Private Secretary to Chief Executive & Deputy Chief Executive

We support peace and prosperity by building connections understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. For 90 years we have shaped brighter futures through education arts culture language and creativity.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories we are on the ground in more than 100 countries.

We connect. We inspire.

Role purpose

These two roles (one Private Secretary to the CEO & Deputy CEO (DCEO) and one Private Secretary to the Chair and Board of Trustees) provide critical Private Secretary support to the CEO and Deputy CEO (DCEO) / Chair and the Board of Trustees so that they can lead and represent the organisation to ensure that it achieves its cultural relations purpose.

The role involves advising the CEO and DCEO / Chair and the Board of Trustees and helping them to prioritise their time most effectively. It is a varied role leading on a wide range of Private Secretary services including managing diaries commissioning reviewing and editing briefings and speeches managing and drafting correspondence managing administration communications finance and governance processes.

It is a predominantly officebased role working a minimum of four days a week in the office and up to five days a week whenever needed at the British Councils Headquarters in Stratford London. The role works closely with the rest of the CEO and Chairs Office (CCO) as well as colleagues in teams right across the organisation to ensure CCO operations run with maximum efficiency and to a high quality.

The Chief Executive and Chairs Office is at the heart of the British Council and is critical in supporting leadership to lead our organisation and achieve its purpose. It is an interesting and varied environment to work in responding to external and internal situations and requires the postholder to be able to work flexibly manage a high volume of work be comfortable with ambiguity and pressure and hold the highest degree of confidentiality and integrity. It is an extremely busy office which engages with our work and our people at every level. Working in it offers the opportunity to be part of a team which is helping through supporting our CEO Deputy CEO Chair and the Board to achieve the organisations cultural relations purpose and build its wider profile and reputation.

About the British Council

The British Council supports peace and prosperity by building connections understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We uniquely combine the UKs deep expertise in arts and culture education and the English language our global presence and relationships in over 100 countries our unparalleled access to young people and influencers and our creative sparkle.

We take a longterm approach to building trust and remain at arms length from government. We are funded by a grantinaid from the UK government and with significant additional income from partnership agreements contracts philanthropy teaching and exams. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

Accountabilities/Responsibilities:

We are seeking a highly organized and proactive individual to provide exceptional private secretary support to the CEO DCEO Chair and trustees. This role requires a strategic mindset strong problemsolving skills and the ability to manage multiple complex commitments. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in ensuring highquality services and advice by deploying various systems technologies and approaches.

The role involves managing diaries commissioning and reviewing briefings speeches and travel programmes as well as overseeing external and internal communications. Additionally the candidate will be responsible for coordinating meetings ensuring seamless logistics for overseas engagements and managing correspondence on behalf of senior executives.

A crucial aspect of this role includes service improvement within operations ensuring administrative and governance processes are effectively carried out. The candidate will also contribute to external and internal communications records management and corporate project implementation alongside specialist teams.

Building and maintaining strong relationships both internally and externally is key to amplifying the profile and reputation of the CEO DCEO Chair and trustees. The role also requires engagement with ministerial offices and stakeholders to foster effective collaboration.

Requirements of the role:

• Experience of advising senior leaders of large organisations on competing varied and fastchanging internal and external priorities.
• Excellent judgement and ability to understand and navigate complex and nuanced issues and ability to respond flexibly in often ambiguous environments.
• Ability to think analytically prioritise and solve problems quickly e.g. interpret large volumes of rapidly changing information across multiple complex issues at any one time in order to make sound decisions quickly.
• Strong team player willing to jump in to support and stand in for immediate team members a can do solutionsfocused attitude and ability to flex to ensure that together it delivers to a high standard.
• Ability to work under considerable pressure and at pace and deliver against tight deadlines.
• Knowledge of Equality Diversity and Inclusion tools processes and approaches.
• Track record of highquality office administration in busy ambiguous and complicated environments ability to prioritise multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Experience of highlevel diary management and scheduling with fastmoving deadlines and working under high pressure
• Experience of holding people to account especially in eliciting responses
• Exceptional communication skills including experience of drafting briefings speeches correspondence and presentations.
• Strong time management and resource planning skills.
• An extremely high level of discretion due to the nature of working with sensitive and confidential material including legal issues grievances and investigations relationships and correspondence with Secretaries of State Ministers Ambassadors and other key stakeholders in the UK and internationally.

Important Information

British Council Pay band: 8

Location: London (Stratford) only
Department:CEO and Chairs Office(Corporate Affairs)
Contract type: Indefinite Contract

Salary:(based on experience) plus London allowance of 3300
Closing Date: 19th May at 11.59pm UK time

You must have the legal right to work in United Kingdom at the time of application.

There is no relocation or sponsorship support.

British Council supports working in new ways such as hybrid working subject to full approval by line management and conditional upon our ability to provide the appropriate level of service. This may not be appropriate for all roles but can be explored at interview.

Please note Private Secretary to Chair & trustees role is also open for applications. If you would like to be considered for both roles please ensure you put in an application under both vacancies. Shortlisted candidates may be assessed for both roles in 1 interview.

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion Statement

We are committed to equality diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all sections of the community as we believe that a diverse workforce gives added depth to our work. The British Council is a Disability Confident Employer. The Disability Confident scheme helps challenge attitudes increase understanding of disability and ensure staff are drawn from the widest possible pool of talent. We guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the minimum role requirements. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

Safeguarding Statement

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children young people and adults who we work with. We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19 UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989. Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed in line with legal requirements and with the British Councils Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you experience any difficulties with submitting your application please email