Ea to director of operations jobs

We’re currently looking for a Personal Assistant to the Group Chief Financial Officer and Director of Membership & Inclusion, offered on a fixed term basis until the end of January 2027 as maternity cover, to help us deliver our mission. This is a part-time role (0.8 FTE, 28 hours per week, worked across four days Monday to Thursday), with an ideal planned start date in mid-June 2026.

What’s it like working at the IOP?

The IOP is a friendly, inclusive and ambitious organisation. Diversity and inclusion are central to how we work. We focus on supporting our people to thrive, offering competitive pay, great development opportunities and a generous benefits package.

Some of our benefits include:

• An excellent pension scheme
• Private medical insurance, life assurance, dental insurance etc
• Eye care vouchers, annual flu vaccinations, long service awards and access to an employee assistance programme
• 25 days’ annual leave as a standard, in addition to floating bank holidays
• Flexible working opportunities

The Role

What will I be doing?

You will provide high-quality Personal Assistant support to the Group CFO and the Director of Membership & Inclusion, ensuring their time is managed effectively and enabling them to deliver against the IOP’s strategic priorities.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Managing complex diaries, ensuring effective prioritisation of commitments and forward planning
• Coordinating meeting preparation, including collating briefings and papers to the required standard and timelines
• Providing professional administrative support, triaging communications and tracking actions
• Booking and coordinating travel and accommodation arrangements
• Processing expenses and invoices accurately and in a timely manner
• Supporting meetings through agenda setting, minute taking and action tracking
• Maintaining accurate filing systems and CRM records

Projects you may work on include:

• Supporting the planning and coordination of meetings, events and engagements involving the Group CFO and Director of Membership & Inclusion
• Ensuring accurate and timely preparation of documentation and briefings for internal and external meetings
• Undertaking ad hoc administrative and coordination tasks to support CEO Office priorities

Who will I work with?

You’ll work closely with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders, including:

• The Executive Assistant to the Group CEO & President and fellow PAs in the CEO Office Team, working collaboratively to ensure high-quality support across the Executive Team
• Members of the Executive Team, Leadership Team and colleagues across the IOP
• Internal and external stakeholders, requiring professional communication, discretion and attention to detail

Ideally, we hope you’ll apply if you bring:

Essential:

• Significant experience as a Personal Assistant or senior administrative support in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills, with strong attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear and accurate documentation
• Strong IT skills, including confident use of Microsoft 365 applications (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint)

Nice to have:

• Experience of working in a governance, membership or similar organisational environment
• Experience using CRM systems and maintaining accurate data records
• A professional qualification as a Personal Assistant or Executive Assistant

How to apply

Alongside your CV, please include a cover letter explaining how you meet the person specification.

How will I be working?

We operate a flexible, trust based working model that gives colleagues autonomy over how, when and where they work, while recognising the value of in person collaboration. You will be assigned a base office, with hybrid working offered as standard. This role does, however, involve regular working every week at our head office. 

You will engage in regular in person collaboration with your team (as operational appropriate), as well as with colleagues across the wider organisation, to ensure effective operational alignment and to support our inclusive approach to working.

As an organisation we meet in person once a quarter at our Head Office in Kings Cross, London. 

Why join the IOP?

The IOP is the professional body and learned society for physics in the UK and Ireland. As a charity, we’re passionate about increasing public understanding of physics and supporting a diverse and inclusive physics community. 

We’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive culture for everyone. If you need any reasonable adjustments during the application or recruitment process, please let us know we’re always happy to help.

Please note whilst we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role, we warmly encourage applications from candidates who already have the right to work in the UK and Ireland.

We're looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Senior Administrator to join our Central Service team located at our head office in Islington.

£26,936.00- £35,000.00 per annum, working 35 hours per week.

Our benefits include:

Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
Free DBS
Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
Fully paid induction programme and further training
ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
Cycle to work scheme and Season Ticket Loans
Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
Online wellbeing resources
A generous pension - 8% matched pension (via salary exchange)
Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff's commitment and contribution

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

To provide an exceptional standard of organisational, administrative and project support to Directors within the Commercial & Growth and Operations Directorates, enabling them to operate effectively and efficiently. The role will implement and maintain robust, seamless administration systems and processes across the Directorates, ensuring consistency, accuracy and high professional standards.

The postholder will act as an ambassador for the Directors and the organisation at all times, supporting complex and competing workloads with confidence, discretion and foresight, and consistently staying one step ahead of what is required.

What you'll do:

This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead .

Provide high-quality support to Directors, ensuring the smooth and effective day-to-day running.
Proactively manage multiple complex diaries, correspondence and priorities, exercising sound judgement on when to support, challenge or hold the line as appropriate.
Coordinate and provide full administrative support for Directorates and corporate meetings, including the Performance Review meetings, providing end-to-end support, including scheduling, agenda management, paper collation, accurate note-taking, and follow-up of agreed actions and outcomes, reviewing and preparation of papers.
Lead on the organisation of business meetings, events, site visits, including venues, virtual meetings, agendas, papers, travel arrangements, room bookings, minute-taking and action tracking.
Support the timely production of high-quality documentation, including reports, presentations and briefing papers, maintaining excellent attention to detail, accuracy, branding and presentation standards.
Build and maintain strong professional relationships with colleagues across the organisation, acting as a key point of contact and trusted liaison for the Directors.
Work closely with other Executive Assistants and Personal Assistants to share best practice, provide mutual cover and ensure seamless support at Directorate and organisational level.
Assist with budget management activities where required, processing invoices and expenses in line with organisational procedures.
Handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion at all times.
Undertake additional duties or projects in the Directors.
About you:

An experienced and confident, senior level administrator/personal assistant, with enthusiasm to deliver a high quality and effective service
Able to immerse yourself within the business, understanding the work of the directorate and the organisational structures and personalities in place.
Able to work with gravitas, courage and be calm under pressure, building credibility and respect with internal and external stakeholders.
Able to communicate with a warm, inclusive and open manner in order to proactively promote positive 'one team' working across the wider business.
Extremely organised, with highly attuned planning and problem-solving skills, and experience in operating in a busy environment with competing demands.
Able to exercise sound judgement and maintain discretion and confidentiality at all times.
Resilient and flexible when working to tight deadlines, being able to prioritise work effectively and manage expectations.
Experienced in all elements of meeting administration - collating and issuing papers for meetings/boards - ensuring that papers are received in the appropriate format and to deadlines from colleagues across the business, taking accurate minutes and following up on action points.

What you'll bring:

Essential:

Experience in a similar role.
A qualification to degree level (or equivalent) in Business Administration would be beneficial but not essential.
A high level of IT skills, and experience in using the full suite of Microsoft Office software (including but not limited to: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams).
Excellent attention to detail, and ability to present documents professionally and with style (this means having a keen eye for branding, grammar and layout).
A passion for what we do at Look Ahead - and an experience of delivering great customer service.
Desirable:

Experience supporting Directors or senior leaders in a complex or regulated organisation.
Experience of supporting formal governance or performance review forums, including minute-taking and action tracking.
Experience of working in housing, social care, health, or a similar public-facing or not-for-profit sector.
Confidence working with senior stakeholders and balancing competing priorities.