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Executive Assistant

Job details
Posting date: 19 May 2025
Salary: £33,336 per year
Hours: Full time
Closing date: 01 June 2025
Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 2BX
Company: Suffolk County Council
Job type: Permanent
Job reference: 19298

Summary

- Suffolk County Council – Endeavour House, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX - Hybrid
- £33,366 - £39,513 per annum (pro rata for part time)
- 37 hours per week - Flexible working options available
- Permanent

Suffolk County Council is different. We're a modern, flexible, and forward-thinking organisation that's constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of our communities. As an Executive Personal Assistant with us, you'll enjoy a dynamic work environment where your ideas are valued, your potential is nurtured, and your work makes a tangible difference. Ready to reimagine what your career could be?

This is a unique exciting opportunity to be at the heart of Children and Young People’s service, supporting the Director of Children Services to deliver change at pace to ensure that all children and young people in Suffolk live their best lives.

Your role and responsibilities
Day to day tasks will include:
- maintaining realistic, efficient and manageable electronic diaries for the Director of Children Services and Cabinet Members as required.
- effectively managing the coordination of meetings, including developing agendas, minute taking, action logs and overall governance through DCS chaired meetings
- proactively deal with a range of complex enquiries on behalf of the DCS and Cabinet member, redirecting activity to meet customer expectation
- managing the DCS mailbox to ensure emails are actioned and tracked
- Work alongside the Executive Assistant Hub to provide a seamless systematic support to the DCS Office, linking in with the Personal Assistant Hub to share information and actions to provide a high-quality service of leadership support.

You will need:
- Exceptional organisational skills, to ensure that competing demands are managed and planned in advance to provide a proactive service
- Outstanding planning skills to approach horizon scanning of future tasks and enabling balance to support reactive short notice tasks.  
- Confident ability to work on own initiative to plan, prioritise and manage conflicting deadlines and priorities with minimal supervision in a pressurised environment 
- ability to understand, recognise, monitor and escalate risks at corporate, programme or project level
- excellent working knowledge of Microsoft packages, e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook etc
- to collaborate well with others and be flexible in your approach to meet the demands of the post and team.

You can view a full list of requirements in the Job and Person Profile (docx). If you believe you can succeed in this role, apply. Even if you don't meet all requirements, still apply. We would appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

The team
This role is central to the Executive Assistant Hub which forms part of the wider County CYP Business Support Services, working as a cog alongside the Personal Assistant Hub, Business Support Coordinators and Information Governance Team. The team provide the backbone of support for CYP Leadership and compliance to corporate standards.

Empowering Everyone
We’re big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We’re always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

For more information
Please contact Wendy Allen (she/her) for a casual conversation. You can reach her by calling 01473 260478 or emailing wendy.allen@suffolk.gov.uk

How to apply
Step 1 - Read the Job and Person Profile (JPP) (docx).
Step 2 - Click ‘Apply Now’ to start your online application.
Step 3 - Upload a supporting statement answering the following questions below (no more than 400 words per question). You should use the Supporting Statement template.
1. Could you please provide a detailed overview of the skills and competencies that position you as a strong candidate for the Executive Assistant role?
2. We would greatly value your insights on your methods for prioritising tasks and managing overlapping deadlines. What strategies do you implement? Additionally, could you share an example of a challenging situation you faced and the effective measures you took to resolve it?
3. Please outline your approach to collaborating with a team to establish processes that ensure a systematic methodology, enabling consistent support delivery during periods of absence, heightened workload, and competing deadlines
Please note: Without a supporting statement, your interest will not be progressed. Any supporting documents must be in either PDF or MS Word format. If you would like an adjustment to this process due to a disability, please contact us at 03456 014412 or recruitment@suffolk.gov.uk.
We value authentic applications that showcase your genuine skills and experiences. Applications suspected of being generated by AI may be rejected. We ask you to present your own work and ideas throughout the application process.

Closing date: 11.30pm, 1 June 2025

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts. #LI-Hybrid
As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We’re driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.
In return, you’ll enjoy:


up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
diverse and active staff networks
flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day


Plus lots more!


If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk).

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.