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EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT IN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

• TBC
  Our client is a social enterprise on a mission to quickly and significantly reduce the amount of plastic waste produced and stop it polluting our rivers and seas. Having established themselves as both a global thought leader and a highly practical actor in the plastic pollution space, they are now at an extremely exciting stage of growth.  We're looking for an enthusiastic and forward-thinking Executive Assistant, whose track record paints a picture of someone who is incredibly organised and thrives on delivering the supportive role that will unleash the full potential of the CEO. 
  
  Your experience will demonstrate pragmatic and dynamic approaches to processing busy flows of information, opportunities, and requests. Our client needs someone who works with efficiency, dedication, and cool headedness to balance their time between day-to-day deadlines and larger deliverables.  As someone who organises the flow of information to the CEO, holds relationships with key external parties, and supports internal processes and culture, you’ll be a central figure in their team – a ‘people person’ with a dedication to strong communication skills. For all these reasons, you’ll be a critical part of how the team rises to the challenge of safeguarding the health of the seas for all. 
  
  This is a young and rapidly growing company and we hope you will build beautiful supportive relationships with your colleagues based across London, Greece, Maldives and Indonesia – and will relish working in the office in Totnes with the CEO, Director of Operations, and Head of Comms. Through their partners and programmes, the company are connected to an exciting and influential network of teammates, funders, private sector, public sector and international organisations. They offer competitive compensation and benefits, a flexible work environment with travel to project sites, and support personal development, including regular talks from leading experts and continuous training/learning experiences. 
  
  
  Hours:                  Full-time      
  Location:              Totnes, Devon      
  Salary:                 Dependent upon experience    
  Start Date:            ASAP
  Interviewing:        ASAP
  
  
  Responsibilities include, but not limited to:
  Your primary focus is as Executive Assistant to the CEO, to ensure she has maximum bandwidth to focus on strategic priorities. Specifically, you’ll: 

  • Manage incoming communications across multiple channels, from both internal and external parties; filtering, responding, organising, and escalating priorities. You will be the ‘front of house’ and the heart that supports the international team. Over time you will gain the knowledge to respond or traffic communications without involving the CEO, for example scheduling meetings, contract signing, resource requirements or approvals. 
  • Handle calendar across multiple time zones - scheduling meetings and managing logistics and making travel arrangements. 
  • Manage regular and ad hoc meetings and approvals; including queueing and scheduling requests with an understanding of organisational priorities, ensure clear objectives for meetings and time for pre work, and support on executing ‘next steps’. 
  • Ensure the CEO is well-prepared for meetings, preparing or organising briefings and ensuring any necessary materials or papers are accessible in a timely fashion. 
  • Support the CEO to nurture relationships – ensuring regular and timely contact with people from across all communities, to include partner Governments, major donors, advisory boards and colleagues. 
  • Manage contact database, mapping relationships, tracking, and scheduling meetings. 
  • Execute brilliantly run events, by leading on invite management, planning, logistics etc. 
  • Stay up to date on software to drive efficiencies in both your and the CEO’s role – they run off Microsoft Office 365, Trello, Slack, Zoom and Airtable. 
  • Diarise key events and dates; support the CEO to identify and attend key events; ensure birthdays, holidays, thank yous are celebrated. 
  • Work with the communications team to support CEO posts twice a week on her personal social media channels; LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram. 
  • Support the CEO with her expenses. 
  • Be willing to travel occasionally for work, mainly to London for events and team meetings. 

  You’ll also support with special projects within the executive function, which include: 

  • Fundraiser and donor relations 
    • Track and log outreach current and prospective funders. 
    • Ensure CEO is well prepared for meetings with prospects, and they are in regular communication.
    • Oversee the production of documentation required to follow up on meetings, including the production of proposals – asking for support from project teams. 
    • Understand application deadlines and support with writing and submitting applications. 
    • Coordinate all parties to ensure a smooth and efficient contracting process. 
    • Ensure report deadlines are scheduled and colleagues know when and how to support in preparing reports. 
    • Run weekly meetings while ensuring the prospect tracker is updated and a clear agenda is set in advance. 
  • Culture and team together time 
    • Act as cultural secretary, support the curation and management of internal team meetings as required, including team together days and other team meetings or trips, and monthly ‘Yarns’ featuring external speakers, Qi Gong sessions, and other opportunities for the global team and supporters to come together – to share knowledge, celebrate milestones and expand minds. 
    • Support the organisation to reduce the stress we place on nature and manage our carbon offsetting. 
  • Financial and HR administration, under leadership of Director of Operations. 
    • Support accountants with day-to-day requests. 
    • Support with recruitment for jobs reporting to the CEO and welcome new recruits into the fold, making sure they have the system / software access, knowledge and hardware needed to hit the ground running. 
  • Special campaigns 
    • E.g. Working with major donors’ office to produce ‘zero waste – ocean friendly’ Christmas hamper. 

  
  Candidates must be / have:

  • At least three years’ experience as an Executive Assistant, Project Manager or Senior Administrator, with a degree related to business, communications, or social science. 
  • Excellent written communication skills and a meticulous eye for detail, spelling and grammar. 
  • Examples of how you process, prioritise, and manage multiple tasks. 
  • Proven dedication to strong communication skills, for example: fund raising, investor relations, an active knowledge of social media. 
  • Experience in basic financial administration, processing invoices and managing small budgets. 
  • The disposition to act as the ‘front door’ for the company - representing their work, their people and their values – as well as to uphold a motivational and supportive culture within the team. 
  • Enthusiasm for software to optimise processes and build culture across remote communities. 
  • Experience to hold high-value relationships, try new tasks, and ask for advice when you need it. 
  • Genuine excitement about working with an innovative and ambitious start-up, striving to do all you can to stem the flow of plastics into rivers and seas. 

  
  How to apply: 
  Send your CV and a one-page Cover Letter (titled ‘Executive Assistant’) as one PDF document to ben@thearcadvisory.com:

  • Outlining your suitability for the role 
  • Providing practical examples that align with the criteria listed in the ‘Candidates must be/have’ section above
  • Specifying your availability