Office Manager and Personal Assistant to the Headmaster

Brighton College Prep Hove is seeking to appoint a Office Manager and Personal Assistant to the Headmaster on a full-time, permanent basis.

Reporting to: Headmaster

Main purpose of the role: This is an exciting opportunity to join the School as an Office Manager and PA to the Headmaster. This role will manage the School Receptionist and Secretary, providing strong leadership of all office based systems, processes and projects. This responsible and confidential position will also provide administrational and secretarial support for the Headmaster.

Office Manager and Personal Assistant General Duties and Responsibilities:

• PA and secretarial support for the Headmaster.
• Management oversight of office function.
• Performance management and appraisal of the office team members.
• Diary organisation for the Headmaster.
• Clerking duties for the Board of Governors.
• Annual Policy review administration alongside ad-hoc updating as required.
• Leading on inspection-related administration.
• Preparing a range of correspondence to the highest standard.
• Meeting and looking after parents and other visitors, including booking rooms and refreshments.
• Taking minutes and following up on action points from Senior Management Team (SMT) meetings.
• Arranging staff interviews and Governor visits.
• Liaising with support departments within the school and with Brighton College; Catering, Porterage, Maintenance, Grounds, HR, Admissions.
• Building and maintaining key working relationships across the school and wider family of Brighton College Prep Schools.
• Maintaining and managing budget records.
• Minute taking for a wide variety of meetings, some of which may start after the working day (time in lieu will be given).
• Making travel arrangements.
• Oversight of site issues.
• Assisting with co-ordination of Headmaster presentation assemblies.
• Ordering stationery.
• Assisting with the pupil Census and school questionnaires.
• Any other reasonable management request.

Office Manager and Personal Assistant Person Specifications:

The successful candidate will have:

• Confident communicator, with the ability to build successful working relationships both internally and externally.
• Professional, friendly and approachable manner.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and take initiative.
• Management skill including performance management and appraisal processes.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Ability to deal with people in a fair, firm and consistent manner.
• Self-disciplined, with excellent time management skills to work to deadlines.
• Excellent English (spelling, punctuation and grammar) with a sharp eye for detail.
• Ability to maintain an overview of complex systems
• Respect for the confidential nature of the role.
• Dynamic and pro-active approach.
• Ability to work under pressure and take initiative.
• Ability to manage people in a fair, friendly and consistent manner.
• Strong working knowledge of Word, including an ability to format/ re-format (essential).
• Knowledge of the basic functions of Excel.
• Knowledge of Microsoft packages such as PowerPoint (desirable) and Publisher (desirable).
• Training on management information systems will be provided.
• Previous experience of working with management information systems and associated processes, eg: mail merge activity.

Hours of Work:

Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6.00pm with a 60-minute unpaid lunch break (45 hours per week). while the College is in session and at any other time (including during school holidays, at weekends and before and after the College's normal starting and finishing times) as may be necessary in the reasonable opinion of the Headmaster for the proper performance of your duties. This role will work term-time, plus an additional four weeks during the school holidays.

Office Manager and Personal Assistant Remuneration and Benefits

The salary will be £30,105 per annum. Complimentary lunch is also provided. Holiday entitlement is included in the salary for this role, annual leave should be taken outside of the working weeks.

Safeguarding and Equal Opportunities:

Brighton College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Any offer of employment will be subject to successfully completing pre-employment checks, including an enhanced DBS disclosure, the receipt of satisfactory references, the College's pre-employment medical questionnaire, relevant original ID documentation and examination certificates. The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the School is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children. The College is committed to ensuring that the recruitment and selection of staff is conducted in a manner that is systematic, efficient and effective and promotes equality of opportunity. Our full equal opportunities policy is available on the 'Careers' page of our website.