Personal Assistant to ESG Partner

London, England, United Kingdom

12/20/2024

The role:

We are looking for an experienced Personal Assistant to support the firm's Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) Partner.

The Assistant will provide comprehensive, accurate and timely one-to-one support to the Partner, the ESG Lead and team.

This role is for a proactive and highly competent PA who will operate successfully in a pressurised and fast-paced environment, providing professional and client-focused support to the ESG Partner and team. The individual needs to be adaptable to and supportive of change whilst sufficiently experienced to influence stakeholders and build relationships. The individual also needs to be comfortable uncertainty, and confident to explore new ideas and solutions.

The role will include undertaking complex tasks and projects and playing a critical role in managing all routine and daily administrative tasks. It would be advantageous for the PA to be interested in ESG and involved in all aspects of the team’s work.

This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate.

What will you do:

• Complex diary management for the ESG Partner and team ensuring the organisation and scheduling of meetings, including the identification and resolution of potential challenges and clashes and re-organising and re-scheduling where necessary.
• Pro-active management to ensure the ESG Partner are fully updated on diary activities, attending meetings on time and with the appropriate documents/presentations. Acting as gatekeeper for the ESG Partner to manage diaries.
• Co-ordination of both internal and external meetings on behalf of the ESG Partner and team, including booking all required facilities. Sourcing off-site meetings venues, arranging logistics for such meetings and dealing with related expenses/invoices.
• Planning and co-ordination of travel programmes to include liaison with overseas offices, booking flights, visas, hotels, car transfers.
• Proactive management of emails and post, using initiative to route emails to the appropriate individuals for swift response and actions, ensuring that these are followed up.
• Prioritise correspondence to enable the Partner to focus on urgent matters. Bring urgent matters to the Partner’s attention.
• Drafting high-quality correspondence, letters, documents, agendas, presentations and spreadsheets for meetings and ensuring their timely distribution and distributing and arranging DMC to undertake presentations.
• Responding to and typing/composing correspondence on behalf of the Partner.
• Production and maintenance of action lists for Partner, together with pro-active follow-up to ensure that any meeting follow-up actions are completed on time.
• Building and maintaining a comprehensive knowledge of, internal and external clients, mandates and projects.
• Dealing with invoices and expenses.
• Maintenance of up-to-date and robust filing systems to ensure efficient document management.
• Undertaking other activities as required by the Partner and the ESG Team including coordinating for the ESG team, taking ownership, relationship building, being involved in projects.
• Client facing work, including M&BD team events and webinars.
• This role has no supervisory responsibility and no responsibility for budgets.
  
  
  

What we are looking for:

• Must have previous experience of extensive diary management and international travel arrangements, to include visa applications within a professional services environment and preferable a partnership.
• Strong organisational skills and excellent attention to details.
• Demonstrate strength or character, resilience and tenacity in the face of change, challenge and resistance – and so able to be solution-focused ensuring effective processes and procedures are in place to ensure efficient working.
• A thorough understanding of working in a professional, service driven environment.
• Ability to maintain tact, diplomacy, trust and confidentiality.
• Confident and professional manner with the ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders and clients.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to interact at all levels.
• Anticipate and identify potential problems and provide innovative solutions proactively.
• A strong team player who is collaborative and supportive of the business and its initiatives.
• Demonstrate good influencing and negotiating skills in relation to secretarial duties.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office suite of products, particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
  
  
  

Here at Simmons & Simmons:

Simmons & Simmons is a place where dynamic minds thrive. Our culture is built on work that matters, you will work on inspirational and thought-provoking projects, using your influence to create positive impact for our clients, society and the planet. We also ensure that everyone’s voice is heard from day one, irrespective of job title, qualification, or background. You’ll be encouraged to have an enquiring mind and share ideas that can drive the firm forward. Through innovative learning and development opportunities, you will be provided with a platform to excel, enabling you to exceed your career ambitions and do things you never thought were possible.

Some key information:

• We offer a competitive package including bonuses dependant on role/level, private medical insurance and pension contribution.
• Our global skills academy provides our people, regardless of their role and location, with excellent learning opportunities (including live workshops, podcasts, short videos and practical learning experiences).
• We have adopted a hybrid working approach with a requirement for a minimum of three days in the office with flexibility dependant on role/team/client demands.
• We bring together the best legal advice from our established legal teams with non-traditional capabilities via Simmons & Simmons Solutions that enhance, expand and differentiate the Simmons offering.
• We are proud to rank as a Stonewall Top Global Employer and a Top 75 Employer for Social Mobility.
• We have a range of social and sports committees, summer and winter parties and monthly get togethers.
• We have a range of diversity networks to connect people and celebrate our differences which is integral to our inclusive culture.
• All UK offices have their own artwork collections – including Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin pieces in the London office. We have a long-standing history in supporting the art community especially up-and-coming artists.
• We have recently introduced a Strategic Advisory Council which is a mix of associates and business services who will propose strategic initiatives that align with our firm's mission and support the delivery of our Business Plan, shaping the future of our next-generation law firm.
  
  
  

Equal opportunities:

We are committed to fostering equality, diversity and inclusion within our firm and to ensuring equal employment opportunities. We believe that this commitment creates a vibrant and rewarding work environment. We are therefore committed to:

• Upholding equal opportunities, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender reassignment, gender identity, marital status, or pregnancy, including maternity and paternity. This commitment extends to addressing any instances of perceived or associative discrimination and harassment. We also ensure fair treatment during recruitment and selection processes for those who are serving or have served in the armed forces, along with their families.
• Accommodating requests for flexible working arrangements whenever possible. We encourage you to discuss your needs with us if this is something you require.
• Making our roles accessible to individuals with diverse abilities. If you need any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know so we can meet your needs.
• We offer a range of employee networks to support our colleagues. More information about these networks can be found in the D&I Information booklet that candidates are sent when invited to interview.
  
  
  

We encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every single requirement. We are looking for individuals who are passionate and eager to learn and grow with us. Your unique experiences and perspectives could be a great addition to our team.

If you’re interested in finding out more about this position, please contact the Recruitment Team . To apply for the role, click on the link at the bottom of the page or visit our career page for more details.