Personal Assistant

The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive - and we all have our part to play.
As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.
As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a 'home' office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you., This is an exciting opportunity to join the East of England Operations and System Support Directorate as a Personal Assistant. The post holder will be part of a dynamic team in delivering an effective service to the Director of Community, Primary Care and Sector Interface, the Director of Planned Care & Improvement and the relevant teams.
This role is required to support the above Directors to carry out their duties and deliver within their portfolio areas by providing complex diary, inbox and meetings management, preparing presentation materials, drafting reports and correspondence, and supporting in smooth running of their teams.
The post holder will, in many instances, be the first point of contact for the Directors and will need to act with discretion and confidentiality at all times. The post holder is expected to work autonomously, be proactive and exercise personal initiative and judgement in an efficient manner, and have the ability to build and maintain good working relationships with all stakeholders, both internally and externally. The post holder is expected to run office systems and provide diverse admin support including taking high quality minutes. The job requires attention to detail in all aspects of work while managing competing demands and priorities.
The post holder is a key member of the Directorate Business Office whose overarching goal is support the Regional Chief Operating Officer to effectively achieve the directorate objectives and priorities., + Provide proactive high level business support to the Directors, contributing to the delivery of the Directorate's objectives.
+ Act as a main contact point for the Directors, dealing with queries from stakeholders, passing on relevant information as appropriate.
+ Manage the Directors' inboxes, ensuring briefing and follow up action takes place and deadlines are met.
+ Provide effective diary management for the Directors, ensuring that appointments are planned and coordinated, and run to schedule.
+ Use independent judgement to prioritise the competing demands.
+ Understand and highlight risks, issues and actions, ensuring early identification and proactive mitigation where possible, and ensuring concerns are escalated promptly.
+ Organise and draft reports, papers, presentations, letters and other similar documentation.
+ Organise and manage meetings, including venue bookings, preparation of agendas and minutes of meetings, tracking actions and timeframes as appropriate. Ensure the Directors have the required documentation in time for all meetings/events.
+ Organise and plan events as directed, including booking venues, making travel arrangements, arranging speakers and providing relevant papers.
+ Assist the teams with various business processes, e.g travel arrangements, venue bookings, purchase orders.
+ Have a flexible approach to work in line with the needs of the business., This is a hybrid role that will require 40% in person working and regular attendance at Victoria House, Fulbourn on a minimum of a weekly basis to support in person meetings, and may require ad-hoc travel across the region.
Please confirm in your application that you are able to attend in person interviews.
Please refer to the job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and responsibilities.
Location: Victoria House, Fulbourn or any other NHS England East of England base
Our commitments to you
We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We're passionate about nurturing and developing people. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro-divergent.
We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.
Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK under the Skilled Worker route are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.
Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.
The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.
If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:
+ Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
+ Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
+ Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
+ Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
+ Delivering value for money.
If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://www.england.nhs.uk/.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band., NHS England