Secretary – Planning – Bristol

Vacancy details

We have a new vacancy for a Secretary to join our Planning department, providing a high level of assistance and support to two busy Partners. This role is a part time position, as one half of a job share with another Secretary in the team. The working hours for this role are Wednesdays 12.30 – 5.30, Thursdays 9.00 – 5.30 and Fridays 9.00 – 5.30pm, a total of 20 hours per week.

Role: Secretary
Location: Bristol
Hours: Part time
Term: Permanent
Vacancy Reference: 424-SBL

The role

Based from our friendly, open-plan offices in Bristol, this role will give you the opportunity to support the Partners and other fee earners in our Planning team, providing pro-active and professional support, keeping the team organised and enabling them to work as efficiently as possible.

Your regular duties will include: sorting, screening and prioritising incoming and outgoing post, opening, closing and archiving client files, diary management document production including tracked changes and amendments, audio typing by Digital Dictation, copy typing, emails, memos, creating and updating of Excel spread sheets. You will ensure documents and records are stored appropriately, including ensuring filing and e-filing is up to date and accessible. Attention to detail is paramount and you must be able to prioritise and communicate effectively.

You will assist the Partners with the billing process, agreeing in advance dates for billing, requesting pre-bills and drafting standard cover letters for them to authorise and sign-off.

Daily tasks will include scanning documents and correspondence (including incoming and outgoing post) into our document management system, along with being the first point of contact for clients and have regular communication with them (taking messages, arranging meetings etc.), so should demonstrate professionalism, diplomacy and sensitivity in all your communications.

You will also carry out other administrative / secretarial activities as required, including helping other administrators and secretaries during busy periods and to cover absences from work.

It is an integral part of this role that you comply with data security and all firm policies and procedures.

About you

Previous experience of working within a legal environment would be of benefit, but is not essential for this role. If you have at least 6 months’ experience of working within a busy PA role and have a genuine interest in working within the legal sector, we would very much like to hear from you.

This role will suit you if you like to prioritise your own workload, work closely to deadlines, and can work with minimum supervision and under pressure.

You will need to demonstrate from experience that you are exceptionally organised and proactive, that you have a flexible ‘can-do’ attitude, and that you have the skills to work closely with various stakeholders and have direct contact with clients.

You will have excellent spelling and grammar and, ideally, experience of audio typing. You will be proficient with the usual Microsoft packages, including Excel and Powerpoint, and comfortable with learning new databases and other software packages.

We expect you to be someone who takes pride in your work and in providing a first class support service, anticipating our lawyers’ needs in advance wherever possible, and paying meticulous attention to detail in all of your work.

Communication will be one of your strong points, both written and oral, and you will be enthusiastic about delivering excellent quality service to our lawyers and clients.

Finally, we are looking for someone who can demonstrate initiative and problem-solving skills, which will help you thrive in this role. You should be proactive and flexible in working both individually and as part of a team, with minimal supervision, and be able to prioritise a number of different tasks and projects effectively.

Apply

If you would like to apply for this vacancy, please send us your CV, together with a covering email/letter using the button below:

Apply

(If you have any difficulties with the link, you can email your application to us at careers@clarkewillmott.com)

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