Head of Business Support Team

About The Role

• Single senior representative for the firm’s PA team (a group of c35 PA/Administrators, Business Support Assistants who support one or more of our senior leaders and teams)

• Management of co-ordination and cross-cover by the PA team

• Management of day to day people issues amongst the PA team

• Ensuring consistency of the management of PA’s relationships with individual principals (the ‘principal’ being the most senior business person with whom each PA has a line management relationship)

• Objective setting and performance reviews along with principals within teams

• Oversight and co-ordination of the Promotion & Progression process for the PA population, taking responsibility for collecting feedback and ensuring responsibility is taken for decisions

• Management of additional shared tasks between the PA population, such as reception cover

Key Responsibilities

• Working closely with senior PAs who provide day to day oversight of business teams of PAs

• Working with ‘principals’ – individual Directors or MDs for whom PA’s work day to day

• Advocate and representative for the PA population in management meetings and other forums

• Liaison with other business services – travel, facilities, IT

• Liaison on behalf of PA team with HR, senior management and other teams

• Create a culture of regular and effective communication within the senior PA team as well as at individual level

• Managing PA objective setting and performance reviews

• Lead team performance meetings in accordance with process and protocol; ensuring development plans/training needs are identified and following up where needed

• Ensure processes are followed, and actively seek to improve wherever possible

• Creating an environment orientated to trust, open communication, creative thinking and cohesive working

• Working with the Senior PAs, and Principles to manage the PA recruitment process, including establishing genuine requirement for recruitment and liaising with the Resourcing team

Experience

• Experience as a PA or EA

• Strong background as a people manager

• Experience of HR and employee relations advantageous

• Experience of operating in professional services, consulting or finance organisation

• Experience of service delivery and support or project management advantageous

Technical Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence

• Able to influence and persuade

• Diplomacy and tact

• Logical, high critical reasoning skills

• Ability to deliver difficult messages

• Completer-finisher, highly organised