Team Leader & Executive Assistant to the Executive Director of EPP

Team / Directorate: Corporate Services Support /  Corporate Strategy and Development

Starting salary:  £41,132 to £44,988 annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview date: 23 May 2025

Post number: 202408

The role

Join us at the heart of national delivery by supporting the senior leadership of our Directorate. In this key role, you will lead a team of Personal Assistants who provide high-quality support to the Heads of Business across our delivery functions in Wales.

As Executive Assistant to the Executive Director of Evidence, Policy and Permitting, you’ll play a central role in both strategic and operational support—ranging from diary management and meeting coordination to overseeing the production of briefing materials for Executive Team and Board-level decisions.

You’ll work closely with two fellow Executive Assistants and take on line management responsibilities for selected Personal Assistants from other Directorates, helping to ensure consistent, efficient, and professional business support across the organisation.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Dom Driver at dominic.driver@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk 

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams

Successful external applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. We aim to make offers of appointment within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us

The Evidence, Policy and Permitting Directorate integrates knowledge and evidence into policy to set how we deliver our three well-being objectives, Nature is recovering, Communities resilient to climate change, and Pollution is prevented.  It also delivers several operational services at national scale. 

The Executive Assistant plays a pivotal role in the smooth running of the leadership team for the Directorate.  You will participate in activities that relate to all three of our well-being objectives with close relationships to changes in the real-world. Your role will also be integral in further improving our productivity, the ability for us at all levels to make reasonable, timely decisions and move smoothly into action.

 

What you will do

• You will lead and develop your team to implement and maintain the highest levels of corporate governance, including application of financial reporting and good governance, ensuring NRW demonstrates the highest standards of corporate governance in relation to the workings of the most senior levels of the organisation.
• You will personally provide the highest level of professional, efficient, administrative and secretarial support to your designated Director.
• You will be responsible for working with high profile customers and contentious matters across the directorate, including working with offices of Senedd Members, Members of Parliament and Chief Executives of external organisations.
• Maintain effective budget management.
• Ensure your team is motivated, effective and demonstrating NRW’s organisational values by developing them individually and as a team and by effective performance management.
• Work with the other Support Team Leaders to share best practice and ensure service provision across all the directorates.
• Ensure the development and maintenance of an effective records management process for all items from meetings and correspondence to and from various meetings and groups.
• Strive for continuous improvement to processes and procedures to increase efficiency and effectiveness.  
• Demonstrate the highest standards of customer service and engagement with external stakeholders.  
• Have a high level of internal influence and impact to ensure technical briefing notes and papers prepared by others, are delivered in the right format and within required timescales.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development and that of your staff through the effective use of your personal development plan, and that of your staff (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.
• Required to take part in incident response activities.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. An experienced office or secretariat manager with excellent organisational skills with the ability to plan, organise and prioritise work effectively.
2. Able to demonstrate team management experience, including team leadership and staff development and performance management
3. Excellent attention to detail, particularly written work and copy to ensure papers and minutes are of the highest quality.
4. Able to deliver to set deadlines and manage competing priorities
5. The post holder will typically have a recognised professional/technical qualification (degree) or equivalent experience.
6. You will need to be an effective communicator and able to work with a range of senior staff, Chair, Chief Executive, Board Members and Directors – with excellent customer service skill set and attitude.
7. Your service delivery must be professional, of a high quality, timely and specialist.  
8. You will need excellent organisational skills in order to deliver a service to the organisation, therefore you will need to be a confident and professional communication both in writing and verbally.
9. High proficiency in all Microsoft Office applications i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

 

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential:  Level A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh)

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

If you think you have what it takes to do this role, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch and we will be happy to discuss the role with you in more detail.

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender expression and gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion.   We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

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