PA to the Headmaster - Fettes College Guangzhou 广州斐特思公学

 Personal Assistant to the Headmaster  

Required January 2020 (or earlier)

Fettes College Guangzhou wishes to recruit a highly capable individual to act as PA to the Headmaster, to join the College.

Profile

The role centers on providing support to the Headmaster of Fettes College Guangzhou. This position is within the support staff of Fettes College and requires a high level of efficiency, flexibility and the ability to work under pressure.  Maintaining confidentiality at all times is the key.

On a permanent basis form Summer 2020, the role will be based in Fettes College Zengcheng offices in preparation for a move the School site when completed in Summer 2020. 

In the interim, and in line with the location of the Headmaster, some part of the working week will be based in Bright Scholar Head Quarters building in Shunde.  Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed as required to attend meetings and duties in line with the workplace of the Headmaster.

The College

Located in The Greater Bay Area of Sothern China, in close connection with Hong and Macau, Guangzhou is the third city of China.  The city hosts with world’s largest Trade Fair twice yearly and is known as a culinary as well as commercial centre for modern China and the Pearl River delta.  Connections to the other cities are served by the new opened highspeed rail network (50 minutes to Hong Kong) as well a d Guangzhou international airport (CAN), with direct flights to all major centres of China and the World, including UK.  Air quality in the region is significantly above that of other major cities in Mainland China.

In our opening year (from September 2020), Fettes College Guangzhou have opened in years Kindergarten to Year Nine and will then move to be a full K to 12 school.  From this opening position, it is expected that in a relatively short period of time the school will operate a full iGCSE and A-Level and IB Programme aiming to be the leading British bilingual and international school in the Guangdong region and then all of China.

The School will work closely with the local education regulator to ensure that not only are all regulator and accreditation requirements fulfilled but will act as an example of best practice to be shared in many areas of teaching and pupil experience. 

We strive to turn out well-educated, globally aware, tolerant and intellectually curious men and women who are ready to take a full, active and positive role in the life of Guangzhou, China and our world. Central to this vision are our teachers and leaders.

JOB DESCRPTION

Job Description: Personal Assistant to the Headmaster

Responsible for: The role centers on providing support to the Headmaster of Fettes College Guangzhou. This position is within the support staff of Fettes College and requires a high level of efficiency, flexibility and the ability to work under pressure.  Maintaining confidentiality at all times is the key.

Reporting to:  Headmaster

Main Duties:

–   Proactively manage the smooth running of the Headmaster’s electronic diary and keep this up-to-date at all times.

–   Managing the Headmaster’s commitments as directed.

–   Organising meetings with parents and staff.

–   Deal effectively and efficiently in all aspects of the Headmaster’s incoming and outgoing correspondence.

–   Attending and producing minutes for School meetings involving the Headmaster as necessary.

–   Assisting with projects of other departments as agreed by the Headmaster

–   Managing the staff contacts lists

–   Taking part in Open Evenings and other College Events and promoting the College

–   Liaising with the Facilities and other Department as per specific School functions.

–   General secretarial duties: dictation, typing, dealing with correspondence, copying, distributing documents

–   Organise catering for Headmaster’s regular meetings and liaise with the Catering Manager for special events as required.

–   Electronic and physical file maintenance – confidential data management.

–   Organising travel arrangements and hotel bookings as required.

–   Greeting and escorting visitors around the School

–   Proof-reading and collation of the Headmaster’s work as required.

–   Gather information from various quarters within the School, and accurate completion of statistical returns and accreditation requests.

–   Scheduling and management of project work, as guided by the Headmaster.

–   Support Headmaster with administrative tasks for the School Development Plan, including collation and proofing of all SMT inclusions for both Audit and Action Plans.

–   Deal with all aspects of management and organisation within the Headmaster’s Office, including all stationery and office supplies.

–   Act as Secretary to the FCG Advisory Board and prepare minutes and papers as directed by the Headmaster.

–   Arrange for travel and accommodation for FCG Advisory Board (overseas members)

–   Any other reasonable management request.

Key skills & Experience:

–   Excellent communicator and team player.

–   Excellent English verbal and written communication skills with a sharp eye for detail and proofing capacity for the Headmaster’s and School publications.

–   Proven experience of working in a PA/Office Management post.

–   Experience of working with databases.

–   High level of proven experience in the planning, organising and prioritising of tasks.

–   Good interpersonal skills; the ability to communicate effectively with a variety of people and to assess and diffuse confrontational situations.

–   A sense of humor and the capacity to remain calm and to cope with the unexpected.

–   Ability to engage with colleagues in an open yet fair, firm and consistent manner.

–   Self-disciplined and with excellent time management skills to work to deadlines.

Technical skills

–   Strong working knowledge of Word and Excel.

–   Typing speed of 70 wpm.

–   Good knowledge of other programs such as Power Point, Publisher, Adobe X Pro.

–   Must be fluent in both written and spoken English, with a strong working knowledge of Mandarin.

These key tasks are not intended to be exhaustive, but they highlight a number of major tasks that the post-holder may be reasonably expected to undertake.

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must consist of the following completed documents:

1.    Letter of application (maximum one and a half sides of Garamond 12) addressed to Mr Marco Longmore, Headmaster of Fettes College Guangzhou. Please state clearly in your letter your previous experience, together with details of your strengths and contributions to school life. This should be attached to your electronic application.

2.    CV (maximum 4 sides) naming two referees, one of whom must be your current or most recent employer. This should be attached to your electronic application.

3.    Completed job application form.

Applications should be either emailed to vacancies@fettes.cn

Please note:

Incomplete applications will not be considered, and that Fettes College Guangzhou reserves the right to make an appointment at any stage of the recruitment process.

Due to the expected high levels of interest in positions at the school, applications will be acknowledged on receipt however, only candidates selected for interview will be contacted within 21 days of the closing date for applications.

CLOSING DATE AND INTERVIEWS

Applications will be considered as they are received.

Interviews will be scheduled thereafter.

Fettes College Guangzhou is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Please note that should your application be successful, a police check will be undertaken in the country of origin; in the UK, a disclosure will be requested from the UK’s Disclosure and Barring Service.