Personal Assistant to The Director General

**JOB DESCRIPTION**

**Job Title**: Personal Assistant to the Director General

**Responsible to**: The Director General

**Responsible for**:Supporting and assisting the Director General

1 JOB PURPOSE

The Personal Assistant to the Director General is a key role supporting the head of a fast growing charity, providing efficient, effective and responsive organisational and administrative support at the highest level. You will be the primary point of contact for the Director General and will need to effectively engage with a wide range of contacts both internally and externally, including the Board of Trustees.

Absolute discretion and trust are critical within the role as the management of confidential matters is a regular occurrence. Strong and confident communication skills, both verbal and written are essential as the post involves dealing with a diverse range of people at all levels.

You will be required to take on a wide range of responsibilities including managing complex schedules, arranging Board, Committee and Director meetings to include preparing and circulating papers and producing effective minutes.

You will also work with the Director General in providing HR support for the Trust.

2 MAIN DUTIES
- You will act as Gatekeeper to the Director General, shielding, actioning and prioritising issues on his behalf, minimising unnecessary interruptions.
- Board & Committee governance: Plan and coordinate Board meetings, sub-committees, regular Director’s meetings and ad hoc meetings as required. To include monitoring attendance and arranging the venue. Advance preparation of Board Packs, compiling Agendas ensuring all content is of a professional standard and that all papers are circulated in advance. Attending the meetings, taking and circulating timely and effective minutes/actions.
- Event management: Responsible for sourcing venues and managing invites for meetings with external parties. Arranging visits for VIPs, groups and MPs etc. to Wildwood.
- Liaise with the wider team of Directors on a day to day basis.
- You will assist the Director General in preparing, proof-reading and formatting reports and presentations for meetings and presentations.
- HR. Issue offer letters and contracts for new starters, ensure new starter forms are completed and issued to the finance department. Maintaining personnel files. Under guidance you will initiate disciplinary action and proceedings, manage any grievance processes and ensure compliance with due procedure by Directors and Managers, reporting on the progress and status to the Director General. Working closely with the Management team to manage staff attendance, adherence to rules and staff training and development plans. You will also be the first point of contact for HR questions from managers and employees.
- You will work with the Director General to develop an induction process and ensure that it is rolled out across the Trust by the Directors and Managers.

3 SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

As Personal Assistant to the DG you will be genuinely passionate about British wildlife and its conservation, wanting to support the Trust’s charitable objectives.
- **Essential**:

- At least 5 years’ experience as a Personal or Executive Assistant at Senior Management level.
- Experience of dealing with HR issues, ideally including the holding and chairing of disciplinary and grievance hearings.
- Excellent organisational skills, the ability to multitask and change priorities as needed.
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work with individuals at all levels, both internally and externally with tact and diplomacy.
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
- Work autonomously, prioritising and managing your workload to deliver within tight timescales. Able to prioritise work to ensure that deadlines are achieved.
- Be a fully supportive and integrated team player contributing an effective performance which helps the Trust achieve its strategic goals.
- Discretion and trustworthiness: you will be party to confidential information and information not yet in the public domain.
- Adept with all standard Microsoft software packages.
- A full UK driving licence.
- **Desirable**:

- Experience of working within the charitable sector.
- A love of, and interest in British Wildlife.

4. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
- The post is advertised as 22.5 hours a week, exact hours and days to be agreed. Some travel to meetings and to the Trust’s Park in Devon will be required from time to time.
- No person shall be treated less favourably than another on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, ethic or national origin, religion, colour, age or disability. As an equal opportunities employer, applicants for staff vacancies shall be shortlisted for interview and appointed purely on the grounds of their suitability for the post as laid out in the advertised job description
- Wildwood operates a no smoking policy in the park and in