Team Support Officer and PA Job Pack

Thinking of applying?

Hi there,

I’m really pleased you’re exploring working with us at Maudsley Charity. We support people working in mental illness to transform the lives of those living with mental illness, and right now, we’re needed more than ever.

I began working at the Charity over three years ago and we have gone through enormous change. We’re now at a vital stage in our development as we enter delivery of our new strategic plan period and have an exciting future ahead.

About the Charity

We have made a funding commitment of £44m that will be spent on projects relating to mental illness over the next five years; this funding comes from our endowment. We have moved to become a more strategic funder; are gearing up to become a fundraising organisation so we can invest more to meet demand; and are establishing ourselves as a thought-leader in the mental health community.

We work closely with our linked NHS Foundation Trust South London and Maudsley, Kings College London and a wide range of organisations across south London and beyond to make a difference to those experiencing mental illness and to improve their chances of recovery.

About the Programmes Team

We are aiming for excellence in our grant-making relationships and processes, building on our connections, and providing appropriate grant-holder support to increase our overall charitable impact.
This means that we look to build connections, develop common evidence and data, andfind the compelling stories within our award holders’ work.We focus on those most failed in our current systems. We are committed to ongoing development and learning about how to make an impact, and you can find out more about our Change Model that underpins our way of working.

Where we work

Our financial endowment allows us to operate as a semi-independent foundation in mental health and as an NHS mental health charity.

South London and Maudsley Trust delivers statutory services across four inner London boroughs (Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Croydon) and a wide range of child and adult national specialist services.

While we are grounded in and motivated by creating benefit for our local community, we also aim to make our impact go beyond south London by harnessing our funding and national links to make learning and impact reach beyond our four priority boroughs.

The role

We are looking for someone who loves to be organised and help others deliver effectively in their roles. If you enjoy improving and maintaining administrative systems and processes, responding to changing circumstances, and supporting others to deliver their work, this could be the role for you!

You will be a highly valued member of the team, playing a key role in ensuring effective working practices; and you will be supported to learn how a mission driven funding organisation works. This is an opportunity to use your administrativeskills and to feel that you are making a real difference to the effectiveness of a team and the people we serve.

This role will play an important part in growing anorganisation that can make a big difference in the lives of people who experience mental illness.

Alice Casey, Director of Programmes

Is this role right for me?

You don’t need to answer yes to all of these, but if some of them resonate with you, this could be the right role for you.

• This isn’t an entry-level role. We are looking for someone with some previous experience of organisation and planning. You’ll be confident in your ability and love to proactively plan and organise.
• Your experience may come from project support or PA support. There’s lots to learn about the interesting and complex environment we work in and who the key stakeholders are, but you’ll be used to working with senior teams so this won’t phase you.
• You’re able to carry out complex diary management, thinking on your feet, juggling tasks and will have strong collaboration skills, and able to work effectively with others. Supportive tactful teamworking is essential to this role’s success.
• You may have had exposure to supporting a senior manager or team before and know how to juggle the demands of a fast-paced environment.
• You’re productive and efficient working with IT systems and platforms and most likely have your own tried and tested ways of working. You can spot where and how to improve ways of working and will take the initiative to share opportunities and make changes with others.
• You can see the impact you’ve made in the organisations you’ve worked with in the past. They’re impressed with how you work, how you support them, and what you make happen.
• All of our team demonstrate leadership qualities, whether they manage people or not, and they put them in action in different ways: leading a project, using their initiative, knowing when to ask for support.
• You know what great leadership looks like – either through learning from those who are great at it, or those who aren’t, or through your own development.

How committed to supporting development are you?

Very. Your development journey with us will be part formal, part informal. Your development needs will change over time but whatever they are, we’ll work on them together as you’ll need to be as invested as we are in what you want to achieve. You may want to build on further technical skills; your knowledge of mental illnesses or the NHS; business planning or reforecasting; innovation skills….

You’ll have a small number of personal objectives, and at least one of them will be focused on career development if that’s important to you. You’ll discover what you’re great at through hands-on experience, formal training, and through learning from mistakes and failures – we all do, and you’re only human.

We will set personal objectives with you and how you’re going to achieve them throughout your induction and after that on an annual basis. We’ll have one-to-ones that focus on your development, not just the tasks you’re working on.

What’s in the contract?

The small print that’s pretty big

What’s the job title?

Team Support Officer and PA

What will I earn?

£33,000 pa

Where would I work?

UK based. Split 50% between home and our office at Denmark Hill, London

Who reports to me?

No direct reports

What are the hours?

37.5 hours per week

Is there flexibility?

Yes. Flexible working requests are welcome. However, the role will need to cover 4.5 to 5 days.

Benefits

The Maudsley Charity team have embraced hybrid working. We all come together at least monthly for team meetings, with other check-ins and meetings held virtually or in person. On average, team members spend 50% of their working week located in our multi-award-winning home, the ORTUS building.

Situated a few minutes walk from Denmark Hill station, South London, the ORTUS building is close to the Maudsley Hospital and Kings College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, both centres of world-class excellence in the field of mental health and wellbeing. The building is open to the public, hosting exhibitions, events and conferences, as well as being available for room hire.

We offer a friendly, values-led working culture, with the following benefits for our staff:

• Hybrid working, 2-3 days spent with the team in our building each week and 2-3 days at home/offsite working. It’s important to us to come together often, whether that’s to collaborate, be social, or get a change of scenery.
• 25 days’ annual leave, with a further one day after 3 years’ service and a further one day after 5 years’ service. Plus, additional non-working office closure days over the Christmas period.
• Pension scheme with up to 6% employer contribution, subject to a minimum 3% employee contribution.
• Enhanced occupational maternity, paternity, adoption, and shared parental leave pay.
• A cycle-to-work scheme.
• Interest-free season ticket loans after probation.
• Group Life Assurance – providing employees with a tax-free lump sum of four times your basic salary in the event of your death, for your dependants.
• Group Income Protection Scheme – protecting you if you are sick long-term, by paying 75% of your basic salary with a deferred period of 13 weeks.
• Comprehensive package of online and face-to- face training for staff.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) – supporting staff to stay well.
• 20% discount on all food and drinks at the ORTUS café.
• Opportunity to work with diverse colleagues at the Charity and with our partners.
• Opportunities to work collaboratively across the organisation to build a culture where we can all thrive, including joining working groups like our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group and our Ways of Working group.

What impact will I help to make?

Maudsley Charity is a mental health charity based in southeast London. We fund and promote ideas, collaborations and teams that give people most affected by mental ill-health the best chance to recover and fulfil their potential.

Why we’re here

The consequences of mental ill-health are far reaching – affecting employment, relationships, finances and even life expectancy. It can take a long time to find and access the care you need and deserve.

We are located in an area with a highly diverse population and some of the highest levels of serious mental illness in Europe. By investing in understanding what works here, we can contribute to improved mental health for everyone.

How we work

We target the majority of our resources towards people who are most in need of but least likely to receive mental health care in the way and at the time that they should.

We give grants, funded from our endowment and donations, which range from multi-million pound clinical and research initiatives intended to drive change across the UK, to small-scale projects supporting people who experience mental illness in south London.

We balance short and long-term goals. We want to make an immediate difference to lives and fund ideas which will have an impact on future generations.

Our partnerships

We work primarily with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, as well as a range of voluntary and community organisations to fund ideas, big and small, that drive service improvement and support people who experience mental illness.

While we operate primarily within the four boroughs served by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark), we believe that the work we fund has the potential for wider impact at both national and international levels, through the sharing of the outcomes with the wider mental health community.

What do our people enjoy about working here?

What’s the job description?

This isn’t an exhaustive list of responsibilities, but the key activities the role will work on. We know that the role and the person in it will evolve and develop, and with whatever support you need, you’ll be part of making that happen.

Role purpose

The purpose of this role is to support the grant Programmes team in their grant programme planning and meeting cycle, whilst also providing administrative support to the delivery of existing work.

The role also provides PA support to the Director of Programmes, with a focus on planning and prioritisation of time; and diary support to manage workflow. The role provides secretariat support to the Grants Advisory Committee.

Accountabilities

Team Support (c.70%)

• To provide administrative coordination to support the Programmes team to manage their programme planning cycles.
• To help develop forward agendas for Programmes team meetings and to maintain action logs for meetings.
• To provide the secretariat for the Grants Advisory Committee, including coordinating forward agendas, minuting meetings, and liaising with the Chair and Director of Programmes.
• Ensuring the smooth flow of work, from team members seeking sign off from a Director, to fitting grant approvals into the governance cycle.
• Supporting the team to streamline or improve activities to make delivery more efficient.
• To lead and work with individuals to organise internal and external events for the Programmes team.
• To set up contact meetings with projects as required in support of programme activities e.g. a set of 6-10 project initiation meetings for a new grant programme.
• To co-ordinate occasional travel planning and make suitable arrangements for the Programmes team as required.
• To work with colleagues across the organisation through the Maudsley Charity secretariat group – liaising on information flows and project tasks.
• To carry out specific project related tasks from time to time e.g. minuting project meetings; workshop and event logistics; sending and tracking batch emails or invitations and other administrative tasks as required.

PA Support (c.30%)

• Provide proactive executive support to the Director of Programmes including day-to-day diary management, managing correspondence and organising travel.
• Supporting the Director of Programmes to manage time efficiently to support effective working with the Programmes team, Senior Leadership Team and wider organisation. Using an understanding of the various governance cycles, grant applications process and the project work of the team, you will dynamically prioritise the workload of the Director to reduce any bottle necks.
• To act as a point of contact for employees, partners and external stakeholders to engage with the Director of Programmes in an open and friendly manner, managing emails, correspondence and telephone calls on behalf of the Director of Programmes efficiently and politely.
• To compile documents and presentations on behalf of the Director of Programmes as required.
• To carry out general administrative duties as required.

General responsibilities as part of the Maudsley Charity team

• To build, manage and maintain strong team relationships and maximise communication within the team.
• To represent the Charity in a professional and positive manner.
• To provide outstanding customer service.
• To maintain a good working knowledge of Maudsley Charity strategic goals & objectives.
• To share ideas and make suggestions to improve the organisation.
• To follow all Maudsley policies and procedures, especially those regarding equal opportunities & diversity, dignity & respect and health & safety.
• To undertake any other duties, in keeping in the role, which reasonably be required in furtherance of the objectives of Maudsley Charity.

Be confident about what you can bring to this role. We value your potential as much as your transferable skills and what you have already achieved. We want to create an awesome team, and we know we can only do that if it includes people who bring different experiences and backgrounds. That’s why we want to hear from the widest pool of candidates.

We’d value hearing from you if you meet the criteria below. Remember many people will still apply if they don’t meet all of it, so if you can see yourself in this role and would like to join our team – please do apply.

Person specification

Experience

• Experience of forward planning for workload management.
• Experience of supporting a team.
• Experience of supporting meetings; planning agendas and taking minutes.
• Experience of providing PA support including diary and email management and organising travel.
• Experience of supporting governance processes, including setting up meetings, minute taking, ensuring correct storage and tracking actions.
• Experience of working with an internal team and external stakeholders.
• Experience of writing and preparing reports and presentations, collating information from different sources into clear and concise documents for meetings/decisions.

Knowledge

• Understanding of the principles of effective PA support.

Skills

• Self-starter with a proactive approach to addressing challenges and the ability to work both independently and flexibly as part of a team.
• Excellent communications skills – able to communicate clearly, tactfully and respectfully to a wide range of stakeholders.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and complete a range of tasks.
• Strong IT skills, with competence in Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Attention to detail with good standards of spelling and grammar.
• Use of databases to process information and electronic communications.

Removing bias from the hiring process

We’re serious about wanting to build a diverse team. We’ve increased the time and budget we’ve spent on recruitment to ensure we place more adverts in more places to reach more people, and we’ve looked at each stage of the recruitment process to remove biases. We’ll value you and what you’ll bring to the role, and we’ll do all we can so it’s effortless to be yourself at work.

We know that saying that is not enough. Here’s what we’ve done to invite and support different people and perspectives through the process.

Before you apply

Join our ‘Ask Us Anything’ webinar on Friday 27th September at 12.00pm. Email: emma.stone@harrishill.co.uk at Harris Hill for joining instructions.

You won’t see or hear other candidates, and you’ll be anonymous, so we don’t undermine our blind recruitment process. You really can ask us anything – about the role, the process, our work, culture, team, flexible working policy…. Or just listen to what others ask.

Your application

This is a blind recruitment process and non-graduates are welcome.

We are committed to offering interviews to candidates who meet the role requirements and have lived experience of mental illness or a disability.

Once you’ve expressed your interest to Harris Hill, you will be sent three questions to answer to apply for the role. Your identity will be completely anonymous to the panel who will score them independently. We will only see your CV if you get shortlisted.

Submit your answers in written format or in a voice memo. We’ll type up any recordings to maintain anonymity.

The interview

We’ll ask you if you have any needs for the interview and put any reasonable adjustments in place.

We’ll pay for your travel expenses within the UK if you need us to.

We’ll give you the interview questions before each round. We want you to perform to your best, and we know that this can help some to do that.

The interview will be face to face at our office in Denmark Hill, south London.

We’ll ask values and competency-based questions in the interview. This is to ensure we focus decisions on your potential performance in the role.

We’ll only share scores and discuss candidates as a panel when all candidates have been seen; to remove any influence panel members might have over each other.

Dates for your diary and about our interview panel

Ask Us Anything session

What

A quick run-down of the role, the team, the organisation and our culture and the recruitment process. Then over to you for any questions. You can choose to be totally anonymous.

When & How

27th September at 12-1pm  Contact emma.stone@harrishill.co.uk

Closing date for applications

5pm Friday 4th October

Interviews – When/Where

Recruitment exercise (carried out online): 17th or 18th October 2024 (c.40 minutes)

Interview date: 25th October

Time: Morning slots available (c.45  minutes)

Location: ORTUS, 82-96 Grove Lane, London, SE5 8SN (near Denmark Hill station)

Our interview panel

• Naomi Brill, Head of Impact and Effectiveness
• Alice Casey, Director of Programmes
• Christine Doran, Executive Assistant

Our values

Passion and Purpose

We are passionate about improving mental health and motivated by our ability to make a difference for those most impacted by mental illness.

Integrity

We will act with integrity. We will be objective and consistent in how we allocate funding and support. We will counter direct and indirect discrimination.

Knowledge

We value diversity of experience, expertise, and perspective. We will build into our organisation, and every aspect of our work, a range of voices, including those of people who experience mental illness.

Improvement

We care about maintaining high standards and improvement. We will be open about where we could do better, learn from our successes and failures and expect those we work with to do the same.

Appreciation

We value relationships and show appreciation for support we get in whatever form that takes. We know that we influence change through the expertise and commitment of others.

The Maudsley Charity Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments

The Charity will:

• Highlight that discrimination or unequal treatment on the grounds of mental health or other protected characteristics can undermine mental wellbeing and work to address inequalities and discrimination.
• Create a zero-tolerance working environment in respect of discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation, collectively called unacceptable behaviour so that everyone can work without fear of the unacceptable behaviours. A Dignity & Respect policy is in place to support this and address issues.
• Implement a Recruitment Policy to ensure that all appointments are made in accordance with the objectives of this policy.
• Monitor recruitment, service provision and grant-giving and take positive action based upon such information.
• Provide training and development opportunities that enable equality of opportunity and which promote an awareness of diversity and inclusion.
• Ensure that Maudsley Charity premises and resources are made as accessible as possible to staff, users and all those who visit us, under the Disability Discrimination Act.
• Make reasonable adjustments for disabled people wherever possible.

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