Main Duties • To act as first line contact for the Head of School, using discretion and tact to ensure telephone callers and visitors receive a professional response, and are dealt with by the appropriate person. • Proactively manage the smooth running of the Head of School’s electronic diary and keep this up to date at all times. • Managing the Head of School’s commitments as directed. • Deal effectively and efficiently in all aspects of the Head of School’s incoming and outgoing correspondence. • Managing the staff contacts lists. • Liaising with the Facilities and other Department as per specific School functions. • General secretarial duties: dictation, typing, dealing with correspondence, copying, distributing documents. • Organise catering for Head of School’s regular meetings and liaise with the Catering Manager for special events as required. • Organising travel arrangements and hotel bookings as required. • Greeting and escorting visitors around the School. • Preparation and co-ordination of arrangements for candidates interviewing for positions at BCAD within the School and Arabic. • Processing and collation of records for submission to HR of timesheets and of candidates’ documents. • Organising meetings with parents and staff, including arranging staff appraisals. • Attending relevant meetings preparing agenda and taking minutes. • Assisting with projects of other departments. • Taking part in Open Evenings and other College Events and promoting the College. • General secretarial duties: word processing, dealing with correspondence, copying, distributing documents. • Electronic and physical file maintenance, including confidential data management. • Any other reasonable management request. General • To generate an environment of efficiency and provide a warm welcome at all times. • To contribute to the school’s development plan and assist the Head of School as and where appropriate • To support the work of the Senior Leadership Team in the exercise of their operational responsibility • To update the staff and parent handbooks annually in conjunction with the Head of School. • To support in updating policies relevant to the School • To ensure that safeguarding procedures are adhered to at all times • Design and maintain administrative systems that deliver outcomes based on the school’s aims and goals. • Establish and use effective methods to review and improve administrative systems. • Working with the Senior Leadership Team to promote effective communications across the Schools, Academic Operations and Support Services departments. • To show absolute confidentiality and discretion at all times. Professional Responsibilities • To ensure that all communication is acted upon appropriately and in a timely manner. • To be responsible for all College resources particularly those in your care, reporting damage or loss to your line manager or the facilities manager, as appropriate. • To foster a close partnership with parents, initiating contact in appropriate circumstances and ensuring that there is a record of this. • To be in School prior to 7.00 am and until at least 4:00pm during term time. From time to time, there may be a requirement to work on a flexible basis and the requirement to work some Saturdays. • To carry out any reasonable professional request made by the Head Mistress, Head of School or member of the SLT. Person Specification Brighton College Abu Dhabi is an exciting place to work, and it is our staff who will make our community such a vibrant and stimulating environment. The success of Brighton College Abu Dhabi will be due to excellent and innovative staff. Above all, therefore, we are looking for individuals who foster a passion for high level customer service and who demonstrates an ability and genuine desire to develop a premium school. KEY SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE • Excellent communicator and team player. • Excellent English verbal and written communication skills with a sharp eye for detail and proofing capacity for the Head of School and school publications. • Proven experience of working in a PA/Office Management post. • Experience of working with databases. • High level of proven experience in the planning, organising and prioritising of tasks. • Good interpersonal skills, the ability to communicate effectively with a variety of people and to assess and diffuse confrontational situations. • A sense of humour and the capacity to remain calm and to cope with the unexpected. • Ability to engage with colleagues in an open yet fair, firm and consistent manner. • Self-disciplined and with excellent time management skills to work to deadlines. PERSON SPECIFICATION • Enthusiastic and passionate about administration within education with a sound understanding of best practice. • Flexible and adaptable to the varied demands of working in a premier school. • Proactive in all aspects of College life through participation and support. • Able to work successfully under pressure.