Personal Assistant
Personal Assistant
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Job Description
Personal Assistant- 2 years FTC
About DFT Operator
Join Our Team at DFTO
DFTO is the governments public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.
DFTO has over 23000 employees runs over 6000 services a day and delivers over 450 million customer journeys across its networks every year. This accounts for 26% of total UK passenger journeys and 30% of passenger miles.
Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER Northern TransPennine Express (TPE) Southeastern South Western Railway (SWR) and c2c.
Primary Purpose of Job:
The purpose of a Personal Assistant is to streamline the daily operations and professional life of the Senior Managers/Directors they support by handling a wide range of tasks both routine and specialized.
Vacancy Details:
Duration:2 year Fixed Term contract/secondment
Location:London Waterloo
Salary:From32000 to 38497
Closing date:1st October 2025 Reports to:Business Manager
DFTO Benefits:
Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days)
DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution 5% Employee contribution
Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry
Key Responsibilities:
The main duties of a PA and responsibilities are but not exclusive:
General support
- Provide proactive inbox and diary management to up to 4 Directors
- Highlight priorities and conflicts to a Director source alternatives
- Act on behalf of a Director as the first point of contact
- Deliver effective gatekeeping forward planning and scheduling
- Proactively flag and escalate and/or act upon priority emails or requests
- Communicate professionally on the Directors behalf
- Prepare the timely circulation of agendas materials minutes/actions monitor and follow up actions
- Assist Directors with sign offs and follow ups (chasing)
- Communicate with internal and external people directly screening calls and providing responses including resolving and/or directing enquiries/requests to more appropriate areas of DFTO
- Manage the One Drive filing system observing DFTOs e-filing protocols
- Arrange meetings and workshops on request including meeting logistics e.g. room set-up refreshments AV etc.
- Arrange travel and accommodation bookings in line with policy
- Attend meetings with Directors if required to take meeting minutes; proactive follow up on action points
- Liaise with Directors to deliver administrative tasks such as expenses post couriers archiving printing photocopying scanning e-sigs electronic transfers bundles etc.
- On request produce basic PowerPoint presentations and amend as appropriate
- Act as a liaison between the external IT provider and the Director for IT issues or enhancements (e.g. trouble shooting suggesting IT fixes new system set up etc.)
- Provide administrative and coordination support to other Directors during the Senior EAs leave.
Knowledge Skills Experience & Technical Qualifications: Additional Information
Capability Experience
- Exceptional organisational planning and prioritisation skills impeccable attention to detail high level of accuracy and ability to work unsupervised
- Evidence of data and insights management e.g. extract manipulate analyse and present data sets and insights
- Confident ability to deal with senior clients and build relationships with the executives
- Excellent standard of communication both written and verbal; evidence of the ability to communicate appropriately to senior stakeholders
- Strong interpersonal skills and can evidence exceptionally high levels of integrity
- Evidence of the ability to deal with uncertainty comfortably
- A highly motivated organised individual able and happy to work independently
- Professional self-starter with the ability to influence a great working culture (in person and remotely)
- A strong track record of meeting deadlines in a high-pressure environment
- Advanced Microsoft Office skills.
- Demonstrable practical experience of managing multiple deadlines for a variety of diverse stakeholders
- Demonstrate the ability to ensure all activities and duties adhere to risk and compliance requirements and maintain all requirements to protect confidential information
- Displays discretion and good judgment
- Adaptable and open to change showing a willingness and confidence to make suggestions for continuous improvement
- Ability to cope with a wide range of competing demands and changing priorities
Essential Experience and behaviours
- 3 years of direct PA experience at Director level/supporting at least two senior managers in a fast-paced environment e.g. extensive experience with diary management arranging calls and prioritising emails
Key Competencies:
Personal Assistant (PA) plays a crucial role in supporting individuals (Directors Heads of Department) with administrative organizational and often personal tasks. To succeed in this role a PA must possess a mix of hard and soft competencies which include:
- Pro-active energised and enthusiastic determined.
- Attention to Detail
- Reliability
- Effective Communication and Organising
- Discretion and Confidentiality
- A strong team player willing to contribute as changing circumstances demand
Disclaimer: Candidates applying for this position on a secondment basis must inform their line manager prior to submitting their application. This is to ensure transparency and facilitate any necessary discussions regarding workload and responsibilities.
About our people and the recruitment process - Were an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly as we know traditional working patterns dont always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly just let us know and well do our best to help and invest in your career with us whilst you have a healthy work life balance.
Contact: If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments please contact
Please do not email any CVs to us your application must be made by clicking the Apply button.
Employment Type
Full-Time
