Personal Assistant (Maternity Cover)

Taaleem is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. At Taaleem, we hold ourselves to a high standard of effective practices in relation to child protection, and we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We expect all staff to share this commitment. Successful applicants will be subject to various background checks including receipt of references, proof of relevant qualifications, identification, and police checks, including overseas checks.

Job Purpose:

To support the Chief Education Officer by providing strategic and confidential administrative support. Assist with all queries knowledgeably, efficiently and courteously and support the Chief Education Officer from an administrative perspective to support the smooth running of the Central Office Education department.

Key Accountabilities:

• Act as Secretary for senior meetings, including Senior Executive Board (SEB), as and when required by the Chief Education Officer, including preparing meeting agendas, collating minutes, communicating meeting reminders, confirming venues, arranging refreshments as well as creating and distributing comprehensive minutes and action points to all members post meeting. Support and ensure the Education team meet their deadlines, ensuring they have capacity to achieve the deadline that they have committed to.
• Manage, coordinate and maintain calendar of the Chief Education Officer including appointments, meetings and travel; ensuring all necessary requirements are made e.g. meeting venue, equipment, presentations, prepare agendas. 
• Ensuring that the Education team are fully prepared for all internal and external meetings. Ability to function well in a high-paced environment and with a strong judgement to triage a number of tasks at any given time, prioritising collaborations with the executive team members.
• Ability and confidence to respond to sensitive situations, emails and other communications (including complaints) on behalf of the Education team and ensuring they are distributed to the correct points of contact/departments.
• Have the ability to anticipate what comes next, what resources will be required for that project and which stakeholders to engage.
•  Acting as the point of contact between the Education team and employees/clients.
• Draft and prepare correspondence for internal announcements, executive meetings, and organizations that the Education team are involved with.
• Assist in preparing and managing presentations and decks.
• Use discretion, confidentiality, and good judgment to handle Education team matters. 
• Represent the company and the executive team in a positive light through positive follow-through skills and sound judgment.
• Conserve the Chief Education Officer’s time by reading, researching, collecting and analyzing information as needed, in advance.
• Complete adhoc projects as assigned – such as personal events and/or family needs.
• Welcoming and interacting with external visitors and attending other ad-hoc meetings as and when requested by the Education team. 
• Provide high level personal, executive and administrative support to the executive team.
• Responsible for organising the Chief Education Officer’s travel and logistics including flights, visa requirements, hotel accommodation, car rental, meeting schedules while travelling and completing expenses post travel.
• Ensuring essential information and updates are communicated to Taaleem Central Office/Company as requested by the Chief Education Officer.
• Arrange Central Office and Senior Leadership events.
• Understand data protection and confidentiality.
• Other duties as reasonably expected.

The successful candidate will ideally have the following qualifications, skills and experience;

• University degree or diploma relating to the field (preferred but not essential)
• Minimum 3 years’ experience as Personal / Executive Assistant or similar role supporting senior leaders / executives
• Experience within an educational context and understanding of the UAE international education sector (preferred)
• Emotional intelligence and tact is essential to ensure the business continues to drive forward and the culture remains positive
• Advanced Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• Calm character, able to prioritise and ensure smooth execution of tasks
• Professional fluency in English – spoken and written
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy
• Maintain high levels of professionalism
• Strong business acumen