View Vacancy - AUS (Perth) - Executive Assistant to the British Consul General, AO

Main purpose of job:

To provide an executive office function for the British Consulate General Perth, ensuring their day-to-day activities, meetings, events and communications run smoothly and efficiently.  

Although your focus will be on supporting the British Consul General with some support also provided to the wider team. As such you will get the opportunity to work across the breadth of the UK-Australia relationship.

The role is similar in content and seniority to others in the UK Government operation in Australia. People applying for this position will be considered for other vacancies in the Network.

Those shortlisted can be expected to be interviewed in early May.

Our network and team

You will work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and we work together as one team

We don’t only recruit government specialist to work with us. Not all our recruits have extensive and specific skills for unique roles. We recruit people with a wide variety of backgrounds and skills that are relevant and transferable. If you have good motivation and core competences, we can help you develop the network and expertise needed to thrive in our network and in specific roles. 

Our team members enjoy large amounts of delegated responsibility and personal involvement with senior staff and visitors. They have the chance to develop a wide range of important and marketable skills as well as important networks for their professional advancement. We have a strong learning and development offer to help people develop skills and profile to secure advancement externally.  

The Australia Network is an inclusive and equal-opportunity employer. We have a supportive workplace that offers a wide range of continuous learning, development and mentoring opportunities for all our team. We embrace flexible and remote working and have a zero-tolerance policy towards bulling, harassment and discrimination

Executive Support & Diary Management for CG:

• Deliver high-quality executive support to the Consul General, ensuring their day-to-day activities, meetings, and communications run smoothly.
• Manage and prioritise their diary, coordinating and arranging meetings and calls with internal and external stakeholders across the Australia and Perth network, while ensuring efficient time management and resolving scheduling conflicts.
• Arrange and book travel, coordinating domestic and international visit programmes for CG.

Support Visit Logistics for CG:

• Support the CG and the wider Perth & Australia network in planning programmes and logistics for incoming Ministerial and official visits.
• Ensure smooth visits by overseeing and delivering logistical elements, including facilitating arrivals and departures, transport and accommodation for visitors to Perth.

Events Coordination CG:

• Support the team to organise events hosted by the CG at external venues, including managing invitations, guest lists, catering, and suppliers to ensure high standards.
• Work collaboratively with the Australia & Perth network to assist with event management for roundtables, trade missions, and other engagements, ensuring value for money from suppliers.

Communications & Correspondence for CG:

• Receive, sort, and prioritise incoming correspondence and enquiries on behalf of CG, directing them to relevant staff for action.
• Maintain accurate records of offers of gifts and hospitality on behalf of CG.
• Store and archive event and visit-related documents for the CG to ensure the Consulate’s business continuity.
• Collect and distribute team meeting agendas on behalf of the CG to ensure clarity and timely communication across the team.

Support CG and DCG’s in their Budget & Financial Administration

• Support the CG to manage budgets and expenses on HERA, including tracking expenditure and monitoring value for money.
• Ensure claims are submitted accurately and in line with finance policies.

Support CG’s Networking & Forward Planning

• Maintain and update a database of contacts for CG and the wider team.
• Add events and meetings to the network’s forward look/events/visits grid on behalf of CG.
• Support the CG to build and maintain effective working relationships with the wider team and network, ensuring strong engagement with a network of relevant EA counterparts across business and politics.
• Lead on requests to arrange meetings with WA political and business seniors both for the CG and senior visitors

Team Support & Resilience

• Undertake other ad-hoc tasks as directed by CG including as administrative resilience when others are away to cover essential work.

• Self-Starter – must be able to work at a fast pace to a high standard. 
• Must be able to take initiative using judgement, strong problem-solving skills, and displaying resilience. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills – ability to deal with difficult situations with tact and diplomacy and a high degree of confidentiality when required to achieve desired outcomes.
• Ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Must be confident in dealing with senior figures, Ministers and VVIPs and their offices. 
• Good desk research skills and excellent writing skills
• High level experience using Microsoft Office