Foundation Executive Assistant

Main Duties

The Garfield Weston Foundation is looking for a talented and ambitious Foundation Executive Assistant to provide support to the Director and the team.

The Garfield Weston team is small with high ambitions: it is passionate about the impact its support provides to charities across the UK.  This role will act as right-hand support to the Foundation’s Director and play a pivotal role supporting the organisation, the Trustees and external stakeholders.  The successful candidate will have the opportunity to build a wide range of office skills through on-the-job training: they will get close exposure to the management of a busy Foundation and an overview of all aspects of the operation of a grant-making organisation.

Ideal for a recent graduate or someone with three years’ work experience who is interested in building a career in the charity sector. If you are someone who wants the chance to work in a dedicated team with potential to make a real difference, and would find it interesting to understand the challenges facing the charity sector and develop your knowledge of grant-making, please get in touch.

The Role
A key member of the small Foundation team, the Foundation Executive Assistant will provide organisational and administrative support to the Director and other members of the team, helping the team operate most efficiently and ensuring the smooth running of our major grants programme. You must enjoy working within an environment that is mission driven, results driven, with community at the heart of its activities. You will be a team player, with the ability to exercise good judgment and act on your own initiative, while also taking direction where appropriate. You will have excellent communication, administrative and organisational skills and the ability to juggle multiple activities and priorities at one time. You must be able to manage confidential matters with complete discretion.

What you will do

• Support the Director to operate as efficiently as possible, including making sure the Director is briefed for meetings and has the necessary information to hand: undertaking research, preparing reports, agendas and board packs, taking minutes, following up on actions, helping to plan priorities, update timetables and plans, etc.;
• Develop excellent relations with the Trustees and Foundation advisers, and manage arrangements for Board Meetings;
• Provide particular support to the Deputy Chair, managing her diary and making best use of her limited time;
• Provide organisational support to the Major Grants function of the Foundation, including checking eligibility of applications, compiling board reports, actively inputting and drawing data from the database;
• Arrange external stakeholder meetings and manage logistics for site visits by staff members and Trustees; coordinating travel arrangements and sometimes complex itineraries, and proactively and swiftly dealing with changes in plans;
• Manage the Director’s diary and oversee elements of the administration of the Foundation including ensuring all relevant deadlines are met, effective and efficient reporting and filing, and carrying out ad hoc administrative office tasks as required;
• Act as a point of contact for the Foundation; Handle telephone calls and assess enquiries addressed to the Foundation and the Director, determine the proper course of action in line with Foundation guidelines, and action or delegate as appropriate;
• Support liaison across the team and ongoing teambuilding and cohesion;
• Support the induction of new team members: coordinating a welcome and onboarding plan and helping ensure excellent integration within the team;
• Manage confidential information with absolute discretion and tact
• Keep up with charity sector and grant giving trends, and share developments with peers;
• Maintain the values of the organisation and support the team in delivering its mission;
• Be flexible and willing to take on other suitable responsibilities for the Director as are appropriate for the role, as and when they arise.

Skills and Experience Required

What we are looking for  (skills & experience)

• Highly organised, with ability to juggle multiple tasks, prioritise effectively, deliver to deadlines and work well in a fast-paced environment under pressure;

• Excellent oral and written communication skills;

• Strong problem-solving skills, self-starter with the ability to use initiative to deal with challenges arising, but also to take instruction where required; enthusiasm to learn on the job;

• Great attention to detail with an understanding of the importance of accuracy when preparing documents and working on databases;

• Excellent IT skills, specifically Microsoft Office, plus proficiency utilising databases, and the ability to pick up quickly other software on the job with suitable training;

• Ability to work well alongside colleagues at all levels including senior management (internal and external);

• Highly responsible with the ability to work with absolute discretion, tact and confidentiality;

• Great team player;

• Adaptable, with a ‘can do’ attitude;

• Passion for the charitable sector.