Executive Assistant to Managing Director

Do you enjoy bringing order to a busy senior leadership environment and helping things run smoothly behind the scenes?

At Cambridge University Press & Assessment, we are a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation, and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

We are looking for an organised and proactive Executive Assistant to support the Managing Director (MD), Cambridge OCR. You will help manage a busy flow of meetings, correspondence and priorities, making sure the right information gets to the right people at the right time.

About the role 

As Executive Assistant, you will provide organised, proactive support to the Managing Director, Cambridge OCR, helping to keep a busy leadership environment running smoothly. This is a role for someone who can adapt to how the Managing Director and the organisation work, bring calm and structure by complementing different working styles, and use judgement, initiative and discretion to manage a complex diary and inbox, coordinate meetings and papers, prepare correspondence, support travel and ensure actions, approvals and decisions move forward efficiently.

You will also be a key connector across Cambridge OCR, building strong relationships with directors, senior leaders, colleagues and external stakeholders. You will be close enough to the business to understand what is happening across directorates, spot issues or opportunities early, and make sure queries, decisions and priorities reach the right people at the right time.

In this role, you will:

• Manage a complex, fast-moving diary, planning and prioritising requests effectively.
• Coordinate senior meetings, including agendas, papers, minutes and actions where required.
• Prioritise correspondence, flag urgent matters, make sensible judgement calls and draft responses where appropriate.
• Use initiative and common sense to resolve day-to-day issues, while knowing when to check, escalate or bring others into a decision.
• Arrange travel, accommodation and logistics, and support for events or wider leadership activity. You will also be required to travel to Coventry occasionally.
• Build effective relationships across Cambridge University Press & Assessment and with external stakeholders.
• Act as a thoughtful point of contact for the Managing Director, creating the right impression and helping colleagues feel well supported and appropriately connected.
• Identify opportunities to improve ways of working, including responsible use of Microsoft 365 and AI-enabled tools.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40–60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About you

We are looking for someone who is organised, adaptable and confident providing high-quality support to the Managing Director, Cambridge OCR, in a busy, fast-moving environment. You may already be an Executive Assistant, or a senior administrator ready to bring your experience into a varied EA role where judgement, discretion, emotional intelligence and clear communication matter.

You will bring:

• Significant experience in an Executive Assistant or senior administrative support role, supporting a senior leader.
• Excellent organisation and diary management skills, with the flexibility to adapt your approach to different working styles and changing priorities.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to build trust across a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders.
• Sound judgement and discretion when handling confidential or sensitive information.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach, with the confidence to solve problems, see the bigger picture and keep things moving when priorities change.
• Self-awareness, empathy and a sense of humour, with the ability to bring a human, balanced approach to a busy senior leadership setting.
• Strong written skills, including drafting correspondence, notes and meeting materials.
• Confidence using Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, with experience of AI-enabled tools or willingness to learn.
• An understanding of, or interest in, the education sector.

Your application will be even stronger if you also have:

• Experience supporting a director or senior leader in a complex or matrixed organisation.
• Experience coordinating senior meetings, events or travel.
• An interest in improving processes and using technology (including AI) responsibly to make work more efficient.

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link on our careers site.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition. 

Rewards and benefits  

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including: 

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays 
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance  
• Discretionary annual bonus  
• Group personal pension scheme 
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary  
• Green travel schemes  

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be Wednesday 29^th July. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place from w/c 3^rd August.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:

• First stage virtual interview via MS Teams. 
• A role related task
• Final stage interview: in-person at our offices in Cambridge.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs. 

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter. 

Why join us 

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background. 

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.