Southampton Culture Trust Executive Assistant Southampton, England
Job description
About us
We are creative, fast-paced, innovative, and our goal is to have Southampton’s independent Culture Trust is at the heart of leading an ambitious plan to revitalise Culture, Festivals & Events and Tourism across the city. Growing and developing new investment streams, developing a programme of culture and events that brings our city together will help drive forward our cultural and visitor economy and strengthen our creative sector. Southampton is an international gateway, the world’s front door to the UK and we’re ready to share our potential on a global scale.
Southampton Culture Trust was established to lead the 2025 UK City of Culture bid. After an extraordinary three years during which Southampton showed a collaborative commitment to Culture, Festivals and Events and tourism and received a boost in investment in regular funding for our creative sector, we’re delighted that this has created a step-change in our city. Culture is intrinsic to the future development of Southampton, and with recent success of a Place Partnership grant from Arts Council England, Southampton Culture Trust can now plan with certainty for the next three years and beyond.
We’re recruiting a new team to support this ambitious approach and work in partnership to support the delivery of a culture-led vision in Southampton. We’re excited by this opportunity to grow our team and discover talented individuals in the city, and beyond, that can play their part in turning the vision into a reality.
We are currently recruiting for the following permanent roles:
- Commercial and Marketing Director
- Trust Secretariat & Operations Manager
- Finance Manager
- Executive Assistant
All roles offer an attractive and competitive package including salary, Employer Defined Contribution Pension Scheme, generous holiday allowance and flexible working arrangements.
Applications close at midnight on Sunday 19 th March 2023
There will be a 2-stage recruitment process, please ensure you are available on the following dates:
First stage virtual interviews will be held on: Wednesday, 22nd March Thursday, 24th March
Second stage interviews will be held in person in Southampton on: Monday, 27th March Tuesday, 28th March
Are you a proactive, solutions-focused EA who thrives on delivering a comprehensive and seamless administration support to a busy Chief Executive’s Office? No day is the same, so you’ll enjoy working in a changing environment responding to the priorities of the Chief Executive and being confident as the first point of contact for the Trust with key stakeholders and senior officials. If you want to work in an environment which makes a difference to the lives of people in Southampton and are passionate about culture, then this could be your next opportunity.
Key responsibilities of the role include:
Working for Southampton Culture Trust you will thrive on making a difference to the cultural ambitions of Southampton and love getting things done. You will have demonstrable experience in providing a first-class service in running a busy CEO office including full diary management, proactively preparing briefings and information to ensure that CEO can carry out all aspects of their work effectively.
Communication will be your key strength demonstrating an aptitude for writing across a variety of styles from Board papers, briefings, speeches, and presentations. Your interpersonal skills and ‘can-do’ attitude will enable you to establish good working relationships internally and externally, providing a high-level, professional service and maintaining the profile of the charity. You’ll be committed to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and through your expertise in managing office systems and organising meetings you will be proactive in ensuring that access requirements are considered and actioned.
This is a permanent role with an attractive and competitive benefits package including DC pension scheme, holiday allowance and flexible working arrangement.
Anticipate, prioritise, and provide proactive support to the Chief Executive of the Southampton Culture Trust to carry out all aspects of their work.
- Take responsibility for all administrative aspects of the Chief Executive’s office, including organising and maintaining office systems, complex diary management, email and inbox management, stakeholder management, making travel and meeting arrangements, taking meeting minutes.
- Act as the first point of contact for the CEO’s office for both internal and external organisations/stakeholders/funders on behalf of the CEO.
- Provide responses to all general queries received via email, telephone, direct communications, social media channels and/or in person.
- Provide comprehensive meeting support including:
o Arranging venues, refreshment/accommodation, and equipment requirements o Agenda development and creation (as requested)
o Acknowledging and proactively supporting the needs of meeting attendees including relevant access requirements
o Taking comprehensive minutes and documenting actions
- Provide professional and proactive responses to all internal and external communications on behalf of the CEO:
o Prepare key communications including drafting presentations, Board papers, briefings, speeches, or background material and responding to emails on behalf of the CEO and maintaining a log of decisions and actions.
o Take the initiative, using independent thinking to progress urgent matters in the absence of the CEO of the Southampton Culture Trust.
- Demonstrate financial acumen and compliance by conducting finance processes effectively, including some budget management, prompt management of invoices and preparing expenses in accordance with corporate procedures.
- Develop professional working relationships across all levels of the organisation to: o Ensure effective collaborative working across the Trust to ensure the smooth running of the CEO’s office, particularly with key roles such as Commercial and Partnerships Director and Trust Secretariat & Operations Manager.
o Provide high level professional service to external stakeholders and contacts maintaining the profile and reputation of the charity.
o To represent Southampton Culture Trust and attend cultural events initiated by Southampton Culture Trust or cultural organisations within the city.
- Always ensure time management of the CEO and CEO’s office and ensure deadlines are met.
- Support teams across the Trust to deliver events or programmes as required
- Ensure accurate input of data onto all systems, with the appropriate handling of data in accordance with Culture Trusts policies, procedures and GDPR
- Any other duties as required by the CEO
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: £28,947.00-£38,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Flexitime
- Work from home
Schedule:
- Flexitime
- Monday to Friday
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Southampton, SO14: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Southampton, SO14
