Personal Assistant

Schillings is a multidisciplinary advisory firm with expertise in reputation, privacy and security.

We work with UK and international clients to successfully manage high-stakes opportunities and threats, using a unique combination of capabilities: legal; intelligence; communications; security and diplomacy.

We believe everyone has a right to fair treatment of their reputation, to a reasonable expectation of privacy and to feel safe.

Our experts sit within their specialist team but day-to-day work in multidisciplinary teams solving client problems. They are supported by our business services teams: Clients and Markets, HR, Finance, Risk and Compliance, IT and Client Services.

Because we are a growth business, opportunities appear in all areas and at all levels. We have the largest team of specialist media lawyers in the world, an expanding Intelligence & Investigations team, a growing Critical Risks unit, an evolving Digital Resilience practice, and a new communications agency – Schillings Communications – that will grow significantly in the next three years.

Schillings is a collaborative, fun and welcoming place to work, with a positive culture, strong values and a developed service ethic. We require commitment, diligence, agility and professionalism, and in return provide competitive packages and incredibly stimulating and interesting work. We are committed to sharing learning and creating development opportunities so you can progress your career with us. Our people’s career trajectory and longevity at Schillings is a good example of this: a third of our people have been at the business for over five years. Join us and become part of our story.

Job Title: Personal Assistant

Reporting to: Senior PA

Job Purpose

This role supports up to three Partners with day-to-day diary management, proactive business development support, and organisation. This includes proactively following up with contacts to arrange meetings; preparing briefing packs ahead of meetings; managing diaries; expertly juggling priorities; and working closely with colleagues in the Clients and Markets team on business development, events, and the firm’s marketing campaigns.

The role requires an astute and supremely well-organised person, who attends to their duties to a very high standard and proactively, with the requisite confidence, diplomacy and discretion. We are looking for someone who is comfortable operating at elevated levels, including in direct contact with our clients. The candidate must be articulate and have experience within a corporate environment.

Schillings is a busy, dynamic and entrepreneurial business providing a 24/7 service to our clients globally, so a responsive, flexible and diligent mindset is essential.

Role Accountabilities

Broadly these fall into two categories: administration and business development support. Highly efficient administration skills are needed to maximise and optimise the time available to Partners.

Administrative Support

• Complex diary management., resolving clashes and proactively taking ownership.
• Assisting with preparation for meetings including travel arrangements, preparing papers and agendas. This includes booking international travel and preparing travel itineraries.
• General administrative duties including printing, typing, proof reading, amending and formatting documents/ reports/ presentations into Schillings house style.
• Manage Partner mailboxes.
• Submitting expense forms and receipts.
• Scheduling meetings, appointments and filing support.
• Data analysis of excel spreadsheets.
• Regularly liaising with the Clients & Markets team to ensure sales collateral is up to date.
• General PA duties including answering calls and responding to emails.
• Absence cover for other members of the PA team.

Business Development Support

• Be diligent in the collection of and storing of data and intelligence into the CRM system.
• Be knowledgeable about the firm’s BD methodology and process to develop client relationships.
• Act as a central point of contact for administration of BD activities and liaise with the Clients & Markets team regularly. This includes:
• Collaborating to understand Partners intent, goals, priorities and challenges.
• Maintaining master contacts lists, running meetings lists, business development event planning, BD pipeline management and tracking opportunities.
• Liaising with Clients & Markets team to understand current BD goals, updates on brief and actions arising out of marketing campaigns.
• Research organisations and individuals online to identify new leads and potential new markets.
• Awareness of Clients & Markets’ calendar of conferences and BD trips that require itineraries and intelligence lead research for briefing packs to be developed in detail in advance.
• Preparing Taxi Reports/Bios for BD meetings.
• Help ensure we are meeting the target number of BD meetings in the diary each week.
• Ensure intelligence/data from meetings are submitted and any follow up actions identified are managed and actioned. Provide periodic updates on outstanding actions.
• Support Partners in converting opportunities into client work.

Knowledge, Skills And Experience Required

• Very well organised with exceptional attention to detail.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• An ability work effectively at all levels.
• Skilled at anticipating others’ requirements, effectively managing priorities and expectations, and navigating issues to deliver a calm service, making the sometimes difficult appear always easy.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills are essential, particularly Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience of using case management and client relationship management systems (CRM) will be advantageous.
• Analytical thinker - driven by curiosity to get to the bottom of things and solve a problem.
• Interest in global current affairs, the work that Schillings does and our clients.
• A team player and excellent listener who thrives in a fast-paced environment.

Life at Schillings

Given our audacious (and successful) business strategy, it is not surprising that Schillings has a very strong culture. The atmosphere is highly collaborative and focused on excellence. We have worked hard over the years to develop a coaching culture and are remarkably non-hierarchical, especially given our roots as a law firm. Schillings has adopted a set of values to put at the heart of this change and they reflect the intention and tenor of our ambitious plans. They are: ‘Innovative; Bold; United; and Excellent’. Our client list speaks for the outstanding results that have been delivered over many years and the task now is to grow without losing any of the commitment to delivering for clients or the service ethos. Finding people who share our values and can thrive in this environment is key to our success.

It takes a unique mix of people to create something truly great. We appreciate that diversity of thought, background and culture creates the best environment to truly innovate, solve problems and achieve our goals. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds – if you are driven and want to achieve your best then we will give you the platform and support to succeed.

Please let us know if there are any extenuating circumstances we should consider, or any adjustments we may need to make to our selection process, when making your application.

Find our candidate privacy notice here, Candidate Privacy Notice (schillingspartners.com)