PA – Global Specialty

From day one, our mission has been to create an independent business with a unique culture – one that is controlled by the people who work for it. Finding the most talented and entrepreneurial people has always been key to our success.

People come to Howden for lots of different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. That’s what sets us apart, and why we nurture and retain the best talent in the market. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

PA – Global Specialty

Role overview

We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic individual, with a successful track record and proven experience of supporting C-suite; an executive liaison that can work flexibility and efficiently in line with business and stakeholder needs. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to join our energetic, fast paced and dynamic team on a full time, permanent basis and will need to have excellent organisational and communication skills, with a strong attention to detail.

The successful candidate will be responsible for providing executive support to our Head of Global Practices & Growth and Head of Delivery – Global Specialty, and during busy periods they may be required to provide support to other members of the management team. The jobholder will also maintain the executive’s personal diary.

Role responsibilities

Schedule Management:

Maintains personal and work diary
Organises meetings, presentations/speaking engagements, venue/room bookings, catering and the preparation of relevant material in advance of meetings
Organises local and international travel arrangements, including visa requirements, insurance arrangements and the preparation of travel itineraries
Ensures that time is effectively planned, no scheduling conflicts and that their executive manager is effectively prepared and issued with any relevant documentation and a daily timetable in advance of each working week

Information Preparation:

Prepares and formats information for internal and external distribution. This may include writing letters and memos, creating presentations, transcribing dictation, editing, proofreading and internet research

Records Management:

Manages paper and electronic filing systems
Ensures that any administration processes are compliant with Company, legal or regulatory requirements and scalable, utilising automation where possible

General Administration Support:

Screens calls, ensuring that their executive manager and the executive team are able to focus on their key priorities, dealing with issues as appropriate
Manages expenses records and claims and invoice processing
Open and respond to postal queries, face to face enquiries
Organises e mail systems, responds to e mail using agreed processes
Posts messages/communications on the intranet/social media on behalf of their executive manager

Customer focus & Relationships:

Develops strong relationships with the relevant executive teams. Develops strong relationships with their manager’s direct reports
Networks with other Assistants
Behaves with all clients (both internal and external) fairly and ethically
Maintains an appropriate group of preferred suppliers e.g. hotel and conferencing services, taxi services, restaurants
Develops strong relationships with suppliers
Negotiates with suppliers to provide best balance of quality, service and price

Management/Personal Development:

Acts as a role model for positive behaviours
Manages the recruitment processes where vacancies arise in their area of responsibility, working with their executive team as appropriate
Motivates and mentors others within the corporate support function to deliver high performance and achieve objectives
Actively undertakes personal development to ensure up to date knowledge and understanding of best practice
Remains aware of external, industry, legal and regulatory developments etc to ensure practice and outputs are of a sufficiently high standard
Keeps informed of all legal and regulatory developments relevant to the Operating Entity/Group

Key requirements

Previous experience of working in a PA capacity
It is not essential if the job holder has worked in Financial Services but an understanding of insurance would be beneficial
Although not essential it would be an advantage if the job holder has previous experience of managing/supervising others
Highly motivated and organised
Ability to work effectively within a dynamic team
Proactive, able to anticipate issues and rectify these on
behalf of their manager/team
Strong attention to detail with ability to produce accurate documentation: professional documents which are visually appealing and correct with regards to grammar, layout and spelling
Strong prioritisation and organisational skills – able to demonstrate flexibility with regards to working hours when required and able to produce a high quality of work within short deadlines
Internal networking skills
Competent IT skills including, but not limited to, Microsoft Office Suite
Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with internal and external stakeholders at varying levels of seniority
Able to deal with confidential matters appropriately

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

Yes, we offer all the usual rewards and benefits – including great healthcare provision, a wide variety of wellbeing offers, competitive salary, generous pensions and more – but we know you expect all that.

What you might not expect is a job where everyone has a voice, where volunteering in the community is part of the day job, and where everyone is encouraged to play a part towards our sustainability goals. We want people who want to make a difference – not just in the workplace, but in the industry and in the wider community.

Our culture: People First

Our core values dictate how we live and work. We are a group with independence and people at its heart and we are a home for talent with a unique culture: the biggest small company in the world.

The focus on being a People First business has always been at the very heart of the Group; Our vision was to create an independent business with a unique culture and one that would survive and thrive as a business controlled by the people working for it. And finding the most talented and entrepreneurial people to join the Group has been and will continue to be key.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Howden we consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness and respect, regardless of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or family circumstances.

Our Culture: People First

We’ve travelled far since opening our first office in 1994. Back then we were local experts – based in London, with direct access to the world’s biggest insurance market. We’re still locals, and we still deliver the right advice and the right insurance to our clients. But now, we’re local all over the world. With 15,000 global colleagues and a partner network spanning more than 100 territories, we are the largest independent insurance broker in the world. But our values haven’t changed since day one, when we set out to create a company grounded in:

An employee-ownership model
Aligned external investors
The trust and integrity born of friendship
Expertise
Independence

Our focus on being a people-first business has always been at the very heart of Howden. Our vision was to create an independent business with a unique culture; one that would survive and thrive as a business controlled by the people working for it. Our employee ownership model sets us apart in the market. It’s created a culture of collaboration and innovation, where we’re driven to think bigger and empowered to challenge convention.

Our flat structure and entrepreneurial spirit help us attract the best people and empower them to be the best version of themselves. And when we bring in and nurture great talent, more follows. That makes us better – and that’s better for everyone.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Howden we consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness and respect, regardless of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or family circumstances.
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