Personal Assistant – AR

Location: Oldham Council
Service Area: Adult Social Care
Reporting to: Deputy Director of Adult Social Care

Job Overview

Oldham Council is looking for an experienced and highly organised Personal Assistant / Higher Level Business Support Officer to provide dedicated business, governance and executive support to the Deputy Director of Adult Social Care.

The successful candidate will play an important role in coordinating senior management activities, supporting governance and assurance processes, maintaining performance information and ensuring key projects and workstreams are effectively monitored.

This is a varied role combining senior-level administrative support, meeting coordination, reporting and project support. The postholder will need excellent organisational skills, strong attention to detail and the ability to manage competing priorities while communicating confidently with senior managers and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Governance and Meeting Coordination

• Coordinate Quality Assurance Group (QAG) panels and other governance meetings.
• Prepare agendas, collate and quality-check meeting papers and circulate documentation.
• Take formal and informal minutes, recording decisions, actions and risks.
• Maintain action trackers and follow up outstanding actions with relevant managers.
• Support preparation for management team, senior management, board and partnership meetings.

Performance and Reporting

• Maintain spreadsheets, databases and performance tracking systems.
• Collate performance, activity and financial information from different teams.
• Produce regular reports, dashboards, charts and briefing documents.
• Analyse and validate information, investigate discrepancies and correct errors.
• Monitor deadlines and escalate outstanding information where necessary.

Executive and Business Support

• Manage complex diaries, appointments and meeting commitments for senior management.
• Draft correspondence, reports, briefings and presentations.
• Coordinate responses to councillor, executive and corporate requests.
• Act as a key point of contact for internal departments, external organisations and partners.
• Handle sensitive and confidential information appropriately.

Team and Workload Coordination

• Support the coordination of workloads, priorities and commitments across direct reports.
• Track delivery of actions and ongoing workstreams.
• Arrange team meetings and maintain team action plans.
• Monitor key commitments, training and annual leave arrangements.
• Provide administrative and coordination support to ensure deadlines are met.

Project and Programme Support

• Maintain programme plans, project trackers and risk logs.
• Monitor transformation projects, milestones and key deadlines.
• Support procurement, recruitment and mobilisation activities.
• Coordinate information requests and gather evidence for reporting requirements.
• Chase progress updates and ensure relevant actions are completed.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Previous experience in a Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant or Senior Business Support role.
• Experience supporting senior managers or directors, ideally within a local authority.
• Experience coordinating meetings, preparing agendas, taking minutes and maintaining action trackers.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Experience producing reports, maintaining spreadsheets and handling performance information.
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience liaising with senior stakeholders and external partners.
• Ability to work independently, use initiative and maintain confidentiality.

Desirable Experience

• Previous experience within Adult Social Care or another local authority service.
• Knowledge of council governance, assurance and reporting processes.
• Experience supporting projects, transformation programmes or service improvement work.
• NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration or an equivalent qualification.

Personal Attributes

The ideal candidate will be proactive, reliable and detail-oriented, with the confidence to support senior management and coordinate activity across multiple teams. They should be able to work independently, take ownership of tasks and maintain a professional approach when dealing with sensitive information and competing demands.