The Executive Assistant role at UKCISA is vital to the smooth operational running of the organisation, assisting the CEO and the senior management with diary management, booking travel, organising staff and governance meetings, and staff social events. 

The role provides essential administrative support to the CEO, senior management and UKCISA governance structures.

In addition to supporting the Chief Executive and UKCISA Senior Management team, the Executive Assistant is also first point of contact for both internal and external stakeholder enquiries and managing general office duties, as listed below.

The Executive Assistant also acts as Clerk to the Board, attending and keeping accurate records of the Board of Trustees, Board committees and internal staff meetings, coordinating the preparation of meeting papers, collating and distributing agendas, minutes, papers and other relevant documentation as required, including support for statutory registers / filings.

Core Responsibilities

Executive Team Support 

•       Diary management and scheduling internal and external meetings

•       Arranging work travel for CEO and other SMT members

•       Liaising with colleagues across the organisation to manage CEO and SMT diaries as required

•       Operational administrative support, including processing expense claims for CEO, and other SMT members as required

•       Coordinate central training courses for all UKCISA staff and maintain learning and development Sharepoint hub

•       Organisation of staff meetings, social events and organisation-wide training

•       Support for ad-hoc projects, reports and research to inform UKCISA operations

•       Working with the Finance & Resources team to review processes and providers related to the above tasks

•       Ad hoc administration tasks as requested by UKCISA SMT

Governance

•       Scheduling and servicing online and in-person Board and committee meetings (NB most Board and Committee meetings take place on Microsoft Teams, with a minimum of one in-person Board meeting per year)

•       Organising UKCISA staff to produce and/or contribute to timely papers for Board and committees

•       Managing Board and Committee documentation, including preparing agendas, file management, planning and scheduling annual business, archiving and producing templates as required

•       Support Finance and Resources team in fulfilling compliance tasks including completing statutory registers / filings

•       Producing minutes of Board and committee meetings for approval by SMT lead and Chairs

•       Monitoring terms of office for Board and committee members to inform Nominations Committee planning

•       Processing travel expense claims for in-person meetings

•       Liaison with Honorary Officers’ and trustees’ offices as required to schedule meetings and project groups

Office Management Duties 

•       Administration support for in-office meetings and external visits, notifying Reception of scheduled visitors, booking rooms and catering

•       Liaison with Woburn House reception on mail and deliveries

•       Preparation of the UKCISA advice line rota, working with Advice and Training colleagues and freelance advisers to coordinate diaries

•       Management of shared and confidential inboxes, including the Chief Executive and Chair inbox, recruitment inbox, responding to queries and fielding them to the correct team or staff member

•       Administrative support for UKCISA external recruitment, including contacting candidates to arrange interviews and tests, and supporting the administration of UKCISA’s recruitment process

•       Monitoring and restocking office supplies as required

Key Criteria

 Essential

•       Excellent written and verbal communication skills

•       Ability to maintain confidentiality and discretion at all times

•       Highly organised and able to prioritise workload independently

•       Skilled in acting as a first point of contact and fielding a wide range of queries from internal and external stakeholders across diverse communication channels, making decisions to respond or escalate queries appropriately

•       Organised, resourceful and proactive self-starter, able to demonstrate initiative to support the SMT and identify administrative improvements as required

•       Skilled in building effective working relationships and working in close collaboration with colleagues across the organisation

•       Highly skilled in Microsoft 365, Sharepoint and Zoom, using CRM software (UKCISA currently uses Microsoft Dynamics)

•       Experience of providing project support for internal projects

•       Ability to manage a range of third-party suppliers

Desirable

•       Experience of working within a membership organisation or the education sector

•       Experience of working with Microsoft Dynamics