Job summary
Employer heading
Personal Assistant / Senior Administrator
Band 4
Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
The Senior Administrator and Personal Assistant will play a pivotal role in providing high-level, proactive administrative support to the Head of Service for mental health support teams in Essex. This role is essential in ensuring that senior staff members can operate effectively and focus on strategic priorities by managing their administrative workload. The role involves a mix of traditional personal assistant responsibilities alongside high-level project and office management tasks. It requires a dynamic individual who is comfortable with multitasking, problem-solving, and adapting to the evolving needs of a fast-paced community mental healthcare environment.
We are specifically looking for someone who has:
- Experience in an administrative or PA role, ideally within the healthcare or public sector.
- Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to handle multiple priorities.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with attention to detail.
- Discretion and ability to handle sensitive information confidentially.
- Proactive, flexible, and able to work independently as well as part of a team.
Main duties of the job
Alongside the attached job descritpton please ensure your personal statmenent reflects your experience in the following areas:
- Manage and coordinate complex diaries for senior leaders, scheduling meetings, appointments, and events.
- Prepare agendas, take minutes, and follow up on action points for meetings.
- Draft, review, and distribute correspondence, reports, and other documents on behalf of senior staff.
- Serve as the first point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, handling inquiries professionally and efficiently.
- Support project management by coordinating tasks, tracking progress, and ensuring deadlines are met.
- Maintain and organise electronic and paper records, ensuring information is accessible and up-to-date.
- Handle confidential information with the utmost discretion and in compliance with NHS policies.
- Assist with budget tracking, expense processing, and procurement tasks as required.
- Identify and implement process improvements to enhance administrative efficiency within the team.
- Liaise with other departments and teams to ensure smooth communication and collaboration.
Working for our organisation
Starting with NELFT
NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focusing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
Please see the NELFT recruitment video which explains more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nX8CImoDX8
Higher Cost Allowance
This post has a base of Phoenix House in Basildon and also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 5% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £1,258 and a maximum payment of £2,122 per annum pro rata).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Diary and Time Management
- - Efficiently manage complex diaries, including scheduling, rescheduling, and prioritising appointments to maximise productivity.
- - Coordinate and prepare schedules for internal and external meetings, ensuring adequate time for travel and preparation.
- - Handle last-minute schedule changes effectively and communicate updates to relevant parties.
Meeting Coordination and Minute Taking
- - Organise and coordinate meetings, both virtual and in-person, with stakeholders, ensuring logistical needs are met.
- - Prepare meeting agendas, circulate relevant documents in advance, and ensure all attendees are well-briefed.
- - Attend meetings, take comprehensive minutes, and manage follow-up actions, ensuring that outcomes are documented and tracked.
Document Preparation and Correspondence
- - Draft, proofread, and format high-quality reports, presentations, emails, and other documents on behalf of senior leaders.
- - Manage incoming and outgoing correspondence, prioritising communications and drafting responses as necessary.
Project and Task Management
- - Support senior staff with project coordination, managing timelines, tracking deliverables, and ensuring key milestones are met.
- - Develop and maintain project documentation, providing regular updates on project status and highlighting any issues or delays.
Office and Information Management
- - Oversee the organisation and maintenance of electronic and paper files, ensuring that records are up-to-date and compliant with NHS guidelines, such as incoming referrals.
- - Identify and implement improvements to streamline office operations and increase efficiency.
Additional Administrative Support
- - Provide ad hoc support to other members of the administrative team during peak periods or staff absences.
- - Undertake any other reasonable administrative tasks required to support the objectives of the team and senior leadership.
- Provide supervision to junior members of staff where appropriate.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system.
Use of AI
Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Administrative experience of working in a busy environment
- Experience of Supervising Administrative Staff
- Minute Taking Skills
Desirable criteria
- Excellent typing, email and Microsoft office skills
- Has worked within NHS and has experience of systems such as Healthroster, Systmone, eProcurement etc.
Communication
Essential criteria
- Good interpersonal and telephone skills
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Understands eProcurement System
- Healthroster Use
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Administrative / Business qualification
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Application numbers
If you require any additional support during the application process please contact [email protected]. We are happy to make reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment journey.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Natasha Ramcharitar
- Job title
- Head of Service, MHST Essex
- Email address
- [email protected]
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