Duration: Permanent 

Salary: Circa £38,000 per annum 

Job Level: Level 4 

Hours: 35 hours per week. Other flexible arrangements will be considered. 

Disclosure Level: Basic. This role involves no direct or indirect work with children  

Reports to: Chief Finance and Operations Officer 

Location: Working from home and at 1 Westfield Avenue, London E20 1HZ 

At the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), we pull together to achieve the best possible results for children in danger around the world. We believe in an inclusive workplace and in the power of fulfilled colleagues who share the same values and goals, enjoy their work and are motivated to do their utmost for children.  

Our work is guided by the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which recognise the universality of children’s rights. 

ABOUT THE ROLE 

Executive Assistants proactively, effectively and efficiently manage the provision of the Executive Assistant service to Executives. This includes full administrative responsibilities, secretarial support, project support and coordination on critical cross organisational projects that support UNICEF UK. This Executive Assistant will be supporting the Chief Finance and Operations Officer and other Directors including the Chief Influence and Impact Officer in working to achieve UNICEF UK goals in supporting every child. 

ABOUT THE TEAM 

The Chief Finance and Operations Officer oversees the Finance, People, Strategy and Information Directorate, which provides the expertise and support necessary to enable UNICEF UK to deliver its strategic objectives through Finance, People, Strategy, and Information Management. 

What we will expect you to achieve 

• Lead on diary management, managing the arrangements for and attending a range of internal and external senior meetings, taking and circulating detailed minutes and action points. 

• Coordinate committee and working group meetings, including agenda preparation, meeting notifications, distribution of materials, minute-taking, action item tracking, and oversight of decision follow-through.  

• Lead on the planning and administration of directorate meetings and away days. 

• Undertake and support critical strategic and operational cross-organisational projects, including collating and analysing data, drafting written reports and PowerPoint presentations, organising events and coordinating recruitment.  

• Prepare and monitor budgets, process invoices and carry out reforecasting exercises as requested by the Finance department.  

• Manage incoming mail, e-mail correspondence and calls, dealing with highly confidential and sensitive information and documentation appropriately – directing, logging, forwarding, prioritising, and responding as necessary.  

• Support the Chief Finance and Operations Officer and Directors to effectively prioritise requests from across the organisation, managing their workload as well as colleagues’ expectations. 

• Maintain oversight of schedules, travel and absences and manage cover and delegation as necessary. Manage holiday, absences and oversee the induction process for direct reports. 

• Demonstrate and model a commitment to our shared values, behaviours and inclusive practices (known as Our Shared Commitment) in all aspects of your work. 

BEHAVIOURS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS 

This section contains the essential behaviours, experience, knowledge and skills needed in order to be effective and successful in this role. All criteria in this section are essential. 

Effective Behaviours 

Supporter driven and mission aligned 

• Is committed to children and their rights and motivated to work towards achieving a world that is fit for every child.  

Resilience  

• Remains positive and quickly recovers from setbacks, keeping problems in perspective. 

• Takes a solution focused approach to problem solving to succeed in difficult circumstances. 

Positive relationships and communication 

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to listen, interpret and relay key messages accurately and chooses an appropriate format. Demonstrates a high standard of communication orally and in writing.  

• Nurtures professional relationships with colleagues at all levels and with external contacts and partners inspiring trust and confidence.  

Efficiency and effectiveness 

• Sets high but realistic standards, taking pride in producing quality work. Manages conflicting priorities effectively, to ensure that objectives are achieved, and deadlines met.  

• Systematically supports and plans projects (including complex, multi-stakeholder projects) to maximise performance and cost-effectiveness. 

• Anticipates risks and puts plans in place to minimise their impact.  

Relevant experience 

• Providing high level support at Executive level to enable efficient, effective, and timely delivery across a breadth of responsibilities. 

• Organised successful, efficient management of complex diaries  

• Successfully planning and coordinating major meetings / events  

• Effectively supporting, driving and monitoring complex, multi-stakeholder cross organisation programmes of work. 

Specific knowledge and skills 

• Making decisions within agreed parameters and is accountable for own actions and deals confidently with routine matters on behalf of a senior leader, using initiative and tact as required.  

• Able to provide values led, constructive support and challenge to the Chief Finance and Operations Officer and Directors in relation to performance, delivery and leadership, reflecting on impact of leadership and communication in both internal and external settings. 

• Applies understanding of organisational context and information, to interpret and prioritise on behalf of business leader critical work and actions.