About the job

Job summary

Are you a professional and highly organised individual ready to advance your career as an Executive Assistant? If you are passionate about delivering exceptional support, this is an outstanding opportunity to acquire new skills and elevate your career at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

About the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. 

The role

As an Executive Assistant, your core responsibility will be providing efficient and responsive support in a fast pace environment, including diary and inbox management and PA to the Executive Director, Mergers.

Assisting with the prioritisation of time and tasks, you will play a major role in foreseeing potential problems and issues, reviewing documents and serving as the crucial link between the ED and the wider organisation and external stakeholders.

What you will need

The ideal candidate will demonstrate exceptional communication and liaison skills, having effectively represented organisations to external stakeholders while tailoring communications to diverse audiences.

Strong administrative skills are essential, with the ability to respond adeptly to complex and highly sensitive correspondence. We are looking for a candidate capable of prioritising multiple tasks to meet strict deadlines, coupled with an unwavering attention to detail.

What we can offer you

We recognise the value of work-life balance, offering hybrid working arrangements and flexible working options including part-time, compressed hours, and job share arrangements. You will be equipped with excellent technology tools and services that facilitate collaboration regardless of your location. Our modern, professional workplaces across the UK provide an exceptional working environment. Furthermore, we proactively promote mental and physical well-being through a diverse range of well-being initiatives, including an employee assistance programme and a supportive network of mental health first aiders. 

The CMA is a hugely rewarding, diverse and stimulating place to work – an opportunity to work for the public good and to stretch and develop yourself in doing so. All CMA staff enjoy generous benefits, including an excellent pension scheme, at least 25 days leave (increasing to 30 over five years), and generous maternity/paternity leave provision. You can also take advantage of interest-free season ticket loans and a cycle to work scheme.

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please click on the APPLY button.

CMA – Working for the CMA , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Or our LinkedIn page:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/competition-and-markets-authority/

Job description

Your role:

Key responsibilities for this role are:

• Providing high quality and fast paced diary and personal support to the Executive Director of the Mergers team (ED) in a professional, responsible and timely manner, acting as the key link between the ED and the rest of the CMA and with external stakeholders, such as legal, economic and policy advisors.
• Play a major role in helping the ED set and deliver their priorities, anticipating potential problems, researching issues, reviewing documents and liaising with colleagues across the CMA, so that the ED can focus their time on the most important strategic issues facing the CMA. Particular responsibilities include:

1. managing the ED’s diary and inbox exceptionally, tracking progress and proactively alerting them to emerging issues, dealing effectively with calendar and time conflicts and exercising sound judgement in prioritising appointments; 
2. preparing a daily pack for the ED (including schedule of meetings with brief details and supporting paperwork where appropriate);
3. reviewing forthcoming engagements to anticipate and confirm whether papers are being prepared which require review or preparation in advance;
4. completing document production in a timely manner;
5. organising travel and accommodation and processing expenses;
6. supporting the ED in preparing for external engagements.
7. completing document production in a timely manner;
8. organising travel and accommodation and processing expenses;
9. supporting the ED in preparing for external engagements.

• Preparing responses to email and other correspondence and bringing forward papers, emails, and other documentation to connect them into the relevant correspondence and / or day pack information.
• Maintain an accurate action log of all ED and the Mergers team actions that arise from the various CMA governance Committees that the Mergers team operates with.
• Maintain an accurate forward look of all forthcoming submissions to the various CMA governance Committees that the Mergers team operate with.
• Work closely with the CMA Executive Office to ensure the logistics, preparation and minute and action log recording for the Mergers team is undertaken in a timely and accurate manner.
• Act as the minute taker for executive committees, if required.
• Act as the Project Officer for projects personally led by the ED, including recording actions and / or minutes, conducting chase ups, managing risk, action, issues and decision (RAID) logs, establishing project check in meetings, and other associated project duties.
• Working closely with other Personal and Executive Assistants across the CMA, the Mergers team and the Mergers Support Team to organise, operate and support regular management and other cross-Directorate meetings as well as senior management 1:1s and other similar meetings. This includes tracking and managing agenda requests, forward planning and collating / circulating agendas and supporting documents in advance and in a proactive manner.
• Contributing to the organisation and delivery of the Mergers team’s away days, events and training, including engagement with external speakers / providers, as required and supporting the delivery of such directorate events.
• Proactively manage the annual performance management of the ED’s direct reports, e.g., setting up quarterly, mid-year and full year review meetings, request 360-degree feedback and ensure documentation is submitted in a timely manner.
• Work collaboratively and flexibly with other Personal Assistants in the Mergers team and with the Mergers Support Team, supporting administrative tasks across the whole Mergers Team and covering for them during annual leave and busy periods, if required.
• Assist in creating and maintaining internal SharePoint records management sites and folders.
• Actively learn about and engage with CMA work to support your work for the Mergers Team and the wider CMA.

Person specification

The CMA is seeking to appoint the best qualified candidate for this role and welcomes applications from under-represented groups.

When completing your written application, please ensure you provide evidence and examples (as far as you are able), in response to the Essential Criteria below, and against which your application will be assessed.

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application.

If you do not meet the lead selection criteria in your application, the panel will not be required to score your application against the remaining essential criteria of the role.

Essential Criteria

• Evidence of strong communication and liaison skills, with experience of representing organisations to external stakeholders and tailoring communications according to the needs of different audiences (lead criteria)
• Evidence of strong administrative and organisational skills, with experience of successfully prioritising multiple work tasks to meet strict deadlines (lead criteria)
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team as well as without close supervision, being responsible for own workload and supporting others in the delivery of work (lead criteria)
• Evidence of written skills demonstrating experience of responding to complex and often highly sensitive correspondence and / or issues.
• Proficient at document production and document management in a timely and accurate manner, with the ability to pay strict attention to detail at all times.
• Demonstrable research and analysis skills, with experience of gathering, summarising and presenting information for varying audiences.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,113, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £9,210 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review), an assessment and an interview. Arrangements for the interview will be enclosed in the invitation. Interviews will be conducted either in-person at our London office or on Microsoft Teams.

The sift will take place between 06 - 07 February 2024. 

If your application is successful you will be invited to attend an interview. You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account and book your interview slot. 

Interviews will be held from 12 February 2024 onwards.

The first part of the interview will be an in-tray exercise, more details to be shared nearer the time. The second part of the interview will be a 45-50 mins panel interview where you will be asked questions based on the Behaviours and Experience outlined in the role profile.  

Reasonable adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.

For example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.