Executive Assistant to the Dean - Birmingham Business School

Position Details
Department: Birmingham Business School
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £27,025 to £29,515. With potential progression once in post to £33,199 a year.

Grade 6

Full Time, Permanent
Closing Date: 31 July 2019

Job Summary

Established as the UK's first School of Commerce in 1902, we have been delivering excellent business education for over 100 years and there has never been a better time to join Birmingham Business School. Benefitting from a multi-million pound investment, a new senior management team, and a revised strategy, we are in the process of changing what we do and how we do it. We are looking for a highly organised individual, with outstanding interpersonal skills, exceptional customer service and proven experience of working as a Personal Assistant at Board level to join our dynamic professional services team as we embark on this journey.

The Executive Assistant to the Dean is a key role within the Dean's office and will provide dedicated executive support. The Dean is the head of the University's largest School and a member of the College Board. The post-holder will work closely with colleagues across both the academic community and Professional Services and will be expected to deliver exceptional levels of customer service at all times.

This is a challenging role that requires an individual to have excellent organisational skills and an ability to manage a complex and ever-changing diary, recognising the need to balance competing priorities. The individual will need to be resourceful, be able to display a proactive approach to the role, use their own initiative, and have excellent communication skills.

The post-holder will need to be able to work well within a small team, proactively managing two PAs providing support to the School's senior managers and committees, and excel in developing relationships with colleagues across the University. In addition, the post holder will be expected to work independently in supporting the Dean in the delivery of specific, complex and ad hoc projects, and will ensure that School committees are serviced appropriately.

Main Duties

• Effective management of a complex and challenging diary for both University business and business related to the Dean's roles in other external organisations, with an ability to prioritise and plan the diary at least 12 months' in advance. Flexibility in this regard is essential since the diary often needs to be changed at short notice and there is a need for the post-holder to continually balance competing priorities.
• Ensure that the Dean is aware of deadlines and key events and proactively advise and diarise accordingly to ensure these are met.
• Assist the Dean in preparing for meetings by ensuring all relevant papers, documents, reports etc. are available in advance of each meeting and determining when briefings might be required for meetings and proactively ensuring that these are prepared, are appropriate and relevant in content, and received in a timely manner.
• A proactive approach to the management of an extremely busy inbox, using judgement to identify urgent matters and ensuring they are actioned, often without reference to the Dean.
• Draft documentation for the Dean as necessary, ensuring an appropriate tone and style.
• Plan and prepare itineraries for complex international travel, ensuring best use of time, taking into account budgetary constraints, and ensuring the Dean is fully briefed ahead of any visit.
• Act as the interface between the Dean and senior figures within the University and the external community.

Staff Management

• Provide direct line-management for two PAs; motivating, supporting and proactively monitoring performance throughout the year, ensuring they are delivering appropriate support the members of the School's Senior Management Team.
• Plan and coordinate the workload of the School's PA support including forward planning and reviewing and adjusting activities and workloads to ensure a consistently high level of service is maintained at all times for all members of the School's Senior Management Team.

Secretarial Support

• Providing secretarial support to a number of the School's senior committees, namely the SMT, and the Staffing and Promotions Committee. This will include liaising with the Committee Secretary in order to draft agendas, collating and distributing confidential documents, providing accurate draft minutes, and ensuring all action points are logged.
• In liaison with the Deputy Operations Manager, ensuring the PAs in the Dean's Office provide appropriate secretarial support to the School's other senior committees and meetings.

Other Duties

• On behalf of the School, Dean and or members of the SMT, and under the direction of the Executive Project Manager, take a lead in organising and supporting School events and meetings.
• Working collaboratively by building close relationships with staff in other departments within the University, the PA to the Dean will lead projects on behalf of the Dean and under the direction of the School's Executive Project Manager.
• Providing timely administrative and organisational support of a confidential nature as appropriate.
• Act as deputy to the Executive Project Manager, and an ability to carry out those duties, including line management in the absence of that post-holder, and assisting with major events as requested.

Person Specification

Essential

• Educated to at least A' Level (or equivalent)
• Significant and proven experience of working as a Personal Assistant at Board level in a complex organisation, displaying a professional approach at all times.
• An understanding of how to successfully lead a range of professional service staff to achieve common goals.
• Experience of providing a secretarial support to meetings and committees at a senior level.
• Outstanding organisational and administrative skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including tact and diplomacy, with the ability to communicate confidently with colleagues at all levels, both internally and externally. The post-holder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues across the academic community and Professional Services, and also external contacts.
• Ability to demonstrate a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Excellent writing skills, utilising a clear style of communication and the ability to write for different audiences to deadline.
• Ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information.
• Excellent IT skills.
• A flexible approach to work, with an ability to manage competing priorities.
• Enjoy working as part of a team.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility and a self-motivating approach is required for this role, as is the ability to complete tasks based on only broad direction and with minimum supervision.
• Enthusiasm and willingness to meet challenging demands, deadlines, and within budget.

Desirable

• Knowledge and/or experience of working in Business School and/or an understanding of the unique challenges that an international Business School needs to overcome.
• Experience of working in the Higher Education sector.

For informal enquiries about the role please contact Emily Muscat - e.muscat@bham.ac.uk