PA to Director of Projects and Project Management Team

Job Description

An exciting vacancy has arisen for an PA to join the team at Great Portland Estates plc (GPE) supporting the Project Management Team and Flex Design & Delivery Team.

This role will be supporting the Director of Projects, along with the Head of Design and Delivery, as well as part of their wider teams. 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.

GPE is a highly respected central London property investment and development company quoted on the London Stock Exchange. The Company, which employs around 145 people, owns around £2.5 billion of real estate – primarily commercial but also retail; and a small amount of residential - 100% in central London with a rent roll of approx. £100 million per annum. The business focuses on acquiring, managing and repositioning properties – to unlock their full potential and value. This approach, combined with successful reading of the real estate market, continues to deliver great performance and makes for a dynamic environment in which to work.

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 to support their colleagues to do the same.  

Job Requirements

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

Document Preparation

• Assist with document preparation for Executive Committee and Board meetings as and when required, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail – using PowerPoint

General EA Duties

• Maintain a good working knowledge of current projects to provide a pro-active, value-add 'Team PA' service
• Email management of Directors of Projects' inbox – flagging urgent items for attention and actioning where appropriate
• 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

Job Responsibilities
Likely background/experience

• Minimum of 3 years' experience supporting at a director level and a wider team
• Experience in a property or real estate company preferable
• 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 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

Job Benefits

• Hybrid Working (3 days in office)
• Competitive Remuneration
• Share Incentive Plan
• Annual Leave
• Pension
• Enhanced Parental Leave and Pay
• Private Medical Insurance
• Private Dental Insurance
• And many others

At GPE we are committed to diversity and inclusion, we believe that diversity gives us strength. Collecting diversity data allows us to measure the effectiveness of our efforts and ensure our hiring procedures are fair and equitable for all. Providing this information is voluntary and remains confidential. This data this anonymised and only used to assess the diversity of our applicant pool. It will not influence hiring decisions in any way.

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.