Executive Assistant

Executive Assistant

Location:

Hybrid – home working with travel between nursery settings across Edinburgh & Midlothian Salary: £30,000 – £35,000 per annum

Hours:

Full time

Contract:

Permanent Reporting to:
Operations Director and CFO Company:
Pinocchio's Children's Nurseries About Pinocchio's Pinocchio's Children's Nurseries is a growing group of high-quality early years settings across Scotland. We are backed by private equity investor Foresight Group and have an ambitious growth strategy, combining the development of our existing nurseries with a programme of acquisitions. As the group grows, we are looking for an organised, proactive and commercially minded Executive Assistant to provide high-quality support to the Operations Director and CFO, with regular interaction with the Board and senior management team.

This is an important role within the group and would suit someone who enjoys working in a fast-paced, growing business where priorities can change quickly and where they can make a genuine difference.

The Role The Executive Assistant will provide broad executive, operational and administrative support to the Operations Director and CFO / Board. The role will involve coordinating priorities, meetings and actions, preparing information and presentations, supporting Board and management processes, and ensuring that important actions are followed through to completion. The successful candidate will be highly organised, confident dealing with senior stakeholders and comfortable taking ownership of tasks rather than simply waiting for instructions.

The candidate will be familiar with MS Office including Excel and PowerPoint.

Key Responsibilities Executive & Board Support Provide day-to-day executive support to the Operations Director and CFO. Manage diaries, meetings and appointments, ensuring priorities are effectively coordinated. Prepare agendas, papers and supporting information for Board and senior management meetings. Attend meetings where appropriate, take accurate minutes and maintain action logs. Follow up actions with members of the management team and ensure deadlines are met.

Assist with preparation of Board packs, presentations and management reports. Coordinate information and requests between the Board, management team and nursery settings. Maintain a clear record of key decisions, actions and deadlines. Operational Support Support the Operations Director with the coordination of operational priorities across the nursery group. Help coordinate meetings, inspections, visits, training and other group-wide activities. Maintain central schedules, trackers and action plans.

Support the implementation of operational initiatives and ensure actions are progressed. Liaise with nursery managers and central functions to obtain information and updates. Help identify outstanding actions or issues and proactively chase them through to resolution. Assist with the coordination of new nursery openings, acquisitions and integration projects as required. Finance & Commercial Support Working closely with the CFO, the role will also provide support on a range of financial and commercial activities, including:
Preparing and maintaining financial and operational information. Assisting with the preparation of management and Board reporting. Maintaining trackers for budgets, expenditure, projects and key actions. Coordinating information required for acquisitions, due diligence and integration activity. Supporting invoice, purchase order and supplier administration where required. Assisting with the preparation of presentations, analysis and reports. Liaising with external advisers, suppliers and professional advisers when required.

Project & Administration Support Take ownership of specific projects and work streams delegated by the Operations Director or CFO. Maintain project plans, timelines and action trackers. Coordinate activities across different departments and nursery settings. Prepare documents, reports, presentations and correspondence. Establish and maintain effective filing and document management systems. Help improve administrative processes and introduce greater consistency across the group. Handle confidential information appropriately and maintain a high level of discretion.

About You We are looking for someone who is organised, proactive and commercially aware , with the confidence to work with senior people and the initiative to identify what needs doing. You will ideally have experience working as an…