Personal Assistant

Job Description: Fellowship Programme Assistant (part-time)

Line Manager: Team Leader (Active Fellows)

Objective: Assisting in the maintenance of financial processes

Experience:  Bachelor’s degree (2:1 or above).

Start Date: 1May 2024 or shortly thereafter.

Duration: For an initial period of 12 months, subject to review. 2 day per week contract.

Hours: Part-time. Eight hours each day, with flexible working by arrangement around core hours of 10am – 4pm

Location: 1 day in our Elephant and Castle SE1 office and 1 day working from home.

Salary: £29,160 pro-rata

Number of positions available: One

Application Deadline: 25/04/2024

Organisational Background

The Council for At-Risk Academics is a UK-registered charity founded in 1933 under the leadership of William Beveridge, to rescue academics suffering persecution under the rise of Nazism and facilitate their continued work in safety. Sixteen Cara Fellows from the 1930s and 1940s became Nobel Laureates, and many more innovators in their fields, including, Nikolaus Pevsner, Lise Meitner and Karl Popper. A number of Cara’s founders and Council members also personally provided places and/or funds to help individual academics; and Cara, known in the 1930s as the AAC, later the SPSL, was closely involved in the successful effort in 1933 to bring to London the Warburg Institute art library, which had been prohibited by the Nazis, and six of its staff. The Fellowship Programme is the continuation of the rescue mission operation started in 1933.

Cara has been a lifeline to academics at risk for just over 90 years, as and when world events have placed them in the line of fire: Hungarian Uprising, Cold War, Apartheid South Africa, Iran, Latin American Juntas, Vietnam, Kosovo, DRC, Rwanda, Sudan, Zimbabwe etc. and, more recently Iraq, Turkey, Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine. Cara support is typically framed as temporary sanctuary offered at times of heightened risk.

Cara Objectives‘To assist academics who have been, or are, or are at risk of being, subject to discrimination, persecution, suffering or violence on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, to relieve needs among them and their dependants and ensure that their specialist knowledge and abilities can continue to be used for the benefit of the public.’

‘To advance education by supporting academics and their educational institutions in countries where their continuing work is at risk or compromised, to ensure that such academics and institutions can continue to fulfil their critical role as educators for the public benefit.’

This is a critical time to join our dedicated and friendly Fellowship Programme team as we expand our capacity to support at-risk academics from the Middle East, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Russia and many other countries.

Part-time Fellowship Programme Assistant Role & Responsibilities

·       Produce a weekly list of payments.

·       Produce financial paperwork.

·       Schedule Fellows’ placement disbursements on SalesForce (SF) – those having simple funding allocations and support the schedule of more complex funding requests when needed.

·       Update disbursement details once paid on a weekly basis.

·       Input payments made via our Pleo card to SF and link allocations.

·       Update details for new grant requests (funding request status, disbursement details, and relevant allocations) and ongoing requests when needed.

·       Support management of Fellowship-related grants (English, hardship, mentoring, small grants).

·       Create payments and allocations for opportunities on SF once an award letter has been issued.

·       Track invoice status and notify colleagues to initiate the invoicing process.

·       Send invoice requests to our bookkeeper and update the relevant opportunities and payments on SF.

·       Draft invoices when needed.

·       Update opportunities and payments on SF for invoice paid/funding received.

·       Analyse data for reporting to stakeholders and donors.

·       Assist during the yearly audit.

Responsibilities also include related activities that might arise in relation to the Fellowship Programme as required by the Executive Director or Deputy Director/Fellowship Programme Manager.

Benefits of Role

·       Challenging but rewarding work, always life-changing, sometimes life-saving

·       Competitive salary

·       Team and individual training opportunities

·       Weekly case review meetings with line manager, plus quarterly 1-1 sessions with manager to discuss role and to plan individual professional development

·       Hybrid working, home and office

·       Eight hours each day, with flexible working by arrangement around core hours of 10am – 4pm

·       25 days plus Bank Holidays annual leave entitlement

·       8% employer pension contribution

·       Convenient office location at Elephant and Castle, close to Tube (Bakerloo and Northern lines) and bus routes 

Person Specification

Essential

·       Bachelor’s degree (2:1 or above)

·       Fluent English (spoken and written)

·       Proactive with a willingness to learn

·       Great communication skills – internal and external stakeholders

·       Ability to manage workload in a fast-paced environment

·       Excellent record keeping and attention to detail

·       Keen team player who is ready to support and help colleagues

·       Ability to work independently and in a team

·       Good time management – with ability to prioritise independently work to deadlines

·       Understanding of issues of confidentiality

·       Interest in and commitment to the work of Cara

·       Confident use of Microsoft package

·       Confident use of Salesforce or other CRM platforms

Desirable

·       Bookkeeping qualifications

·       Previous experience in a finance support role