Executive Assistant To Deputy Directors

The International Strategy and Trade Relations Directorate (ISTR) is a new Directorate within DBT, formed in April 2024 and is responsible for driving economic growth by capitalising on opportunities to open up and protect overseas markets for UK Business.

You’ll be joining ISTR during an exciting time of growth and change and will play a key role in supporting the ISTR Director and their Senior Leadership Team (SLT) in reaching their objectives whilst they settle into their new structures and establish new ways of working.

The Executive Assistant will be responsible for supporting two busy Deputy Directors (DDs) within the ISTR SLT with the day to day running of their teams, through picking up administrative tasks and helping them to prioritise and organise their time effectively. This is a great opportunity to work closely with senior leaders and their teams whilst building relationships, knowledge and your experience in a priority area.

The role sits within the ISTR Directors Office team, which provides similar support to the ISTR Director and other members of the ISTR SLT and manages and co-ordinates corporate support across the wider directorate.

The role would suit someone who is comfortable working at pace whilst maintaining quality. You will need to use your initiative and be able to work with autonomy. As you settle in, your level of responsibility and influence will grow through your work with senior staff across the Directorate. Given the varied nature of this role, an ability and openness to flex and adapt to changing priorities and opportunities is key.

The role is varied and wide ranging with scope to shape it to your own development areas, but at its core it is about supporting two busy DDs and their wider teams.

Key tasks include:

• Manage the Deputy Directors' Diaries; prioritising requests and demands on their time. Proactively reviewing and resolving clashes as they occur.
• Organising meeting logistics, making sure the Deputy Directors are in the right place with right information at the right time; proactively liaising with people across DBT to make this happen.
• Provide Admin support to the DD and teams, for example (but not limited to), arranging travel, coordinating leave charts, maintaining distribution lists, submitting expenses and responding to transparency requests as required.
• Ensuring an effective management of the Deputy Directors inboxes, ensuring that important emails and clearance requests are flagged for clearance in a timely manner.
• Providing secretariat support to meetings as required, including minute taking and supporting with completion of actions.
• Ad-hoc responsibilities as requested by the Deputy Director, Head of Office or teams across ISTR.