Vacancies

Executive Support Personal Assistant

Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.

About the role

At West Northamptonshire Council, our Executive Support Team deliver a high quality, flexible and well-rounded support service. Sitting within the Chief Executive’s Office, we provide support across the entire authority, including Adult Social Care, Corporate, Housing and Communities, Education, Environment and Regeneration, and Finance and Benefits.

We manage and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders and provide a key enabling service which allows leadership colleagues to function at their highest capacity and capability. We are quick and calm under pressure, equipped with the confidence and knowledge to act on matters affecting the highest level of local governance.  

We are a multifaceted team, built from a wide range of experiences and expertise. Each member of the team brings something different to the table, and our team is a place where diversity is celebrated and encouraged.  

We need bright and dedicated individuals, passionate about working towards making a positive difference for their local community, driven by their ambition to make a change.

You will be highly organised, capable of managing conflicting tasks and have a sharp attention to detail. You will show resilience and the ability to work in a pressurised environment. Your ability to build strong and positive relationships with colleagues at all levels in the authority will characterise your attitude towards work. You will bring new and innovative ways of working to the table, embrace change and continually evolve, as our new authority evolves.

You may not have experience in an administrative role, or have experience in the public sector, but you will be able to demonstrate your ambition to learn and will be driven by your attitude to deliver an exceptional service. We welcome applicants looking for a new challenge or looking to begin an exciting career in public service.

Our current vacancy is for a full time 6-month fixed term PA role to cover an internal secondment. This post is offered on a part-flexible basis, with the expectation of 3 working days spent in the office each week.

For an informal conversation about the role, please email Leanne.Wightman@westnorthants.gov.uk. We anticipate that interviews will take place on Monday 5 June.

What will you be doing?

Day to day, your job will look like: 

Organising and facilitating meetings and conferences: forming and circulating agendas and relevant documents, taking minutes where suitable.
Managing complex diaries, ensuring conflicting commitments are resolved, and time is allocated for focussed work and suitable breaks
Being the first point of contact for executive colleagues, fielding emails, phone calls and requests to the appropriate colleagues
Assisting with the delivery of projects
Being proactive in organising conferences/events and understanding the support required
Working as a team to ensure the needs of senior officers and members are met

About you

You will need: 

A positive, responsive, and adaptable attitude
Confidence to work independently
An innovative and creative approach to work
A team-driven approach to delivery
A customer-focussed approach

Your skills will include: 

Excellent organisation and time management
The ability to manage multiple tasks at a time and prioritise your workload
Top-quality customer service
Great IT skills and confidence with picking up new systems and software
Acting sensitively and with integrity around confidential information

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 27 days annual leave per year, 28 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
Car Lease scheme
Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
Ongoing training and development opportunities.
A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

The council is in the process of implementing a new pay structure and terms and conditions which will be applicable to this role.  The outcome could result in a future variation to the advertised salary, and this will be discussed at interview.

About us

We’re a new council, following one of the largest shake-ups in local government reform in recent history. As a new authority, we’re embarking on an exciting journey to deliver exceptional services for our residents, customers and communities.

Our vision at West Northamptonshire Council is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

When potential is unlocked, talent thrives.

Choose a career that offers you a true sense of achievement, fills you with pride and challenges you in a positive way, every day.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.