Blue Marine Foundation seeks to protect and restore life in the ocean, aiming to see at least 30 per cent of the world’s oceans protected by 2030.  We are a dynamic NGO at the heart of cutting-edge marine conservation, headquartered in London but operating globally with around 50 projects in 25 countries around the world.  

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Executive Assistant to join Blue Marine with a focus on optimising our ability to deliver conservation through supporting the CEO and senior leadership team with facilitation, coordination and logistics.

The role will primarily support the five members of the senior leadership team with day-to-day operational functions, keeping on-top of decisions and actions agreed in meetings and ensuring organisational policies and procedures are followed.  This role will also support the wider organisation with logistics for group travel bookings, global conferences and other ad-hoc duties.

The ideal candidate will be an exceptionally organised and efficient facilitator, engaged in our mission and the people who deliver it.  You do not need to have previous experience as an executive assistant, but it will be expected that you can demonstrate a high level of competency to deliver the responsibilities of the role with confidence, initiative and sound judgement.   ‍

‍

Salary: £35,000 – £45,000 per annum, negotiable depending on experience, in addition to a generous benefits package.

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week. Standard working hours are Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm but flexibility is encouraged, particularly when supporting global travel arrangements. Part-time applications may also be considered.  

Location: Remote, although working from our London office at Somerset House is also possible.  

Reporting to: Director of Finance, Operations and Governance ‍

Application deadline: Sunday 9 March 2025

Please send your CV and a covering letter explaining your skills and suitability for the role to HR@edelweisshr.co.uk.  Interviews will be ongoing throughout application period. If you would like to know more or have any questions, then we’d be happy to help.

We are committed to an inclusive workplace, where there is equality of opportunity. We value diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.  ‍

‍

Role and Responsibilities 

Reporting to the Director of Finance, Operations and Governance, you will:  

• Support the CEO and the senior leadership team with travel requirements, diary management and meeting logistics as required.

• Facilitate trimesterly board meetings by coordinating diaries, preparing agendas, circulating papers, taking minutes, handling correspondence and following up with senior staff to ensure meeting actions are addressed.

• Facilitate key organisational meetings, including weekly project meetings and ad-hoc executive management meetings by preparing agendas, taking minutes and following up with staff to ensure meeting actions are addressed.

• Manage global conference attendance, including coordinating the conference attendance decisions with directors, ensuring attendees are empowered with the right information and training to make the most of the trip, following up to ensure appropriate notes are circulated and actions are completed, and coordinating travel and event logistics with the support of the events manager.

• Support with event planning across all departments to ensure appropriate timings between major events, consider event combinations to reduce travel requirements and ensure events are diarised for all relevant staff.

• Field external phone calls and emails to the appropriate member of staff in a professional and timely manner.

• Assist the wider organisation with travel bookings, ensuring value for money on complex trips and group bookings.

• Support the Head of Operations in ensuring policies and procedures are followed and internal communications are maintained.

• Champion Blue Marine’s working environment, taking a positive role in the organisational culture and encouraging staff engagement of operational systems.  

• Other ad-hoc duties as specified by the CEO and senior leadership team. ‍

‍

Personal Specification

The ideal candidate will be an exceptionally organised and efficient facilitator, engaged in our mission and the people who deliver it.  You will be resilient to the pressures of working in a fast-paced environment and comfortable prioritising and managing the expectations of multiple executives with a polite and professional can-do attitude.  You will be pragmatic, focused on delivering action and results, and an excellent professional communicator, confident dealing with a diverse range of stakeholders plus able to demonstrate excellent grammatical accuracy in your writing.   ‍

Skills and Experience  

• Experience of working in an organised, efficient and adaptable manner within a fast-paced, dynamic environment.  

• Experience of dealing with confidential information across senior management.

• Skilled at adapting and prioritising workload to deal effectively with multiple executives.

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills with a solid understanding of grammar.

• Skilled use of Microsoft O365, including SharePoint, would be desirable.

• Experience in providing technical hardware/software support to senior staff would be a bonus.

Qualities  

• Organised, efficient, pragmatic and focused on delivering action and results.  

• Pro-active problem solver.

• Polite and professional can-do attitude.

• Self-motivated, able to work on own initiative and with a hands-on approach.

• Adaptable, able to prioritise and deal effectively with a busy workload in a dynamic environment.

• Resilient when working to tight deadlines with multiple stakeholders.

• Honest and discreet when dealing with personal and confidential information.

• Enthusiasm for the conservation of the environment, climate and oceans.

• Uphold Blue Marine’s values and always embody this behaviour internally and externally.

‍