Executive Assistant

Pavers, our family-owned-and-run footwear retail business, is expanding rapidly and we are looking for an experienced and dedicated Executive Assistant to support our Group Managing Director at our Head Office in York.

Jason, our Group MD, is in his late-30s and very ambitious. He is looking for a discrete, diligent, and thoughtful Executive Assistant who he can build a strong, intuitive partnership with and who will support him, and the business, for many years to come.

To succeed in the role you must be a warm, outgoing individual with high EQ who naturally builds close relationships with others. You will need to be highly organised and skilled at taking actions in fast-paced meetings and be comfortable ensuring pre-work is completed and subsequent actions are progressed. Experience using automated tools to facilitate this would be a plus. You will ideally be interested in researching and booking personal and professional events and travel in a wide variety of cities (particularly York and London). There is a good chance you like lists and are excellent at prioritising! Clearly there will be a requirement to provide administrative support, manage diaries and appointments, and occasionally organise business events too.

This is a full-time opportunity (part time over 5 days considered), which, due to the nature of the role, may occasionally require out of hours work and/or working pattern flexibility to meet the requirements of the business. Work-from-home is offered 1 day per week.

You will need to be self-starter who is pro-active in ensuring projects continue to move forward and problems are solved in Jason’s absence. You must be happy in a fast-paced, rapidly changing retail environment. Over time the role could broaden or specialise, depending on your skillset and ambition. The ability to empathise, build relationships, and be considerate of others internally and externally is key. A job well done will be ensuring the Managing Director is able to maximise their efficiency (both inside and outside work) and that the business makes progress on our key strategic objectives.

As the Executive Assistant you will:

Coordinate and support delivery of the company strategy on a quarterly basis, overseeing data collation, querying incomplete submissions, and ensuring sensible prioritisation in line with the goals of the senior leadership team
Manage the central calendar used to coordinate the senior leadership team and highlight high priority upcoming tasks / events
Support and arrange quarterly strategic off-site meetings
Provide a friendly interface to colleagues throughout the business
Coordinate and prepare relevant materials for key meetings, including agendas, pre-reading and updating actions, including monthly board meetings.
Act to support aims and objectives, proactively anticipating issues and acting on their behalf as required. Using initiative and responding to/directing queries as appropriate
Support the MD in personal tasks including booking travel, tickets, entertainment and personal hobbies
Highlight issues that need immediate attention, respond to requests, consult and advise as well as delegating as appropriate
Work collaboratively, compassionately, and empathetically to establish and maintain good working relationships with the senior leadership team and across the wider business
Support senior level meetings as required, occasionally attending meetings and acting on  behalf of the MD
Support other members of senior management with diary management
Act as a primary point of contact
Full responsibility of diary and travel management to make the most efficient use of the MD’s time

Requirements to be our Executive Assistant

Previous Personal or Executive Assistant experience required at board or director level
Very high levels of organisation, speed of execution, disciplined prioritisation, and excellent IT skills
Ability to work to very tight deadlines and manage conflicting demands, whilst maintaining a positive and friendly outlook
Willingness and eagerness to undertake any task – however big or small, and confidence to deliver
Able to demonstrate resilience, patience, professionalism, and pragmatism
Be cost-conscious and never spend money unnecessarily e.g. through use of avios or Membership Reward points, and have a good sense of monetary value
Good working knowledge of hospitality options in York and London
A professional, humble and trustworthy individual who can work with and manage confidential information discretely and maintain confidentiality in all scenarios

Pay & Benefits for our PA/Executive Assistant:? 

Salary: Competitive depending on experience;

Discretionary annual bonus?
Generous Staff Discount? 
Free onsite parking? 
Holiday Entitlement (Increases with service)? 
Company Contribution Pension? 
Free access to?RetailHUB?(Wellbeing & Financial Support)
Access to Pavers Foundation: employee-led grant application and charitable giving scheme

About Us

At Pavers we are passionate about providing comfort and happiness to our customers, and we make sure to employ people who are as passionate as we are. We always look for happy, confident, upbeat people, and we provide great jobs in a supportive family environment for them. We know that without our colleagues there is no business, and so the better we look after you, the better service you will provide our customers. We always try and do the right thing by our people.

Pavers has been trading for over 50 years and is a highly profitable family owned-and-run retail business with a strong balance sheet, over 180 retail locations, and a rapidly expanding digital presence. We also own the Jones Bootmaker and Herring Shoes footwear businesses, remain acquisitive, and employ over 1800 people. We were recently recognised by Best Companies as one of the UK’s Top 5 Retail Employers, are Carbon Neutral, have donated more than £2m to charity in the past 5 years, and are imminently undertaking a significant expansion and modernisation of our Warehouse, Head Office, and Retail estates.

We strive for diversity of thinking across the business and believe strongly in supporting our local communities. In 2018 we donated over £2.2m to establish the Pavers Foundation, with the specific purpose of providing grants for causes important to all our colleagues in the areas of health, education, and community. In terms of the environment, we are constantly seeking to reduce our impact. Since 2020 we have been fully carbon neutral, and we also have one of the largest solar arrays in the North-East of England on our warehouse generating clean energy. Because every year we give a percentage of our annual profits to our Foundation, our overarching aim is to be financially successful, but to achieve this in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.

If this sounds like the kind of business?you’d?like to know more about, we’d love to hear from you - please apply today to be?our Executive Assistant!?