Our Financial Institutions Group is seeking a PA to support a team of fee earners (including three partners), based at our London office on a 12 month fixed term contract, working Monday - Wednesday.

The team specialises in the regulation of financial services to consumers and small businesses, including credit, payments and insurance. They advise fund managers on all aspects of their business, as well as institutional investors, wealth managers and family offices on their alternative investment programmes. They also provide specialist advice to banks, investment managers, stock brokers, platforms and SIPP operators.

Osborne Clarke is a leading International Legal Practice looking after a wide range of commercial clients such as Barclays, Facebook, Siemens and Vodafone. We are renowned for our unstuffy and supportive culture, encouraging all our people to make the most of their talent in a fast growing and exciting environment.

We are delighted that our focussed strategy and open culture has also resulted in the firm being joint winners of Roll on Friday Firm of the Year 2018.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively manage mailboxes in terms of diary commitments and meeting room requirements; providing conference dial-in/Skype for Business/VC details where necessary;
• Assist with the file opening and CDD process; set up new matters, draft engagement letters;
• Play an active role in managing and taking responsibility for the billing process, work closely with the matter managers and our finance team; track specific billing arrangements; prepare budget trackers, weekly WIP reports, billing status and client reports;
• Liaise with the team to compile weekly capacity report, chase responses, and circulate;
• Update rolling diary and complete hand over notes;
• Book appropriate venues for client lunches, dinners and drinks receptions;
• Attend monthly team meeting, contributing where necessary to update the team on any new systems and processes;
• Undertake administrative tasks including: the organisation of all travel arrangements; complete expense reclaim forms; file management (filing, closing and arranging offsite storage of files);
• Support the team with all Business Development initiatives/marketing events suggested by the team;
• Draft correspondence and communications; amend legal documentation, create structure charts and funds flow diagrams, demonstrating excellent Word/formatting skills;
• Draft, amend and finalise PowerPoint slides for speaking presentations and Pitch documents; Deal with enquiries from clients, colleagues and third parties in a prompt and professional manner, providing an effective transfer of information;
• Develop strong working relationships with staff and key clients in our UK and international offices, ensuring open and proactive communications at all times;
• Troubleshoot IT issues and escalate to IT ServiceDesk if necessary;
• To provide support within the team (covering for other PA absences);
• Role model a 'can-do', positive work ethic; being decisive, responsible, and taking ownership of issues that arise;
• Proactively identify opportunities, actively contribute and be involved in ad-hoc projects as given by the team.

The position requires a PA with relevant experience and knowledge, who is able to use their own initiative, has first class organisational skills and be an integral team player.

Key skills

• Essential to have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Essential to have excellent time and performance management.
• Excellent IT skills (Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
• Essential to be organised and be able to prioritise work.
• Essential to work with confidentiality, discretion and diplomacy.
• Ability to work under pressure when completions occur in the team.
• Flexibility, diversity and proactive positivity are key attributes.
• Ability to remain calm and friendly even in a crisis.
• Ability to flexibly manage change.

At Osborne Clarke, we are known for our open and inclusive culture. We believe that by investing in the diversity and wellbeing of our people, we create an environment where everyone can thrive to be the best that they can be. This means recognising that our people have lives and commitments outside of work. We have invested in connected working for our people and, where possible, we will accommodate flexible working for all our roles.