Legal & Governance Executive Administrator

This is a full-time, permanent position on Crick terms and conditions of employment, reporting to the General Counsel & Company Secretary .

Summary

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, University College London, Imperial College London and King’s College London. The institute is governed by a Board of Director-Trustees led by an independent chair.

The institute is a leading centre of biomedical research and innovation. It promotes connections between researchers and disciplines and between academic institutions, healthcare organisations and businesses. Dedicated to research excellence, the institute has the scale, vision and expertise to tackle the most challenging scientific questions underpinning health and disease. It has a strong national role — training scientists and developing ideas for public good.

Key responsibilities

These include but are not limited to:

• Supporting the General Counsel & Company Secretary (GC) with the administration and delivery of legal & governance priorities and projects
• Supporting operational improvement work, including aspects of the contract lifecycle management project and purchase orders
• Process administration of internal audit actions and material transfer agreements (MTA)
• Director and stakeholder engagement and support
• Administration and maintenance of the governance and compliance calendar for the Crick and each of its subsidiaries (including the board and committee meetings calendar)
• Governance and compliance support including but not limited to maintaining intranet sites for policies and delegations of authority
• Keeping under review actions assigned to the GC, as well as internal audit reports and actions in so far as they relate to the legal and corporate governance teams, providing information required and prompting the action holders to timely discharge their actions
• Performing a variety of administrative tasks for the GC including but not limited to: managing an active calendar of appointments and meetings; coordinating logistics for meetings, interviews, tours and appointments; arranging and monitoring travel plans, schedules and agendas; timely and accurate processing of expenses; prompt and accurate database entry.
• Leading on the administrative operation of the GC’s meetings including proactive agenda preparation, coordination and quality assurance of papers, creation, distribution and updating of action logs and minutes
• Assisting in promoting robust legal and corporate governance practice across the Crick
• Supporting the organisation of the Board and committee meetings; proactively preparing briefing documents and ensuring all paperwork is provided in a timely manner.
• Providing support to the GC and governance team with reviewing and updating the delegated authorities and governance
• Assisting with the preparation of reports, correspondence, and presentations.

Key experience and competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: bold, imaginative, open, dynamic and collegial, in addition to the following:

Essential

Qualifications, experience and competencies:

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience
• Proven experience of providing effective administration and project support to senior executives
• Experience in overseeing and administering of meetings schedules for boards and committees
• Ability to exercise discretion when appropriate
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, both written and verbal
• Personable, with the proven ability to build credible relationships with a broad range of stakeholders, including Board members and senior executives
• Understanding of relevant financial and management information
• Proven organisational skills with the ability to work systematically, meticulously and in a timely manner;
• Ability to prioritise and work under pressure and consistently to a high standard
• Proficient IT skills including a working knowledge and application of digital media.
• Ability to use initiative and have the confidence to challenge previous ways of doing things.
• The ability to deal tactfully with others to resolve conflicts, with a highly developed emotional and political intelligence.
• Resilient under pressure and able to work independently in a highly collaborative and flexible way, reacting quickly to changing circumstances.

Desirable

• Experience in a similar environment of the administration and management of corporate governance and practice