Personal Assistant

Role Overview 

We are looking for a PA or EA to work with the MD and Deputy MD of our Public Affairs team based in our London office at Thomas More Square. The successful candidate will be intuitive, professional, flexible and discreet at all times with a composed, proactive attitude and careful attention to detail.

This is a fantastic opportunity to provide high quality, executive support to both the MD and Deputy MD of Public Affairs, our social research and evaluation team within Ipsos UK. 

The role is fast paced and pressurised and needs someone with tenacity and drive who is proficient at dealing with the demands that come with leading the PA team of over 320 staff.

Ipsos UK offers a hybrid working environment, 3 days in the office and working the rest from home. 

What will I be doing?

• Maintaining and managing the MD and Deputy MD of Public Affairs’ diaries and co-ordinate diaries for meetings, adapting to regular changes and demands.
• Providing a superior and professional service at all times covering all secretarial and administrative duties associated with the MD and Deputy MD’s role and broader department.
• Undertaking confidential, sensitive and time critical work.
• Assisting in the preparation of ad hoc research presentations and reports for the MD and DMD – mainly producing high quality PowerPoint charts to specification for clients using Ipsos data and other information.
• Arranging internal meetings, including refreshments, conference room bookings, and technical set up of virtual and hybrid meetings to ensure a high quality experience for participants. Manage invites and attendance and communicating to attendees in a timely and effective manner.
• Creating Leadership Board packs and presentations in PowerPoint. Collating board report contributions and ensure their preparation by others within the requisite time period, set deadlines and format.
• Drafting and circulating agendas, minutes and action plans of Senior Director meetings, including monthly PA Management Committee, Election planning meetings, UK People Team, Noticeboard and Senior People Team.
• Proactive inbox management, responding to emails where required. Being a gatekeeper and making decisions on behalf of the MD and Deputy MD.
• Assisting with formatting of reports in Word and in collating and analysing financial data in Excel.
• Arranging travel and booking transport, accommodation, visas and other activities as required.
• Managing expense claims and time sheets.
• Meeting and greeting visitors of all levels of seniority.
• Taking messages and deal with enquires via telephone, email and post and deal with them appropriately, often corresponding on behalf of the MD/DMD.
• Providing ad hoc cover to other Directors and Teams as required.
• Use AI effectively to do background research, help compile minutes and actions.
• Helping with the arrangement of conferences/ longer meetings including the annual meeting of all the global heads held in London.
• Keep track of receipts and invoices when products or services are paid for using the company card, including keeping track of any business unit/ job numbers related to the expense.
• Assisting in the organisation of social events such as Christmas parties, including liaising with event/restaurant venues.
• Possibly line management responsibilities of more junior administrative staff in the future.

What do I need to bring with me? 

• Personal Assistant experience at a senior level in a professional, complex corporate environment.
• Very strong and creative capabilities in PowerPoint are essential to the role.
• Advanced capabilities and understanding in MS Teams, Word, Excel, and Outlook.
• Excellent understanding of how to use technical AV facilities and the ability to keep-up with the advances in technology e.g. regarding hosting hybrid meetings.
• Exceptional organisational abilities to manage many different tasks simultaneously.
• Able to work quickly and manage a high volume of work. Calmness and focus under pressure is essential alongside an impeccable attention to detail.
• Proactively able to foresee requirement issues and able to plan schedules carefully and predict likely clashes.
• Excellent demonstrable communication skills and ability to work with a wide range of people at different levels of seniority, with an understanding of the pace and personalities involved.
• Capability to manage own projects and improve processes.
• Enthusiastic, friendly, cheerful, willing to build relationships and get stuck into the role.
• Flexible and adaptable to changing needs, and able to push back and prioritise.
• An ability to learn about and understand the PA business, its people and its priorities.
• Able to manage confidential and sensitive information discreetly.
• A self-driven worker, able to take responsibility and ownership of tasks.

What is in it for me? 

Ipsos UK offer an attractive basic salary and a rewards package including 25 days annual leave, a pension scheme and a great range of flexible benefits to suit your personal needs. For roles at Research Manager level and above we also offer private healthcare.

In addition to this we have a fantastic Learning & Development offer delivered through a mix of face to face, online or on-demand; you can read more by clicking here. 

We realise you may have commitments outside of work and will consider flexible working applications – please highlight what you are looking for when you make your application. 

Ipsos is committed to equality, treating people fairly, promoting a positive and inclusive working environment and ensuring we have diversity of people and views. We also recognise that this is important for our business success – a more diverse workforce will enable us to better reflect and understand the world we research and ultimately deliver better research and insight to our clients.

Ipsos is one of the world’s largest research companies and currently the only one primarily managed by researchers, ranking as a #1 full-service research organization for four consecutive years. With over 75 different data-driven solutions, and presence in 90 markets, Ipsos brings together research, implementation, methodological, and subject-matter experts from around the world, combining thematic and technical experts to deliver top-quality research and insights. Simply speaking, we help the biggest companies solve some of their biggest problems, serving more than 5000 clients across the globe by providing research, data, and insights on their target markets. And we’re proud to share we’ve received our Great Place to Work Certification in 2022 & 2023!

The Public Affairs Service Line is the world leader in Social and Opinion Research. We work with clients on political and public opinion polling, citizen and stakeholder management, social policy improvement, sustainable development strategy and identifying societal trends and perceptions across several sectors. We assess how government and public affairs policies as well as societal trends and views impact our client’s brand/products/markets.

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