part of a team which is helping, through supporting our Chair and the Board, and the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team, to achieve the organisation’s cultural relations purpose and build its wider profile and reputation.

Accountabilities:

• Managing the Chair’s diary and commitments for the Chair and Trustees, to ensure their time is appropriately prioritised and well-managed, and the organisation is represented at the right levels externally and internally.
• Working with the Governance team to coordinate the Chair’s and Trustees’ participation in Board committee meetings, including diary arrangements, logistics, briefing requirements and follow-up actions allocated to the Chief Executive and Chair’s Office.
• Arranging meetings with senior external stakeholders/internal colleagues, including booking rooms, arranging/providing catering/IT support, collecting guests etc.
• Ensuring Chair and Trustees have full information (including all logistics, travel arrangement details etc), briefing and speaking notes for all events and meetings.
• Managing Chair and Trustees’ correspondence, including complaints, sharing their correspondence as/when appropriate with other colleagues internally, and coordinating/drafting responses.
• Reviewing and editing communications (external and internal) for the Chair and Trustees.
• Advising colleagues on where to direct invitations/requests for Chair and Trustees, if opportunities are better suited to other colleagues.
• Managing logistics for overseas engagement and travel for the Chair and Trustees, including researching, preparing and printing travel pack.
• Commissioning, reviewing and editing briefings and travel programmes – often involving analysis of a large volume of information from multiple sources, and distilling into a single succinct briefing.
• Commissioning, reviewing and editing speeches (and drafting when required), working with Comms team to ensure aligned with external narratives.
• Working with others to ensure administrative and governance-support processes are delivered to a high standard, including arrangements for Chair and Trustee recruitment, appointment, induction, development, engagement and departure, and their in-office responsibilities.
• Maintain an overview of the annual Board and committee cycle as it affects the Chair and Trustees, anticipating diary, briefing, travel, stakeholder and decision-support requirements and coordinating these with the Governance team and relevant colleagues.
• Assist with external and internal communications, including updating information on internal and external websites.
• Records management: ensure correspondence and documentation is filed, archived or deleted/shredded as appropriate, and stakeholder engagement records and tracking of meetings are overseen and updated on relevant systems.
• Participate as part of a team to support implementation of corporate projects with specialist teams.
• Build strong relationships across the team and at all levels of the organisation, including with senior leaders, to support the Chair and Trustees’ effective engagement and ensure that their priorities, decisions and requests are communicated and followed through appropriately. Develop a strong understanding of the British Council’s wider context and priorities in order to advise the Chair and Trustees effectively and ensure smooth management of diaries, information, briefings and correspondence.
• Build, develop and manage relationships with external stakeholders, including ministerial private offices, government departments, diplomatic contacts, partner organisations and the offices of other senior stakeholders, acting as a trusted and professional point of contact for the Chair and Trustees.
• Provide consistent cover or ad hoc support within the CCO team where necessary.

Financial management

• Manage the collation, approval and publication of Chair and Trustees’ expenses; raise and track purchase orders and invoices; administer the departmental spending card; maintain accurate financial records; and support monitoring and forecasting of relevant expenditure.
• Show an understanding of value for money/cost effectiveness in advice, recommendations or service support provided to colleagues, and in the ordering of goods and services and management of accounts (phone, travel suppliers etc).

Requirements of the role:

• Substantial experience of providing trusted executive support and advice to Chairs, Trustees, non-executive directors or other senior leaders in large or complex organisations, including managing competing, varied and rapidly changing internal and external priorities.
• Excellent judgement and ability to understand and navigate complex and nuanced issues, and ability to respond flexibly in often ambiguous environments.
• Ability to think analytically and solve problems quickly, e.g. interpret large volumes of rapidly changing information across multiple complex issues at any one time, in order to make sound decisions quickly. 
• Strong team player willing to jump in to support and stand in for immediate team members, a ‘can do’ solutions-focused attitude, and ability to flex to ensure that together it delivers to a high standard.
• Ability to work under considerable pressure and at pace and deliver against tight deadlines.
• Knowledge of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion tools, processes and approaches.  
• Track record of high-quality office administration in busy, ambiguous and complicated environments, ability to prioritise multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Experience of high-level diary management and scheduling, with fast-moving deadlines and working under high pressure
• Experience of holding people to account – especially in eliciting responses

Role specific skills

• Exceptional communication skills.
• Strong time management and resource planning skills.
• An extremely high level of discretion due to the nature of working with sensitive and confidential material, including legal issues, grievances and investigations, relationships and correspondence with Secretaries of State, Ministers, Ambassadors, and other key stakeholders in the UK and internationally.

Closing Date:   Applications will close at 23:59 on Monday 9th November UK Time.

Important Information:

Contract type: Indefinite

Location: London

Requirements:
Please note that candidates must have the pre-existing, legal right to work in the listed locations at the time of application. Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided. 

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and we welcome applications from all sections of the community as we believe that a diverse workforce gives added depth to our work. The British Council is a Disability Confident Employer. The Disability Confident scheme helps challenge attitudes, increase understanding of disability, and ensure staff are drawn from the widest possible pool of talent and we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the minimum role requirements. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.
 
Safeguarding Statement 

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people, and adults who we work with. We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989. Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.
If you experience any difficulties with submitting your application, please email askhr@britishcouncil.org