Personal Assistant, 2 High Street, Perth

Main Purpose of the Role

Working within Perth & Kinross Council is more than a job, it's about being part of an organisation that puts people at the heart of all we do and provides opportunities to make a real difference by enhancing every life we touch.

We currently have the following opportunity:

Personal Assistant - PKC14251
£28,812 - £31,346
2 High Street, Perth

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Finance and Business Support service to provide comprehensive and professional secretarial and administrative support to members of the Executive and Strategic Leadership team. Where required, the role will also support Elected Members and Civic Services.

We require an agile worker who is flexible, organised, enthusiastic, and confident in providing high quality secretarial and administrative support to Senior Council Officers and working as part of a wider business support team.  The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work alongside business support staff whilst being supported to manage and coordinate their own workload in a busy, vibrant and forward thinking Service.

Key responsibilities include:

• Provide secretarial and administrative support to the Executive and Strategic Leadership team, including managing complex diaries, taking minutes, arranging meetings, preparing PowerPoint presentations and conducting research.
• Process incoming mail, including service requests, FOIs, and political enquiries, and input requests into relevant systems following Council procedures.
• Handle enquiries, receive visitors, and liaise with Councillors and Senior Officers as needed.
• Communicate with external agencies such as the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government, COSLA, and other organizations on behalf of the Leadership team.
• Support the coordination of Committee reports, including formatting and liaising with relevant officers, to meet deadlines.
• Maintain absolute confidentiality and discretion, especially with personal, financial, or sensitive information and process information in line with GDPR requirements.
• Attend and take detailed minutes at meetings (in person or hybrid), process actions, and liaise with relevant officers.

You must be able to manage conflicting demands under pressure, sometimes within tight timescales.   Excellent communication and organisational skills are essential.   You will be someone who is keen to learn, develop your skills and knowledge and contribute to innovative ways of working.

The team follows a hybrid work structure, whilst predominantly office based this role provides the opportunity for you to work from home as well as working within an office environment alongside colleagues. Hybrid arrangements are reviewed often and are dependent on business and customer needs.

Please note, we are currently unable to offer sponsorship for this post.

Skills & Experience Required

Requirements for the role include:

• Experience of working in an administrative environment
• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written with the ability to communicate to a range of different audiences
• Extensive knowledge and experience of working with MS Office (Office 365)
• Excellent Customer Service Skills and able to deal competently with general public/customers, councillors and colleagues
• Ability to evaluate significance and urgency of information received and take appropriate action
• Ability to resolve and respond independently to a variety of problems and situations
• Excellent typing/word processing skills (including detailed minute taking, formatting reports which can contain detailed information relating to sensitive and confidential subjects) and working to tight and often conflicting deadlines
• Ability to work independently and as part of a wider team is necessary, and you will be required to assist and/or be relocated to support other sections to ensure business needs are being met. At times this may be at short notice.

Working at Perth & Kinross Council

Our values and behaviours influence our work and support us in the delivery of our key priorities. In your application, and should you be invited to interview, you will be asked to describe situations that support the criteria required in the role and which also demonstrate our values and behaviours. Find out more about Perth & Kinross Council and you could soon be joining our team!

Here's what we can offer you:

• A generous annual leave package
• 6 days public holiday and an additional discretionary day
• Eligibility to join our pension scheme
• Family friendly and positive work/life balance policies such as Flexible Working, Maternity, Paternity & Adoption leave, time off for volunteering and our Wellbeing Framework
• Flexi time
• Access to a range of benefits

We recognise there can be benefits to flexible working and where individual jobs allow, we seek to support this. You are encouraged to discuss potential options with the recruiting manager, if this is of interest to you. A healthy work life balance is important to us and we provide supportive management and, where possible, flexible working arrangements to help you achieve that balance. You will have access to training and support for continued professional development.

All new employees have a four-month probationary period. Further details are available in the FAQs at “How to apply for a job or apprenticeship with us”.

Next Steps

We would love to hear from you and would encourage you to get in touch with Lynn Macdougall at lmacdougall@pkc.gov.uk or on 01738 475107 to find out more.

Click “APPLY NOW”

External candidates are required to provide contact details for 2 referees, including email addresses. One of these must be your current or most recent employer.

We welcome applications from everyone and as a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to interview applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential requirements of the post. Please contact the hiring manager above or the Recruitment Team on (01738) 475555 or recruitment@pkc.gov.uk to discuss any reasonable adjustments. Appointments are based on evidence supplied during the selection process.

Diversity is important to us and although some of our jobs may be perceived to be traditionally gender specific, we welcome applications from everyone and would encourage you to apply if you meet the job requirements. That includes welcoming applications from former armed forces personnel/reservists. Many of the skills picked up during your military career could be transferred directly into a role with local government.

To comply with Baseline Personnel Security Standard, you will be required to complete a Disclosure Scotland check.

If you have lived overseas for a period of 12 months or more (continuous or total) within the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check.

A confirmed offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of the above mentioned mandatory pre-employment checks (including references) and will also include eligibility to work in the UK, qualifications and fitness to undertake the post.