Senior Executive Assistant within Management and Beyond Legal | London, UK

Senior Executive Assistant within Management and Beyond Legal

The Vacancy

We are recruiting a Senior Executive Assistant to work across our Management and Private Capital Solutions team.

About Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes is a pre-eminent law firm that serves a global client base in private capital, private wealth, M&A and disputes. Personal connection, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to excellence are at the heart of our firm. These values drive our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.

We are big enough to undertake the most complex and demanding mandates yet small enough to know each other well and to be agile, adapting to the needs of our clients. We seek to strengthen the firm by recruiting talented people from all backgrounds who want to build long-lasting and impactful careers with us. Our culture is challenging and supportive, creating an environment where individuals can thrive.

What this means for you

Joining Macfarlanes means being part of a collaborative, approachable team who want you to succeed. You'll be encouraged to get involved and recognised for your contribution.

We take your development seriously. Our learning and development programmes are second to none and are designed to help you strengthen your skills.

Above all, you'll be part of a firm where we all work together as part of a cohesive and supportive team, value your efforts and help you to thrive.

The team

You will be providing support to the Senior Partner and our Private Capital Solutions team, which consists of 4 specialists. You will work collaboratively with the Senior Executive Assistant to support the broader Management and Beyond Legal group, with support from the team's Administrative Assistant.

The role

The Senior Executive Assistant will provide a hands-on, client focused, executive-level support to the Senior Partner and Private Capital Solutions team. You will need to be proactive, adaptable, dynamic, and confident in your ability to drive change, influence and build relationships both internally and externally. You must also be trusted to always maintain the highest levels of discretion and confidentiality.

Key duties and responsibilities

• provide an executive level support to the Senior Partner and other stakeholders, pre-empting their needs and requirements and acting as the first point of contact;
• add value by taking a proactive approach to tasks and anticipating potential problems before they arise;
• proactively build trusted working relationships, rapport and connections across the firm, its Partnership and Business Teams;
• proactively manage a varied workload, with the ability to prioritise and manage stakeholder expectations in relation to deadlines and status of tasks;
• complex diary and inbox management for the Senior Partner and other stakeholders, with the ability to effectively triage and apply judgement in sending holding responses, and proactively resolve potential clashes when scheduling meetings;
• organise internal and external meetings, conferences and events, including events and meetings abroad, ensuring rooms and conference facilities are booked, liaising with attendees, arranging catering and technical equipment, preparation of agendas, and collating meetings papers in a timely manner;
• build an understanding of the Senior Partner and other stakeholders' work pressures, develop knowledge of key clients and priorities, and assist them to meet client and firm demands;
• coordinate annual Partner events and processes, and assist on ad-hoc projects as and when required, for example, managing bundles, collecting and collating large volumes of information and data, organising and assisting with client functions, seminars, networking events, etc;
• arrange complex travel bookings, including producing itineraries, obtaining visas, flights, taxis, accommodation, transfers and rental cars;
• understand and lead the end-to-end billing process including time recording for the Senior Partner, generating accurate billing reports, draft bills, disbursements, amending narratives and raising credit notes in a timely manner;
• proactively assist with the collections process including drafting and sending emails to clients for outstanding invoices;
• manage accounts payable (invoices), expenses and disbursements;
• understand the client matter opening process and use our file management system to run conflict searches, open matters, and liaise with the risk team on client due diligence requirements, ensuring all relevant documents are filed electronically, files closed and archived;
• manage group and stakeholder contacts and BD activities to ensure they are up to date through our CRM InterAction;
• accurate and complex document production, utilising document production where appropriate, ensuring that all typing, document formatting and redaction work is completed to a high standard; and
• attend training to develop specialist expertise (e.g. become a super-user on specific tools, billing, client reporting and knowledge management support).

Please note that the job description is not exhaustive and may vary in line with changes in the teams' objectives and firm's policy. This could include providing support to other practice areas during busy periods.

The candidate

Broadly, we want to recruit an individual that fulfils the following criteria:

Qualifications, experience and technical skills

• minimum five years' of strong experience working at an Executive Assistant level supporting at a C-suite or equivalent level, ideally within a law firm or professional services firm;
• secretarial qualifications desirable e.g. RSA, Cilex, legal secretarial diploma;
• advanced user knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
• accurate typing, spelling, grammar and proof-reading skills; and
• strong level of numeracy.

Personal attributes

• excellent communication and people skills;
• consistently maintains discretion and confidentiality;
• must be a team player, whilst also being keen to take responsibility for their own duties;
• excellent organisational and administrative skills with the ability to coordinate and organise others and prioritise tasks to meet deadlines;
• adaptable and flexible in an ever-evolving role;
• self-motivated and proactive, able to act on their own initiative and problem solve;
• client-orientated approach, both internally and externally;
• proven ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines whilst maintaining an excellent attention to detail; and
• a professional and presentable manner.

Application screening

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These checks will be initiated with your consent, and your CV will be sent to the provider by us. The screening will include but is not limited to your employment references, professional and academic qualifications including grades and any criminal records.

Your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Our commitment to inclusion

Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants.

If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the recruitment team at recruitment@macfarlanes.com.

The Company

The Company has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years. We have a vast number of employees, and provide support to clients from all over the country.