Executive Manager

My client is looking for an Executive Manager to support a high-profile politician and small wider team based in Sheffield on a permanent basis. This is a hybrid role, however, flexibility with regards to hours and days working from home will be required when needed.

Working closely with the politician and team, the overall aim is to maximise the politician’s time to enable them to focus on them to focus on their responsibilities and emerging priorities through effective forward planning and prioritisation and complex diary and inbox management, in addition to ensuring correspondence for the Principal that comes in via email and letter is dealt with effectively.

This is a hugely important and valuable role as it will require:

• Ability to think strategically, see, understand, and communicate the bigger picture with a wider understanding of the Principal’s operating environment, including the political context.
• Experience of planning and organisational skills, with the ability to react quickly and adapt to changing circumstances and manage competing priorities within a fast paced, political environment.
• Ability to take a pro-active and corporate approach to leading a team, including participation and delivery of objectives.

Duties will include:

• Acting as the first point of contact, dealing effectively and consistently with enquiries from internal and external stakeholders including Leaders, Councillors, Chief Executives, senior Whitehall Civil Servants and Ministers, and press/journalists in a highly professional, efficient, and timely manner.
• Providing full oversight and authority over the Principal’s diary, ensuring clashes are resolved and ensuring their time is used as effectively as possible.  Managing upwards to ensure the correct decisions are made.
• Managing and organising the Principal’s personal inbox and workflow, prioritising urgent issues and queries.
• Anticipating risks and issues occurring and work with multiple stakeholders to mitigate risks and maximise opportunities (particularly with regard to diary orchestration).
• Develop and motivate your team, monitoring workflows to deliver a strong performance management culture, where people are accountable for the delivery of results.
• Provide support and interface with support services to the Office, including human resources, financial legal, procurement and governance. Supporting on recruitment and procurement processes as appropriate.
• Data collection (including use of internet and research libraries) and analysis of information to inform the Principal in planning and decision making.
• Working closely with the team to ensure that appropriate cover is provided to the Principal when required.
• Service meetings, preparing relevant documentation and ensuring that outcomes are recorded and actioned. Holding colleagues accountable for ensuring follow up actions are completed, demonstrating sensitivity to the confidential content of meetings.
• Ensuring colleagues are aware of deadlines for papers/reports/briefings/speeches due for meetings and events.
• Commissioning and assisting with the creation of briefings, documents, reports, and presentations. Quality-assuring documents and correspondence before they are presented to the Principal.
• Maintain professional and technical knowledge as required including an awareness of development in relation to live issues and key policies to enable workloads to be prioritised.
• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the role as requested by the Principal.

Person Specification:

• Previous experience in an EA or similar role, within a fast-paced and ever-changing environment
• Ambition- Does not give in easily, prepared to stick at things to get something finished – persistent
• Visibly demonstrates a can-do approach to their role, challenges their face and changes – upbeat and optimistic
• Innovative in identifying problems and finding imaginative ways to solve them
• Demonstrates good judgement, capable of making decision with limited information quickly to ensure work is progressed      
• Organised and structured in how they work, demonstrating good personal time management
• Able to balance conflicting demands on their time, prioritises their workload well and able to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Collaborative- Open minded to the ideas, contribution, or comments from colleagues – does not dismiss what others have to say
• Willingly adapts their style to suit different situations
• Moves quickly to get things done, invests additional effort if needed to meet a deadline or a goal
• Open minded and receptive to new ideas and suggestions – acknowledges the benefit of change
• Impact- Understands the purpose, vision, and strategic intention of the organisation.
• Takes responsibility and ownership of their work, holding themselves accountable

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced EA to add real value within the political space.

Salary is up to £40,000 (DOE).

Lily Shippen are experts in recruiting top business support and Human Resources talent, including PAs, EAs, Receptionists, Private PAs and Office Managers as well as Generalists, L&D, Recruitment (Experienced and Graduate) and HR Operations, on a temporary, permanent and fixed-term contract basis. We work with clients across the UK from our offices in London and Manchester, as well as servicing international and remote roles.