Master's Executive Assistant and Fellowship Secretary

The Master’s Executive Assistant and Fellowship Secretary provides high quality support to the Master, enabling them to effectively prioritise their time and ensure that the College’s governance structures and processes operate smoothly, transparently and in line with all statutory and institutional frameworks. 

This role provides a highly visible interface between the Master, Fellows, members of staff, students and external contacts, enabling information to flow effectively between different parts of College. The role holder will use initiative and judgement to anticipate requirements and priorities; high standards of confidentiality, tact and courteousness, alongside a positive outlook and confident, flexible approach are pre-requisites for this position.

This post would suit someone who:

• Has excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and is confident to liaise with people at all levels
• Has effective time management and a high standard of organisational ability
• Has impeccable attention to detail
• Is self-motivated and able to use their own initiative
• Is willing to work flexibly to meet the demands of the role

Key role responsibilities include:

• Organising and co-ordinating the Master’s College workload
• Providing high quality administrative and secretarial support to the Committees chaired by the Master (including Governing Body)
• Managing the Master’s professional communications, correspondence, and diary requests, prioritising actions to be taken, answering routine matters on behalf of the Master, and identifying matters that should be forwarded to relevant colleagues.
• With support and guidance from College Officers, ensure that all new Governing Body Fellows receive an appropriate Trustee induction and that an ongoing trustee training programme is in place;
• With appropriate guidance and training, as required, be familiar with the Charity Governance Code and support processes to track College compliance with the Code.
• Overseeing processes to support colleagues to maintain a register of policies including owners, dates for review and Committees responsible for approval;
• Managing Fellowship renewal processes, College Office appointments, Committee memberships and the renewal of dining privileges, in support of the relevant Committees.
• Managing the annual Junior Research Fellowship Competition process.
• Being responsible for updates to the  Fellows’ Handbook, Fellows’ benefits matrix, the College calendar on the College website and College mailing lists.

Please see the candidate pack for further information on the role responsibilities. 

Working arrangements and salary

This is a permanent appointment (subject to a 3-month probation period). 

This role is 37.5 hours per week, core hours will be 10am-4pm with some flexibility outside of these hours. The role will act as Secretary to the Governing Body, which meets on Fridays either 3-5pm or 5-7pm approximately 10 times per year – in person attendance at these meetings is a core part of the role. 

The role is an in person role, though up to one day a week working remotely may be considered following a probationary period. 

Please visit the 'Join our Team' page on the St Catharine’s College website for details on our staff benefits.

Application process

Please submit:

• a completed  application form
• CV
• Cover letter
• Equality and Diversity monitoring form 

All documents should be emailed to: recruitment@caths.cam.ac.uk

We will be screening applications as they are received. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications or fill the position before the closing date. 

Please note: Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are only able to contact candidates selected for an interview.

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