Job Description

Executive Assistant

Employer 1

Kingston Council

Location(s) 1

Kingston

Contract Type 1

Permanent

Working Hours 1

Full Time

Grade 1

G

Hours Per Week 1

36

Salary Range 1

\xc2\xa335,577 - \xc2\xa339,264

Salary Basis 1

Per annum

Leave Entitlement 1

27 days

Application Deadline

25/02/2024, 23:55

Anticipated Interview Date(s) 1

Week Commencing 4th March 2024

About the Borough 1

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston\'s riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London - with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston\'s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston\'s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

About the Role 1

As an Executive Assistant, you will be joining a team of two to undertake the full Executive Assistant role for one of our Executive Directors. You will be involved in:

• Organise and schedule meetings
• Inbox management
• Prepare meeting agendas
• Perform research for meetings
• Be the first point of contact - meet and greet visitors where necessary
• Manage the diaries and schedules of senior management
• Liaise with other staff members on behalf of senior management
• Handle basic HR and recruitment duties on behalf of the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT), including on-boarding new staff members

A typical day in this role would include:

• Diary management
• Liaising with Executive Director and other Strategic Leadership Team members
• Touching base with executive support either face to face or on Google Meet
• Responding to emails
• Liaising with customer relations team in relation to any complaints sent directly to the ED
• Multi-tasking

We are a hybrid working organisation and for this role, you will be required to come into the office 2/3 days a week depending on the needs of the Executive Director, however you will need to be flexible to meet the needs of the service.

About Us 1

You will join two other Executive Assistants and this role reports to Head of CE Office. The SLT Executive Support Team provides a very important function supporting SLT members.

If you want to work in a high profile environment to assist with ensuring delivery of the Council Plan and feel that you are making a difference, then we would love to hear from you!

About You 1

To be successful in this role, you will need experience as an Executive Assistant or Personal Assistant working at senior level within an organisation.

You will also need:

• Have excellent organisational and communication skills
• Have a high standard of attention to detail
• Have a highly professional demeanour
• Have an understanding of the needs of executive level senior management
• Be strategically minded and politically sensitive
• Question and challenge conventional thinking, with a continual eye on the bigger picture in terms of the corporate context and external environment
• Role model agility, adaptability and digital in mindset and ways of working
• Work successfully and build excellent working relationships with key stakeholders including Members, residents, businesses, communities, partner organisations and other public services
• Demonstrate commitment to own personal and professional development to meet the changing demands of the role
• Demonstrate a commitment to organisational values
• Demonstrate a high level of innovation and creativity
• Have high levels of professionalism, discretion and confidentiality
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Ability to anticipate issues before they arise and manage appropriately
• Be flexible and self motivated

For more information about this role, please refer to the job description.

Our Offer To You 1

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we\'re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We\'re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. We operate hybrid working, a flexible working model which allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. It enables staff to achieve a work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process 1

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) so all personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc is completely anonymised during the shortlisting process. Our hiring managers review applications based on the knowledge, skills and experience demonstrated in your application, and how well these match the job profile. Our HR Shared Service with Sutton Council was recently recognised nationally for having the \'Best Inclusion and Diversity Programme\' at the PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2023, something that we\'re incredibly proud of.

Hiring managers are encouraged to ensure that their interview panel is diverse, and representative of a range of protected characteristics, to help remove unconscious bias and ensure candidates are treated fairly during the selection process. Some characteristics may not be obvious, but our panels are diverse wherever possible. We have a number of measures in place to inform and support our approach, including mandatory EDI and unconscious bias training for all staff, safer recruitment training for diverse panel members, engaging with our staff networks and encouraging allyship. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information 1

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough. Our aim is to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and staff feel a sense of belonging. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government\'s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames