Personal Assistant

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Key responsibilities and deliverables

Office Operations

• Ensures office and client meeting spaces are kept clean, fully stocked and well maintained.

• Handle catering requests for meetings. Liaison with suppliers and contractors to ensure service standards are met.

• Prepares payment requests for general office services, work with MENA Accounts team.

• Controls stationary inventory and deals with vendors to place orders when necessary.

• Delivering, collecting and distributing documents and post.

• Coordinate local logistics, bookings and transportation for visitors and new joiners.

• Assists with organising office delivery Gate Passes for suppliers with ADGM facility managers. Work with ADGM facility managers on permit applications for suppliers to undertake approved work activities in the Freshfields office within the ADGM campus.

• Assists with issuing and logging office access cards as well as prepares applications for lift and parking permits with ADGM facility managers as necessary.

• Provides administrative support to business services teams in MENA as required. Contributes to office/ team projects on an ad hoc basis.

Office Reception

• Answers phone calls through the reception, directs as appropriate and takes accurate messages.

• Greets and farewells clients in a friendly and professional manner and escorts them to the boardrooms. Sets up and services refreshment requirements and ensures the room is checked on a regular basis during meetings and assist with cleaning when required.

• Manages incoming and outgoing couriers and deliveries and arranges distribution in a timely manner. Tracks outgoing packages to ensure receipt. Allocates fees to the appropriate cost code or client as per office procedures.

PA responsibilities

Client engagement

• Responds to, assesses and prioritises clients requests, however communicated, and offers appropriate efficient and business-like help and assistance to meet their needs.

• Maintains a good knowledge of current matters and carries out client liaison duties including regular WIP updates.

• Develops and maintains an up-to-date knowledge of the stage of the matter upon which the fee earners are working, current matter workloads, potential issues and sensitivities.

Marketing and Business Development activities

• Proactively supports fee earners MBD responsibilities. Includes submitting content to MBD systems (CV database, pitch/experience lists etc), intranet/LinkedIn publishing, prompting fee earners to provide material for uploading, conducting basic research on potential clients, running regular activity and tracking reports to support MBD initiatives.

• Carries out basic business development duties such as updating contacts and sending out business development materials, in conjunction with the MENA BD team.

• Assists with administrative support for both internal and external business development and client events, working in conjunction with the relevant central and practice based MBD teams as appropriate.

• Support the MBD department as required on the production of pitches, client presentations and maintaining up-to-date CVs for fee earners.

Key requirements (Communication/skills/experience)

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• English at business fluent level

• Excellent communication skills (written and oral).

• Friendly and helpful customer service approach.

• Good organisational skills and attention to detail.

• Ability to prioritise and act on own initiative.

• Able to work fast to tight deadlines.

• Able to work as part of a team.

• Ability to adopt a flexible and proactive approach and retain a professional attitude under pressure.

• Flexibility to work in evenings and/ or weekends as required.

• Excellent IT Skills, including fast, accurate audio and copy typing (60 wpm).

• Able to produce high quality Word and PowerPoint documents.

• Able to create, manipulate and interrogate Excel spreadsheets.

• Experience in using FileSite, Intapp, WorkDay, SalesForce, IntroHive or industry equivalent

• Willingness to broaden experience and develop skills further.

• Willingness to work overtime and/or outside of normal working hours as required.