Personal assistant & office manager (fixed term maternity cover)

Closing date for applications: 21 August 2025 at 9.00am

Salary range: £38,000 - £40,000 per annum, depending on experience

Contract: This is a fixed-term contract for maternity leave cover for 10-months, starting early October 2025 with the possibility to extend on a monthly basis, up to 3-months hereafter

Hours of work: Full-time, Monday-Friday, 10:00-18:00, at the Foundations office in London, EC1


Step behind the scenes of a leading arts foundation and provide essential support to senior staff while ensuring the smooth running of a creative and collaborative office.

We are seeking a proactive and highly organised individual with previous experience to join us as personal assistant & office manager on a fixed-term contract. This role is central to the smooth running of the Foundation, providing essential support to our managing director and chief operating officer and ensuring our offices remain a welcoming and creative space.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone looking for an interim role to join Freelands Foundation. The successful candidate will work closely with the Foundation's managing director and chief operating officer, providing them with day-to-day assistance, while overseeing the smooth running of the office. The personal assistant / office manager will also assist the wider team with administrative tasks, including preparing materials for trustees and advisory committee meetings. They will oversee the office, managing stationery supplies, maintaining equipment and liaising with building services.


Responsibilities

Personal assistant

• Handling correspondence for the director including emails, letters and phone calls
• Managing the director’s diary and email inbox
• Ensuring the effective running of meetings chaired by the director and COO, creating agendas, disseminating materials and producing minutes.
• Providing administrative support for the director and COO, such as arranging travel, accommodation, and managing expenses.

Office management

• Deliver the smooth running of the office, sourcing office supplies, maintaining kitchen refreshments, and managing the relevant invoices and budgets
• Greet office visitors and ensure all guests are appropriately welcomed
• Manage The Freelands Foundation public-facing inbox, collating responses to queries as and when required
• Support the coordination of regular team meetings and social events, including monthly team socials and annual celebrations
• Manage relationships with relevant contractors, such as building contractors and regular suppliers
• Coordination of post and deliveries

Human relations

• Ensure up-to-date employee records are maintained for both permanent and temporary team members
• Support the administration of recruitment, including the interview process, onboarding and offboarding
• Help line managers in the administration of their performance management duties, sending reminders for annual reviews and making sure all relevant pastoral records are kept up to date
• Processing any necessary background checks for new members of the team and arranging training as required

Governance

• Lead on the coordination of quarterly Trustee meetings, including preparation of agendas and production of meeting minutes
• Support the collation of governance-related information, such as directors’ conflicts of interest and terms of reference

Knowledge, skills and experience

Essential

• Previous personal assistant / executive assistant experience to senior leadership within an organisation
• Exceptional administration of Microsoft 365, in particular, Outlook and Word
• Comfortable working with HR systems, with working knowledge of BreatheHR a benefit
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to resolve problems quickly and efficiently
• Proficient organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and multitask with ease
• Proactive people management skills, including with senior management and external stakeholders
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to handle confidential information with sensitivity and discretion
• Positive and proactive approach, ability to find practical solutions and to work cooperatively with internal and external stakeholders
• Good project management and event planning skills

Desirable

• Knowledge of charity governance structures and operational practices
• An active interest in visual art and education

Please refer to the full job description and candidate specification by clicking the 'Apply' button and downloading the job description from the web page.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.