Operations executive jobs

Senior Executive Assistant and Development Operations Lead

£50,000 per annum plus benefits

Permanent, Full Time

Oxford (hybrid)

We are recruiting for a Senior Executive Assistant and Development Operations Lead to join the Rhodes Trust, Oxford. This role plays a pivotal role in enabling the effectiveness and impact of the Chief Engagement and Development Officer and the wider Global Engagement leadership department. We are looking for the successful candidate to start with us as soon as possible.

About the Rhodes Trust

The Rhodes Trust is an educational charity which offers Rhodes Scholarships to exceptional students from around the world to come and study at the University of Oxford. Our mission is to build a better world through global fellowship programmes that develop and connect compassionate, innovative, and public-spirited people committed to solving humanity’s challenges. In recent years, we have also partnered with several other remarkable organisations to create the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, Atlantic Institute, Schmidt Science Fellows, RISE and Oxford Next Horizons.

The role

This position acts as an operational partner to the senior leadership team, with responsibility for key development operations, donor stewardship processes, senior leadership logistics and governance-related coordination.

The role will be responsible for; (see Job Description for full details):

Executive and Leadership Support

· Proactively manage the CEDO’s diary, inbox, and scheduling, anticipating priorities and easing pressure on senior leadership time.

· Coordinate complex UK and international travel and engagement logistics for the CEDO and other senior team members ensuring arrangements are efficient, well planned and aligned with wider organisational priorities. Liaise with the Warden’s office to ensure coordination and alignment of travel plans.

· Plan and coordinate internal and external meeting coordination, including preparation of briefing materials, tracking follow-up actions, and supporting effective relationship management.

Communications, Donor Stewardship, Reporting and Knowledge Management

· Work closely with Relationship Managers to coordinate and deliver bespoke donor reports, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and timely delivery.

· Prepare condolence letters and other sensitive correspondence with discretion, empathy, and professionalism.

· Take ownership of key development communications and organisational materials, including contributions to the Annual Report, donor publications such as Rhodes Scholar Magazine, rotating website features related to donors, etc.

Governance, Meetings and Project Support

· Coordinate governance and committee processes end-to-end including agenda planning, paper preparation, accurate minute taking and tracking actions to completion.

· Support the planning and delivery of team meetings, retreats, and key events.

· Provide project coordination support for strategic initiatives led by the CEDO and the Engagement and Development team.

Other

· Role modelling the Trust’s organisational values of commitment, inclusion, belonging, growth and innovation.

· Carrying out any other duties relevant to the role, as requested.

· A deep commitment to the values, ethos and mission of the Rhodes Trust.

Essential skills, experience and knowledge (see Job Description for full details):

· Demonstrable experience in a coordination, operations, development, governance, or similar role within a complex organisation, with responsibility for delivering work to a high standard and managing multiple priorities.

· Experience working closely with senior stakeholders, exercising discretion, sound judgement, and professionalism in high-trust environments.

· Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience producing clear, accurate, correspondence, briefings, and materials for internal and external audiences.

· Strong IT skills, with confidence using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and related systems to support effective coordination, reporting, and delivery.

· Experience using databases or CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce) to support reporting, knowledge management, and data quality, with the ability to turn information into useful, decision-ready outputs.

Benefits of working here

We are a global organisation and we use our deep connections across the world to bring together people of different backgrounds and viewpoints. We encourage our staff to challenge each other’s thinking and generate new ideas.

· 30 days annual leave (pro rata) plus 8 bank holidays

· Competitive pension scheme

· Generous family leave schemes

· Private health insurance

· Employee Assistance Programme

· Personal development opportunities

· Additional benefits, such as free access to the University's gardens, parks, libraries and museums, and University staff discounts in shops across Oxford.

· Cycle to work scheme

· Electric car scheme

If you would like to find out more, please click ‘apply’ to view the full job description and to find the link to apply. Please send us your CV and a covering letter. Please note, this advert will close on 3 May 2026. Interviews are expected to be the week commencing 18 May 2026. 

If you have any issues with submitting your application, please email the Recruitment team.

The Rhodes Trust is an equal opportunity employer. We warmly welcome applications from talented people of diverse backgrounds and appoint without regard to age, disability, gender, gender identity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, parental status, marital or civil partner status, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, religion or belief.