Practice Assistant

Working Hours and Arrangements

The position will be a mixture of 2 days remote working and 3 days in the office on a Monday, Wednesday & Friday. However, for the right candidate, there could be scope for two part-time roles, either split between the administrative and secretarial activities or a straight job share.

When working from home, an agile working day has been adopted, running from 7.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.

Job Purpose

To provide a full range of administrative, financial, secretarial and customer service support and to promote a professional image of the firm at all times.

Job Description

Administration

• Assist with the administration of the Firm’s archiving systems, including scanning hard-copy files to digital format and arranging disposal of confidential waste
• Assist with the maintenance of the PWW website, phone portal, spam filter and other support systems
• Assist with monitoring stocks of stationery and ordering office supplies
• Provide support to staff in the use of the office equipment and troubleshoot problems, organising maintenance and repairs as required
• Manage deliveries to the office, checking delivery notes and ensuring paperwork is reconciled for invoicing purposes
• Scan in-coming mail and distribute electronic copies as appropriate to colleagues.
• Collect and dispatch post from/to the mailroom

Finance

• Monitor & process posting slips and action at the bank
• Reconcile Land Registry transactions and post to SOS
• Banking and/or credit control activities
• Process client bills, electronic card payments and other transactions/related activities (e.g., checking for client payments out, internal transfers, client receipts)
• Post and convert invoices for authorisation

Secretarial

• Produce accurate correspondence and legal documentation from digital speech recognition format (BigHand), legal precedents and occasional hand-written copy, ensuring all documentation is filed accurately on SOS
• Undertake the completion of electronic and on-line forms
• Create and develop Excel spreadsheets that support the work of FEs in the management and monitoring of matters
• Support the preparation of electronic (and occasional paper-based) bundles, documents, reports, mail and enclosures
• Open, maintain and close client files in a timely manner ensuring all matter information and documentation is up to date and accurately filed on SOS

Customer Service

• Deal with telephone calls from clients and colleagues in a polite, courteous and professional manner, taking accurate messages and forwarding as appropriate

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Qualifications

• OCR/RSA Level 2 or 3 text/word processing or equivalent
• 5 GCSE’s at grade 4 or above or equivalent, including Maths & English
• NVQ Level 2 or 3 in Business Administration or equivalent
• EFAW & Fire Warden qualifications or willingness to train

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills in order to build good relationships with colleagues and clients.
• Fast and accurate word processing skills (70 WPM min)
• Superb verbal and written communication skills
• Highly organised and efficient approach to work
• Able to multi-task and respond positively to a large workload
• Strong prioritisation skills to enable competing deadlines to be met

Knowledge

• Good computer literacy, including knowledge of case management systems and Microsoft Office Suite applications
• Familiar with providing financial, clerical, secretarial and management support

Experience

• Experience in a busy office or reception with a strong customer-service approach
• Experience of managing and delivering a wide variety of tasks with minimum supervision

Personal Qualities

• Self-motivated, diligent, dedicated and driven to succeed
• Hardworking, proactive and positive attitude
• Resilient, rigorous and reacts well under pressure
• Confident, considered and adept at handling conflicting priorities
• High level of integrity and empathy
• Accurate, with good attention to detail
• Able to use own initiative to research issues and find solutions
• Flexible, adaptable and willing to help, whatever the task
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Committed to providing exemplary levels of service to clients

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent

Salary: £25,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Sick pay
• Work from home

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: One location