UCL ADVANCES
Job Description & Person Specification:
Personal Assistant
1. Background Information
UCL – a university, a community, a world-class reputation …
UCL is one of the UK’s leading universities, a world-class multidisciplinary research and teaching
institution, whose staff and former students have included 26 Nobel Prize winners. Founded in
1826, UCL was the first university in England to admit students regardless of race, religion or
gender. It continues to thrive on the creativity and diversity of its community which today
comprises 10,000 staff, 13,000 undergraduates and 9,000 graduate students from 130 countries
across the globe.
Constitutionally part of the federal University of London, UCL is in practice an independent
university, with an annual turnover of over £800 million. Its 70 departments span arts and
humanities, social and historical sciences, law, architecture and the built environment,
engineering sciences, mathematical and physical sciences, life and clinical sciences, and
medicine. UCL includes academic units as diverse as the UCL Slade School of Fine Art, the UCL
Bartlett School of Architecture and the UCL Institute of Child Health, which is associated with
Great Ormond Street Hospital.
75% of UCL’s departments received ratings of ‘excellent’ in national teaching quality reviews
carried out between 1993 and 2001 and 60 departments achieved top (grade 5 and 5*) ratings in
the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. As a result of its track record, UCL receives
substantial funding from government and charities, and more than £250 million is currently being
invested in state-of-the-art facilities for cutting-edge research and teaching. Situated at the heart
of one of the world’s greatest cities, UCL’s historic central campus in Bloomsbury is within easy
reach of several rail and underground stations, the Eurostar terminal and Heathrow airport.
UCL Advances
UCL Advances, UCL's centre for entrepreneurship and business interaction, helps anyone who
wants to learn about, start or grow a business. It’s primary role is to promote a culture of
entrepreneurship on campus and engagement with entrepreneurs and small businesses beyond
UCL’s boundaries. It works to support start-ups and small businesses across London by helping
them to access the technical and business expertise of UCL’s staff and students through a series
of programmes to help support ambitious young companies.
UCL Advances is affiliated with UCL Enterprise, which provides UCL’s structures for engaging
with business for commercial and societal benefit.
www.ucl.ac.uk/advances
www.ucl.ac.uk/enterprise
Programme Summary
You will be working within the DECIDE team, who focus on supporting digital businesses, mostly
within Tech City in London. The team you will be surrounded by is dynamic highly motivated, fun
and entrepreneurial.
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2. The Role
Job Title
Location
Personal Assistant
IDEALondon, 69 Wilson Street, LONDON, EC2A 2BB
Job Function:
Assist the DECIDE Programme director and programme manager with a wide range of
administrative planning and organisational work including:
2.1 Administrative
• Responsible for the day-to-day management of the programme director and programme
manager’s support structures
• Speed read through emails – up to 200 per day - respond promptly and directly where
appropriate & inform the director and manager of any important information that has come
in whilst they were in meetings
• Where appropriate extract attachments from emails and file appropriately
• Manage several diaries / calendars and ensure that they are balanced
• Arrange meetings, confirm them the day before & help keep all meetings to time
• Book meeting rooms & arrange catering
• Welcome visitors for meetings
• Where appropriate prepare agenda, take minutes during meetings, file and sent out
appropriately, following up on actions to be taken
• Produce daily briefing papers
• Screen phone calls, assisting where possible & relaying messages in an efficient way
• Develop and maintain a full and up to date knowledge of all Enterprise services /
partnerships, their applications and benefits so as to ensure that all enquiries are directed
to the most appropriate person to answer
• Act as initial point of contact for all enquiries. External and internal customer queries are
to be treated quickly, thoroughly and with politeness and courtesy. Where necessary in
consultation with the Programme Director and / or the Programme Manager, ensuring
customers’ needs are ascertained and met in the appropriate communicative format
• On behalf of the Director and / or Programme Manager, the PA is routinely consulted by
staff at all levels for advice and guidance on a variety of issues and as a result has to
have a highly developed sense of policies and practice within UCL and, more broadly,
general business norms
• Data entry and ensuring the existing data in the database is accurate
• Collect receipts for expenses, file them, complete claim
• Chase up salary and expense payments
• Assist in research, generate and check reports and bids
• Assist with reports on outputs for the programme
• Man the reception desk, welcome visitors & inform the appropriate person of their arrival
• Maintain tidiness and cleanliness within the storage and stationary cupboards, meeting
rooms and workspace in general
• On-board newcomers
• Remain abreast of “soft” information such as innovators birthdays, personal issues that
may affect their companies performance, holidays planed, ect
• Taking on some of the manager's responsibilities and working closely with management
• Deputising for the manager, making decisions and delegating work to others in the
manager's absence
• Travel and accommodation arrangement for the team
2.2 Reception
• Maintain communication with main reception in terms of who is expected to arrive and at
what time
• Develop and maintain a full and up to date knowledge of all UCL Enterprise &
IDEALondon services & partnerships, their applications and benefits so as to ensure that
all enquiries are directed to the most appropriate person to answer
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Act as initial point of contact for all enquiries. External and internal customer queries are
to be treated quickly, thoroughly and with politeness and courtesy. Where necessary in
consultation with the Programme Manager, ensuring customers’ needs are ascertained
and met in the appropriate communicative format
1. Inbound queries from website via email
2. Telephone queries
3. Generic events & room booking queries
4. ISD issues (wifi, telepresence, printer, telephones, login, email, ect)
Man the reception desk (1-2 days a week and during lunch and holiday cover), welcome
visitors & inform the appropriate person of their arrival
1. Maintain up-to-date list of all those in IDEALondon at any given point in time
2. Maintain up-to-date contact list of all companies and people in IDEALondon
Maintain meeting room calendars, arrange meeting rooms & catering as required
Sort through post and ensure it is distributed to the correct person
Loaning out and collecting cables / adaptors & maintaining inventory list up to date at all
times
2.3 Other Duties
• Co-ordinate, attend and deliver events, including all communication through clear verbal
and written correspondence with speakers, staff, guests and service providers (this will
include events outside normal working hours)
• Manage guest lists and registration process for events using our online events
management system and provide basic reports
• Arrange furniture layout in rooms for events (training, workshops, ect)
• Work with the marketing and PR liaisons to promote events
• To continue to develop skills and knowledge in work practices, policies and procedures
• Carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as
requested by the line manager or Head of Department/Division.
• Actively follow UCL policies including Equal Opportunities policies and be expected to
give consideration within their role as to how they can actively advance equality of
opportunity and good relations between people who share a relevant protected
characteristic and people who do not share it.
• Maintain an awareness and observation of Fire and Health & Safety Regulations.
3. Person Specification: Knowledge, Skills and Attitude Required
Person Specification
You must be hard working, well presented and able to demonstrate excellent organisational and
interpersonal skills, the ability to take on responsibilities and to have a hands-on attitude to the
post. Specifically you need to be able to demonstrate the following experience and competencies:
Essential
• Strong interest in digital SME’s and the startup culture in London
• Tech-savvy with a desire to use technology to it’s fullest capacity in the workplace,
including but not limited to the use of new and developing software
• Quick to learn how to use new technology
• A strong preference and understanding of electronic filing systems
• A problem solver, proactive, highly organised, adaptable, efficient and detail orientated
• Able to work on own initiative, with minimal supervision and calmly under pressure
• Able to manage and prioritise a busy workload to deadlines for yourself and the
programme manager
• Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills both written and oral, and be able
develop effective working relationships
• Tact and discretion in the handling of highly confidential and sensitive information
• Have a minimum of 3 A level passes or equivalent
• Ability to analyse complex information as required
• Competence, professionalism and a calm demeanour are core requirements
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Function at a high level within an academic and senior executive community
Meticulous and well structured administrative skills
Desirable
• PA/EA experience within a fast paced environment
• Experience of taking minutes/notes of meetings
• Experience of admin/finance
• Experience of working in a commercial environment, particularly a small business
• Understanding of how things work within a Higher Education Institution
• Understanding of Start-up and SME product development cycles and Agile methodologies
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