Personal Assistant London 2023

We all have a right to privacy – it’s a universal human right enshrined in law. In a world where fiction can appear as fact, we fight passionately against breaches of privacy, attacks on reputation and threats to security. It’s what makes us tick.

We believe the law is the best and fairest tool available to establish truth. But we also know it can require an army of skills to put things right when crisis hits. That’s why we are the only business in the world to deploy – under one roof – media experts, data protection lawyers, litigators, experts from military intelligence, former investigative journalists, international investigators, cyber-security specialists, digital forensic experts and senior people from the military, police and government.

Job Purpose

This role supports three Partners (including the Chief Executive Officer) with day-to-day diary management, proactive business development support, and organisation. Your role will involve proactively following up with contacts to arrange meetings; preparing briefing packs ahead of meetings; managing diaries; expertly juggling priorities; and working closely with the Head of Global Business Development on business development, events, and the firm’s marketing campaigns.

This role requires a strong communicator with a calm, reassuring, and highly organised approach. You should be adept at prioritising a busy workload to meet deadlines and be comfortable using your own initiative.

Accountabilities

Business Development Support

• Help project manage Partners’ BD pipelines and campaigns, ensuring BD meetings are tracked and logged.
• 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:
  • 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.
  • Develop 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.
  • 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.
  • Regularly liaise with Partners to understand current their goals and objectives.

Administrative Support

• Regularly Liaising with Clients & Markets team to ensure sales collateral is up to date.
• Manage diaries including setting up meetings, 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 using our standard template.
• Submitting expenses forms and receipts.
• General administrative duties including printing, typing, proof reading, amending and formatting documents/ reports/ presentations into Schillings house style.
• Data analysis of excel spreadsheets.
• General PA duties including answering calls and responding to emails.
• Absence cover for other members of the PA team.

Person Specification

• Calm and confident interacting with a wide range of high-profile individuals
• Team player; builds strong relationships with colleagues.
• Degree preferred or equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
• 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.
• Interested in global current affairs, the work that Schillings does and our clients.
• An excellent listener, able to understand partners’ needs and support them accordingly.
• Proactive, able to prioritise a busy workload effectively and manage stakeholder expectations
• Problem solver – delivers solutions and focuses on the end goal.
• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail, thrives under pressure.
• Positive, ‘can do’ attitude.
• Discreet.

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 focussed 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.