Executive Assistant – Tax Services Group (TSG)

Saffery Champness are looking for an experienced Executive Assistant to join our Tax Services Group within the southern regional offices. This role will be based in Bristol and is a full time permanent position.

Organisation:

• Complex diary management for Partner and Director, using own initiative to arrange meetings and conference calls and liaising with other secretaries and external clients during Partner absence.
• Comprehensive e-mail management – checking, prioritising and summarising e-mails daily and dealing with correspondence where necessary in the Partner and Directors’ absence; including collation of any action points.
• Collating documentation for meetings – letters of engagement (LOEs), reports, proof reading and circulating agendas in advance; carrying out research as may be required.
• Booking video and conference calls, meeting rooms and required refreshments, and lunch and dinner reservations.
• Booking attendance at meetings, conferences and seminars (including travel) and organising trip itineraries and logistics.
• Taking a proactive approach to building relationships with clients and their secretaries in a professional manner.
• Handling telephone enquiries in a professional and polite manner, taking accurate messages and following up on any agreed actions.
• Submission of expense claims.
• Passing of TSG (Tax Services Group) Data Admin team information for entry into the firm’s Practice Management system.

AML and billing:

• Taking ultimate responsibility for the Anti Money Laundering (AML) process for new clients which includes delegation of appropriate tasks to TSG Data Admin team; tasks include filling in the required data before onward circulation to the relevant case handler; following up on outstanding AML forms and proactive liaison with the AML team.
• Taking ultimate responsibility for the billing process (where required), to include delegation of appropriate tasks to TSG Data Admin team; tasks include raising bills, running reports, maintaining a detailed tracker of distributed and paid bills and the follow up with debtors.

Documents/Correspondence:

• Drafting and typing of confidential matters for partners.
• Printing of agendas, presentations and meetings papers specific to allocated partners/fee-earners.
• Production of PowerPoint presentations as may be required.
• Proof-reading of all documents to ensure the delivery of work of the highest quality.
• Carrying out PDF to Word conversions and vice versa.
• Any general correspondence as may be required from time to time.

Support of other functions/activities:

• Working with the Marketing Team as required, to include helping produce tenders, credential sheets, events, pitches, etc.
• Managing administrative marketing activities as required, to include the processing of any handouts for client events/seminars.
• Attending team meetings and taking minutes as required.
• Involvement in committees and steering groups relating to secretarial/administrative support/processes for the wider firm.

The team

The Tax Services Group of Saffery Champness is split across 4 offices in the South of England. Ranging from Trainees/Graduates all the way to Directors/Partners, with plenty of support at all ends. TSG roughly has 40-50 staff members across the 4 offices.

The office

This position is based within our Bristol office in Clifton, with flexibility of working from home as part of our Agile Working Policy

You

• Previous experience of working within a busy corporate environment is essential.
• Professional service experience desirable. Excellent client care skills – the ability to deal with queries from internal and external clients in a professional and polite manner and be the first point of contact for external clients.
• Excellent organisational skills – the ability to take responsibility for own tasks and prioritise work in a calm and efficient manner.
• Highly developed time management skills – the ability to work to very tight deadlines while maintaining a high standard of accuracy.
• Highly developed communication skills – the ability to communicate in a confident and professional manner with people at all levels within the business.
• Demonstrate flexibility/adaptability in meeting internal and external clients’ demands – in both the nature of the work undertaken and working additional hours as required to complete the task(s).
• Demonstrate proactivity and the ability to work on own initiative.
• Maintain high levels of confidentiality and discretion at all times.
• Reliable with a strong work ethic and a ‘can-do’ approach.
• Acts as a positive role model at all times.

Skills and knowledge

• High levels of IT literacy in Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, plus NetDocuments and Advance.
• A fast and accurate typist with excellent attention to detail, use of language and grammar.
• Any specific skills as may be required within particular department.

Salary/benefits

• 35-hour working week with flexibility around the core hours of 10am-4pm
• Paid overtime or time off in lieu (pre-approved and only where required).
• Working from home allowance of £25 a month.
• Eligibility for the firm’s Profit-Sharing Plan that runs from October to September each year. The scheme enables staff to share in the profits of the firm. Payment is usually c£1,000 for the full year. Paid in December.
• Salary reviews annually in October.
• Twenty days annual leave with an additional day added after each years’ service. On 1 January, after 1 year’s service, the entitlement will be increased by 7 hours and thereafter by a further 7 hours on 1 January following completion of 2, 3, 4 and 5 years’ service, giving a maximum of 175 hours after 5 years’ service.
• In addition, under the flexible benefits programme, employees are entitled to buy or sell up to five days (35 hours) holiday a year, subject to staff partner approval.
• Six-month probationary period.
• Life assurance cover of four times salary,
• Private Medical – Staff have access to a private medical scheme through the flexible benefits programme.
• Contributory pension scheme (The firm will contribute 4% of salary on a matched basis with employee from their date of joining)
• Access to a number of additional benefits with preferential rates under the flexible benefit programme, health cash plans, health screening/GP support, critical illness cover, dental and travel insurance, Techscheme, Cyclescheme, Gymflex and a Workplace ISA.