Senior Secretary

Senior Secretary Role

We are recruiting a Senior Secretary to join the Finance hub in our London office.

In many of our offices, ‘Hubs’ have transformed how secretarial services are delivered; with team members sharing the workload. Hubs also provide opportunities for developing a broader range of skills for pursuing a defined career path, networking and knowledge-sharing. These opportunities were not possible with the traditional model.

We are proud of our history of secretaries progressing to take leading roles in the strategy setting and day-to-day running of our secretarial function.

We Have 5 Levels Of Role In The Team

• Legal Admin Lead – Oversees the effective operation of practice group legal administration support teams, working in close collaboration with the Team Leader to ensure smooth day to day operations.
• Team Leader – Manages and takes responsibility for the efficient running of the team. Oversees incoming work flow. Distributes tasks appropriately amongst the team whilst operating as a senior level Secretary. Responsible for communicating with fee earners to keep them appraised of a task or project status.
• Senior Secretary - Takes ownership for the efficient running of the team by role-modelling as an effective and responsible team member and acts as workflow supervisor where required.
• Secretary - Provides general secretarial and administration services as part of the secretarial team.
• Team Apprentice – An apprenticeship level role for those developing their skills, undertaking routine administration tasks at the direction of the Team Coordinator.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Working collaboratively with the rest of the team, to deliver and provide exceptional secretarial support by:

• Providing high-level support to partners and fee earners as a trusted advisor
• Acting as a role model and mentor to less experienced members of the team by sharing knowledge and best practice
• Completing practice group specific tasks to develop specialist expertise (e.g. super-user on specific tools, knowledge management support)
• Utilising skill in influencing stakeholders - quickly building rapport and be seen as a trusted advisor
• Adding value by taking a proactive approach to tasks and anticipating potential problems before they arise
• Collaborating closely with the Billing Team to deliver seamless support to partners and fee earners.
• Ensuring accurate and timely use of our client relationship management system to facilitate matter opening, maintenance, closure and archiving, expenses and disbursements. Occasionally recording time for fee-earners when required (including non-billable productive time)
• Understanding DLA Piper document management processes (iManage)
• Coordinating internal and external client meetings effectively ensuring rooms and conference facilities are booked, liaising with attendees and ensuring that any required catering and technical equipment is in place
• Assisting fee earners with the organisation of meetings including preparation of agendas and collating meeting papers in a timely manner
• Utilising document production for the creation of all first draft documents
• Organising and assisting with client functions, entertainment and seminars, as required
• Arranging complex travel bookings, including visas, flights, taxis, accommodation and rental cars, etc.
• Assisting the billing team returning client balances and other adhoc cash management tasks
• Assisting on ad-hoc projects as and when required, for example managing bundles, supporting team events etc.
• Any other secretarial or administrative duties as required