PA/Administrative Assistant

Job Description PA/Administrative Assistant Location London SW :

Closing date: 12pm, Monday 8 July 2024

£30,000 per annum

Full-time, 35 hours per week

Permanent Contract

Based in London, SW3

Interviews: TBC

for this role:

Based in Chelsea, Allen Hall is a residential educational facility where the majority of students are in training for the Catholic priesthood. Allen Hall is served by a formation team responsible for the formation of the men from all over the word to serve the Church in England & Wales. This team help the men discern their vocation to the priesthood and support them throughout their years of study.

We are recruiting the combined role of PA/Administrative Assistant who will work as a PA for the Rector, and will provide administrative support to the Formation team and the wider team at Allen Hall. The PA/Administrative Assistant will support the Rector and Allen Hall team by typing up correspondence for a selection of senior clergy, and liaising with other staff when coordinating and managing conference facilities and accommodation both over the summer and in term-time.

You will be responsible for ensuring that Allen Hall reception runs smoothly by ensuring stationary levels are maintained, being responsible for the switchboard, taking messages for staff and students, and assisting the Domestic Bursar with all aspects of administration duties, including support for the Formation Team.

This is a new and evolving role; this means there's lots to get involved in - and to be excited about.

To be successful in this role, you will need to be able to work with complete discretion and confidentiality within a team, as well as using your initiative to work autonomously. Having an understanding of the social and moral teaching of the Catholic Church is advantageous, but we are looking for someone with relevant experience of working in an office environment with demonstratable Microsoft Office skills and a willingness to further develop their IT skills.

Additionally, you will have excellent communication skills, and an innate ability to project a friendly and professional manner, both in person and on the telephone. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role for the Allen Hall team, as an organised, detail-orientated and approachable individual, you will be able to prioritise and meet tight deadlines whilst being the first point of contact for all who come to Allen Hall.

We welcome applications from those with a Catholic faith, those of other faiths, or none. What we require above all else is that you respect the values we share to help others and support decent and dignified work for all without prejudice.

In return for your hard work and commitment to us, you will receive a competitive reward package which will include, but is not limited to:

• Life Assurance
• Access to Healthcare Cash Plan
• Discounts scheme through Edenred-shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets gift cards and much more
• Season Ticket Loan
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Access to low cost loans with Churches Mutual
• Employee assistance programme- free, independent 24/7 help and advice for work-related issues as well as problems affecting home life

We are the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, a faith-based charity with offices close to Victoria Train and Underground Station and just a short walk from St James Park and Westminster Underground stations.

We are home to the Archbishop of Westminster (Cardinal Vincent Nichols) & our beautiful Westminster Cathedral. We are one of the leading Catholic dioceses in the country, delivering our charitable mission through our network of 208 schools in which over 90,000 pupils attend daily, 212 parishes and several hundred social justice initiatives. We seek to positively impact the lives of all members of society.

Our core values are Competence, Reliability, Honesty, Perseverance & Love.

Our values are at the centre of everything we do and as such we are looking for a PA/Admin Assistant who is able to clearly demonstrate and evidence them

We value our employees and therefore respect diversity in all its forms (seen and unseen). We particularly welcome applications from those from Black and Asian backgrounds, as well as candidates with disabilities. We would like to increase representation of these groups among our staff as we know greater diversity will lead to an even greater impact for our work.

To be considered for the role, please complete an online application. CVs will NOT be considered, therefore, please do not send them. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Please note that you will need to be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this position. You must provide proof of Right to Work in the UK. We reserve the right to remove the vacancy before closing date.

Equal Opportunities & Living Wage Statement:

The Diocese of Westminster is an Equal Opportunities and accredited Living Wage employer. To be successful, we aspire to be person centered at all times and place human dignity at our centre. We aim at all times to recruit the person who is best suited to the job, and we welcome applications from all communities and underrepresented groups, regardless of race, sexual orientation, disability, faith, age and gender. We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria. We strive to take a holistic approach to the development of our people so that we may better serve and empower the mission of our Church as ministered by the parishes, deaneries, schools and communities that we support. Our ambition is to work together to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrating and promoting diversity.

We want people from all walks of life to feel valued for their individuality, thrive in our organisation, share a sense of belonging and demonstrate our values. With this in mind, we positively celebrate Diversity & Inclusion at the Diocese of Westminster and place it at the heart of our aim which is to reflect and connect with the diverse communities that we serve.

Actions we take to provide equality of opportunity for all candidates include:

• We anonymise application forms during our shortlisting process to ensure that candidates are assessed without any consideration of their name, gender or background.
• As part of this anonymisation, we don't take into consideration where candidates studied, or the method of that study e.g. full-time, part-time or distance learning.
• We apply a consistent approach to our question setting across our applications and interviews to ensure that everyone is assessed against the identified values, competencies and job requirements. Our values are important to us and as such we use a scoring framework that marks candidates based on values, behaviours and competencies.
• We provide guidance and brief all our interviewers throughout the selection processes in recruitment best-practice to mitigate against any potential for conscious or unconscious bias or discrimination.
• Whenever possible we will have multiple interviewers when assessing each candidate to ensure marking is accurate and fair.
• We ensure all our assessment venues are accessible. We offer alternative formats of our application forms to encourage applicants with disabilities or who require reasonable adjustments to perform at their best.
• We will work together with candidates with a disability or health condition to implement reasonable adjustments to enable them to feel comfortable and strive during the assessment process.