Secretary

**SECRETARY**

**Department - Wills and Probate (Private Client)**
**Location - Ellis-Fermor and Negus, The Old Registry, 6 Derby Road, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 1UU**Hours - 35 hours per week - Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm with 1 hour for lunch**
**Salary - Circa £22,000 - £23,000 commensurate with experience**

**JOB DESCRIPTION**

**Job Purpose**
- To provide the fee earner with all reasonable assistance to enable them to provide an efficient and professional service to our clients
- To provide a professional secretarial service for the Department and other fee earners as required
- To ensure high levels of customer care for clients over the phone and face to face
- To help to turn enquiries into paying cases by being proactive in relation to response times and providing high quality services to clients
- To contribute to our mission of establishing lifelong relationships with all our clients by anticipating and responding to their needs for quality legal services

**Main Duties**
- To build a professional and mutually supportive working relationship with the fee earner(s)
- To effectively manage and support the fee earner with the management of their diary ensuring that their whereabouts are known, that clients are seen as soon as possible and that files are actioned in a timely and efficient way
- To provide professional secretarial support to the Wills and Probate Department including:

- Photocopying, faxing and scanning documents
- Opening and closing files and maintaining filing system
- Checking documents for accuracy and completeness
- Operating a range of computer packages including Office, the Practice Management System (PMS), the Case Management System etc
- To deal with enquiries from new and existing clients and external agencies and providing a high level of client care service, including:

- Seeing new clients who call in for appointments, taking initial details and arranging appointments
- To provide cover in other teams including on Reception as required

**General Duties**

1 To work in a flexible way to ensure that the workload is completed and to undertake any other jobs commensurate with the level of the post.

2 To establish, maintain and enhance team-working with colleagues and staff of Ellis-Fermor and Negus.

3 To keep confidential all information about individuals and the business of Ellis-Fermor and Negus and work within the guidelines of the GDPR.

4 To abide by our Equality and Diversity, Health and Safety, Anti Money Laundering Policies and all other relevant policies.

**ROLE SPECIFICATION**

**CRITERIA**

**Experience**

Secretarial experience (legal experience is desirable but not essential)

Experience of providing high levels of customer care face to face and over the telephone

Experience of digital dictation and audio typing accurately and quickly

Experience of working with a range of computer software packages

Experience of working to multiple tight deadlines and managing time effectively

Experience of handling confidential information appropriately

**Skills and Abilities**

Able to work quickly with a high degree of accuracy

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Ability to handle interruptions professionally and maintain concentration

Ability to manage and organise own workload and prioritise accordingly

Ability to work with professionalism and integrity

Ability to multi task effectively

Ability to understand and work effectively with a diverse customer base

Excellent IT skills and the ability to pick up new software packages with ease

**Other**

Sympathetic to our heritage and ethos

Understanding of Anti Money Laundering responsibilities and GDPR requirements

**Line Management Responsibilities - **None

**Line Manager - **Fee Earner / Director

**Job Types**: Full-time, Permanent

**Salary**: £22,000.00-£23,000.00 per year

**Benefits**:

- Company events
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Health & wellbeing programme

Schedule:

- Monday to Friday

Supplemental pay types:

- Bonus scheme

**Experience**:

- Secretarial: 1 year (required)

**Language**:

- English (required)

Ability to Commute:

- Belper (required)

Work Location: In person