Executive Assistant - Corporate Suite at PPS

Purpose of the Job:

A Senior Management role, principally providing support to the Group CEO and Group COO (the C-suite) in co-ordinating strategic and operational matters. This role will have broad exposure to the business, accompanying and representing the C-suite across the breadth of their responsibilities. The role will assist in optimizing planning, execution and monitoring of strategy. The incumbent should be adept at navigating organizational dynamics and serve as a catalyst for collaboration across business areas on strategic and operational plans, business transformation and the talent agenda. Skillful synthesis of Group-wide information in preparing high-quality Board reports and papers, which will be of valuable support to the C-suite.

Key responsibilities:

Strategic Projects and initiatives

• Contribute and support the C-suite in strategic planning discussions that inform critical business programmes or projects.
• Responsible for design and management of the end-to-end Strategic planning process (planning, scheduling, documenting, budget and engaging external stakeholders) for programmes or events.
• Participate in key strategic projects and business area focus areas aligned to the business strategy.
• Responsible for the detailed monitoring of drivers of progress in respect to strategic initiatives and consequent reporting.
• Provide regular formal and informal feedback to the C-Suite, Exco and Senior Management on progress, including recommendations for intervention, amendments to plans / budgets. (This role will not be engaging with the Boards, but provides exceptional support to the C-suite to facilitate their direct involvement).
• Formal reporting will be required to be innovative in format in order to enliven the strategic priorities across stakeholders (Boards, Leadership, Staff, Members and intermediaries) with the objective of alignment behind the strategic vision.

Providing Executive Support to the C-Suite

• Attend meetings with C-suites, keeping action items for each and maintaining and managing the completion of an updated summary.
• Provide thorough preparation packs for all engagements and meetings with the accurate information and positioning on matters to inform discussions and decision making.
• Conduct research on key themes as requested by / discussed with C-suite in preparation for forthcoming discussions i.e. conduct personal research on themes and provide valuable insights.
• Lead various cross-functional Steering Committees / Working Groups as requested from the C-suite (either on their behalf for specific meetings or on behalf of the C-suite).
• Liaise with personal assistants in respect of schedules and commitments to allow prioritisation of C-suite’s time.

Effective Communication and Stakeholder management

• Synthesize monthly reporting from the various business units into business-wide C-suite reports for submission to Boards, Committees and other governance structures.
• Review draft minutes, respond to matters arising as well as preparing full draft reports for submission timeously in preparation for c-suite review before submission.
• In doing so, this role will effectively “manage” the governance cycle obligations of the C-Suite.
• Effectively communicates the strategic narrative aligned to business requirements; uses varied communication vehicles and opportunities to promote dialogue, alignment and delivery.
• Collaborates with key business stakeholders in sharing insights to improve multichannel experiences, product development, needs identification and personalization.
• Navigates organisational dynamics and commands authority; accepted as an extension of C-suite by all key stakeholders with strong interface and adept at handling key business issues on behalf of the C-suite.

Formal Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or Hons in Finance, Commerce, IT or Sciences.
• Post-Graduate management qualifications (preferably MBA).
• Chartered Accountant is preferred.

Experience and Knowledge:

• 5 years’ experience in Financial services industry including at least 3 years’ experience operating within a senior management environment.
• Demonstrated experience in preparation of proposals, business cases and board reports.
• Experience in leading cross-functional teams and engaging with senior stakeholders.
• Experience in dealing with ambiguity and complexity. 

Knowledge and Skills

• Strong analytical skills
• Attention to detail
• Strong work ethic
• Excellent report writing skills
• Financial management
• Able to work and manage confidential information at a CEO/COO level