EA to Executive Director

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and bonus potential
• 15% non-contributory pension
• Employer paid private medical and dental insurance - for you and your family
• 25 days holiday allowance (plus an extra 5 days to use after 5 years)
• Ability to buy 5 days each year
• 3 gifted leave days between Christmas and New Year, plus a YOU day
• Share Incentive Plan - company matches 2:1
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• 16 hours of paid volunteering and charity donation match scheme
• Bank holiday swap available
• Workplace Nursery Scheme
• Cycle to work and season ticket loans available
• Employee Assistance programme and much more

About the exciting role:

An exciting vacancy has arisen for an EA to the Executive Director to join the team at Great Portland Estates plc (GPE). This role will be supporting the Executive Director who sits on the Board and Executive Committee; as well as a wider team of Portfolio Managers and a Director of Portfolio Management. The role will suit a dynamic individual who enjoys working in a fast-paced customer-focused environment. The successful candidate will have exceptional organisational skills coupled with communication and influencing skills; and have the confidence to liaise with a wide range of parties and work highly collaboratively with colleagues.

About us...

We are a FTSE 250 central London property investment and development company, owning around £2.5 billion of real estate – primarily commercial offices. At GPE, we genuinely believe that diversity gives us strength, but we know this strength is only fully realised if our environment is truly inclusive. Our culture is grounded in genuine and mutual respect, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We hire talented, unique individuals who are encouraged to collaborate, be their authentic selves and they support their colleagues to do the same.

Our company values

• We achieve more together
• We are committed to excellence
• We are fair and inclusive
• We embrace opportunity
• We value every customer

A little more about the role

Main Responsibilities:

You will have responsibility for:

Diary management

• Assist in managing the diary of the team, organising meetings and booking meeting rooms
• Keep diaries under review making appropriate adjustments for conflicting priorities and short-notice changes where business needs require this
• Make all arrangements associated with meetings (attendee availability, venues, meeting rooms, facilities and, where relevant, travel arrangements), ensuring all details are taken care of to ensure smooth running
• Act as the main point of contact for meeting attendees and an ambassador for GPE liaising with all relevant parties – external and internal – throughout
• Ensure members of the team are on time for meetings by reminding them in advance of where they need to be and proactively responding to potential clashes/delays
• Ensure all diaries are up to date with team members' holidays

Board and Executive Committee

• Collate, format and edit papers from various teams that report into the Executive Director for Board papers ahead of Board meetings
• Assist with document preparation for Executive Committee and Board meetings as and when required – particularly PowerPoint preparations
• Liaising with both internal and external teams to ensure that all papers are received in a timely manner
• Highlight any DocuSign documents requiring Director signature
• Prior to submission of any Board and Executive Committee papers - proof reading and formatting of documents to ensure accuracy and guidelines are adhered to

General EA Duties

• Maintain a good working knowledge of current projects to provide a pro-active, value-add ‘Team PA’ service
• Email management of Executive Directors’ inbox – flagging urgent items for attention and actioning where appropriate
• Travel – book and oversee all aspects of travel arrangements when required
• Coordinate with other ‘Team PA’ colleagues to ensure constant secretarial cover during working hours and during periods of absence (e.g. holiday and training)
• File documents and, where relevant, correspondence keeping systems and records up-to-date and orderly. Electronic document filing must also be maintained on SharePoint
• Prepare CPD logs for the team
• Oversee invoices on Manhattan and send weekly reminders to the team to authorise any outstanding invoices
• Prepare new supplier forms and liaise with Accounts team to ensure timely payment follow-through
• Ensure the team’s contacts are kept up to date in Outlook
• Arrange couriers and other deliveries where required
• Attend weekly team meetings to ensure requirements are being met
• All other general duties including but not limited to scanning, photocopying, binding and archiving
• Provide cover on the Main Reception from time to time
• Log any bribery and corruption data on the HRIS on behalf of the team
• Log holidays on behalf of the team on HRIS

Likely background/experience

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience supporting an Executive Committee or Board director
• Adept at working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment
• Some experience of working in a professional organisation.

Skills required

• Advanced PowerPoint, Outlook, Word and Excel skills
• Document proofing
• Strong diary management skills
• Excellent personal/work organisational skills: planning, ability to prioritise, flex, multitask and complete work to tight deadlines
• Ability to be firm and assertive as the situation demands
• Excellent spelling and grammar with attention to detail and accuracy at all times
• Strong project management
• Ability to adapt and remain calm and unflappable in pressured situations
• Confidence to manage upwards and challenge appropriately
• Ability to work autonomously
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with all internal and external stakeholders and other ‘Team PAs/EAs’ to help maintain a productive and supportive team environment
• Ability to communicate effectively with people – internal and external at all levels – always maintaining an outgoing and friendly approach with all parties

Personal attributes

• Enthusiasm for and interest in their work
• Preparedness to ‘go-the-extra mile’ to meet the needs of the business and, on occasion, flex working hours to meet business critical deadlines
• Ability to handle private and confidential information with an appropriate degree of discretion and diligence
• A continuous improvement mind-set – constantly looks for ways to deliver the best possible service to the team and the wider business
• Brings energy and focus to all aspects of their work
• Has a team-orientated mind-set and wants to be part of the team and GPE

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled candidates that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. Moreover, we will ensure that reasonable adjustments are made for applicants during the recruiting process. We encourage candidates to confirm any requirements that we can reasonably fulfil to make the application process a positive experience for all candidates. If you would like to provide any feedback on your application process this would also be welcome by emailing hrsupport@gpe.co.uk.