Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer
Background to The Brain Charity
Life for any of us can change in an instant. Experiencing a road traffic accident, a major stroke or being diagnosed with dementia can happen completely unexpectedly and can change our lives forever.
The Brain Charity offers emotional support, practical help and social activities to anyone with a neurological condition and to their family, friends and carers.
There are hundreds of different neurological conditions including stroke, brain tumour, brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease and many rarer conditions.
Role Summary
Job Title: Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive OfficerBase Location: The Brain Charity, Norton Street, Liverpool, L3 8LR
Responsible to: Head of People
Hours: 22.5 hours per week (preferably split over 5 working days)
The Executive Assistant to the CEO is a strategically important role within the organisation and imperative to the success of the charity.
A key objective of the role is to alleviate time pressure on the CEO, but also to support the Board of Trustees and Senior Leadership Team in areas of joint or strategic need.
The EA to the CEO not only fully understands the strategic objectives of the organisation, they also proactively identify business needs and opportunities to ensure that those objectives are achieved.
The proactive nature of the role involves scouring the CEO’s activities and their own work patterns for any inefficiencies to maximise their time. And in turn, this helps the charity to maximise its return on its investment in the CEO.
The Executive Assistant to the CEO holds a unique and privileged position within the organisation, whereby the nature of their role means that they have detailed knowledge of, and productive working relationships within, all areas of the charity and with its external stakeholders.
Aiding positive communications is another vital role and the EA must always act as the eyes and ears of the CEO, which means being alert to potential issues, conflicts, or any other information that may be helpful. This close partnership with the CEO requires a high level of loyalty to the CEO and belief in the strategic aims.
The EA will also provide executive personal assistance to the CEO, and secretarial support to Senior Leadership Team and Chair of the Board of Trustees.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Task Management- Open, sort and distribute the CEO’s mail including electronic mail, advising on any urgent matters.
- Assist with preparation for and follow up actions from meetings attended by the CEO.
- Act as a gatekeeper of the CEO’s time by managing face-to-face visits, e-mails, and telephone enquiries.
- Enhance and streamline processes and procedures relating to the work of the CEO.
- Manage and respond to straightforward correspondence on behalf of the CEO and produce draft replies for more complex issues.
- Manage the timeliness of the CEO’s responses to internal and external queries and communications.
- Undertake specific research projects to support work on key strategic developments.
- Research and report back to the CEO on a range of ad-hoc issues as required.
- Assist in the collation and preparation of statistics, management information and reports as required by the CEO.
- Distribute agendas, minutes and other relevant meeting documentation as required.
- Work with the Chair, the CEO and the Secretary of the Board of Trustees to Co-ordinate Trustee Board meetings.
- Co-ordinate the completion of the quarterly reporting dashboard through collation of all data and info from Department Heads/Managers.
- Manage the diary of the CEO including organisation of itineraries (including arranging appropriate travel and accommodation if needed).
- Liaise with external stakeholders visits and prepare meeting schedules.
- Maintain the CEOs electronic & hard copy filing systems.
- Screen incoming calls as necessary and deal with general enquiries or transfer as required.
- Proofread and edit the written work of the CEO.
- Act as the go-to person when the help of the CEO is needed at senior level.
- Organise events (internal and external), including refreshments as required.
- Compile letters on behalf of the CEO.
- Support the CEO in preparing PowerPoint presentations for meetings and events.
- Prepare and publish social media posts on behalf of the CEO.
- Interact with colleagues, service-users and the wider community as a representative of the CEO as and when required.
- Create communications that benefit the CEO’s standing externally and within the organisation.
- Liaise with a wide variety of stakeholders both internally and externally, to maintain positive relationships for the CEO.
- Act as a conduit between the CEO and their direct reports to ensure internal activity can be filtered and dealt with freeing up CEO time and capacity.
- Provide the CEO with briefings and background information on key stakeholders prior to meetings.
- Act as a gatekeeper of people wanting to use the CEO’s time.
Application information
To apply, you will need to complete the application form in the downloadable pack via our website https://www.thebraincharity.org.uk/about-us/jobs/. Please do not send in your CV, as this will not be counted.
Closing Date: 5pm, Friday 21st March 2025. Please note: we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role.
Interviews for successful applicants will take place during the week commencing Monday 31st March 2025.Please e-mail HR@thebraincharity.org.uk or ring 0151 298 2999 if you have any questions.