Executive Assistant

Job Summary

The salary for this full time permanent role is circa £30,000 per annum.

The Executive Assistant provides high-quality administrative and coordination support to the Leadership Group and plays a key role in the smooth day-to-day running of War Child’s office. The role supports diary management, travel, expenses and meeting logistics for senior leaders, and contributes to a welcoming, safe and well-organised office environment.

This is a great opportunity for an organised, proactive and people-focused Executive Assistant to join a lively, hardworking and values-driven organisation. Supporting the Leadership Group and helping to keep our office running smoothly, you’ll play a key role in the day-to-day rhythm of War Child.

The role combines practical administrative support with hands-on office and facilities coordination. You’ll help manage diaries, travel, expenses and meeting logistics for senior leaders, while also being a key point of contact for office-based activity — from welcoming colleagues and visitors, to liaising with suppliers and supporting a safe, well-organised working environment.

You’ll work closely with a collaborative group of leaders who are engaged, creative and deeply committed to War Child’s mission. It’s a fast-paced role, well suited to someone who enjoys variety, takes pride in getting the details right, and wants to build strong administrative and coordination skills while contributing to work that really matters.

Because office and facilities support is a core part of the role, regular on-site presence is important. You’ll be based in our London office for a minimum of three days per week, with flexibility to work remotely on other days.

Your Role

The Executive Assistant is a multi-faceted support role, providing administrative, logistical and coordination support to the Leadership Group with regular day-to-day support for three Fundraising Directors and ad hoc support for the P&C Director and Finance Director, alongside responsibility for supporting the smooth day-to-day running of War Child’s office and facilities under supervision of the P&C Director. The role plays an important part in enabling senior leaders to operate effectively by delivering high-quality diary management, travel coordination, expense processing and meeting logistics.

The Executive Assistant supports the practical delivery of Leadership Group administration and office operations, ensuring activity is well organised, responsive and aligned with agreed priorities. In relation to office and facilities, the role works closely with the P&C Director and Senior HR Advisor to support coordination, administration and day-to-day operational needs. The role also contributes to maintaining a welcoming, safe and well-functioning office environment, supporting colleagues and external providers as needed.

The Executive Assistant supports organisational effectiveness through reliable administration, coordination and attention to detail, and is a key point of contact for day-to-day office and facilities matters, working collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation.

Your Responsibilities

Support for Leadership Group

• Provide administrative and diary management support to three fundraising Leadership Group members, coordinating schedules, meetings and commitments in a responsive and organised manner.
• Coordinate travel and accommodation arrangements for Leadership Group members, including booking flights, accommodation, ground transport and necessary documentation, and supporting trip logistics as required.
• Process expenses, invoices and credit card reconciliations for Leadership Group members, ensuring accuracy, timely submission and compliance with organisational policies.
• Work closely with the Executive Officer to the CEO to support the delivery of administrative, logistical and diary management activities, following agreed priorities and delegation between roles.
• Support the planning and coordination of Leadership Group away days and meetings, including venue booking, logistics and practical arrangements.
• Assist with the preparation of presentations and documents for Board and Leadership Group meetings, ensuring materials are well presented and accurate.
• Provide ad hoc administrative and coordination support to Fundraising Directors, supporting day-to-day activities and ensuring tasks are progressed efficiently and accurately.
• Act as a point of contact during normal working hours when a Fundraising Directors is out of the office, ensuring urgent or time-sensitive enquiries are redirected appropriately.
• Provide occasional, administrative support outside normal working hours, including ad hoc evening or weekend support for organisational or fundraising activity where required.

Office and facilities support

• Coordinate office access for staff, including managing fobs, keys, locker access and staff passes for starters and leavers.
• Support the smooth day-to-day running of the office by monitoring and ordering supplies (including stationery, equipment and refreshments), and helping to minimise waste.
• Assist in maintaining a safe, welcoming and well-functioning office environment by logging maintenance issues, liaising with building management and service providers, and keeping colleagues informed of updates.
• Support office organisation and upkeep by coordinating storage, archiving and recycling processes, and assisting with office tidy-ups and space management.
• Issue travel ID cards for staff who are travelling.
• Support relationships with external suppliers and service providers, including cleaners, couriers, landlords, building management and tradespeople.
• Support workplace health and safety by acting as a trained Fire Warden and Emergency First Aider, and under supervision of the Senior HR Advisor, assist with the coordination of safety checks, risk assessments, PAT testing and fire drills.
• Maintain accurate records and support reporting of incidents, hazards and near misses, escalating issues as appropriate to P&C team to support compliance and risk management.
• Contribute to creating a culture committed to the safeguarding of children and adults and compliant to War Child’s Safeguarding and PSEAH (Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse & Harassment) Policies.
• We are committed to building an inclusive and equitable workplace. All staff are expected to actively contribute to this by embedding principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into their day-to-day work, decision-making, and interactions with colleagues, partners, and supporters.

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the role.

You Are

• Prior experience in an administrative, coordination or office support role is essential
• Experienced in supporting meetings, events or away days, including logistics and practical arrangements.
• Experience of office or facilities support, including working with suppliers or supporting health and safety processes would be desirable.
• Confident and professional communicator, able to interact clearly and work collaboratively with colleagues, senior staff and external contacts.
• Highly organised, with the ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritise effectively and meet deadlines in a busy and fast-moving environment.
• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to process information accurately and follow established procedures.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office applications, with strong document, spreadsheet and presentation skills (including Word, Excel and PowerPoint / Canva), and willingness to learn new systems.
• Comfortable providing practical support to senior colleagues, including diary coordination, travel arrangements and expense processing.
• A proactive and reliable team player, willing to support colleagues and contribute to a positive office culture.
• Discreet and trustworthy, with an understanding of the importance of confidentiality when handling sensitive information.
• Highly resilient, with the ability to bring clarity, structure and momentum when working in ambiguous or evolving circumstances, and to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.
• Able to quickly develop a strong understanding of organisational context and dynamics, and to influence negotiate and work effectively with senior leaders.
• Willingness to undertake training and act as a Fire Warden and/or First Aider as part of supporting a safe office environment (training provided).
• A commitment to War Child’s mission and values, and to creating a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace.

About Us

At War Child we are driven by a single goal – ensuring a safe future for every child affected by war.

Using our 30 years of experience and proven methodologies, we aim to reach children as quickly as possible when conflict breaks out and stay long after the cameras have gone to support them through their recovery. We work with local communities and governments to help protect and educate children, and support them to heal and learn, for a safer, brighter future.

We understand children’s needs, respect and stand up for their rights, and put them at the centre of everything we do – because one child caught up in conflict is one child too many.

Every day, our local teams are in communities and in refugee camps creating safe spaces for children to play, learn and access psychological support, and we specialise in responding rapidly to emergency crisis situations to deliver immediate and critical care impartially to help to those who need us most, when they need us most.

Because no child should be part of war. Ever.

Our Values

• Bold:We use our passion and creativity to deliver high quality evidence-based work designed to maximise our beneficial impact for children in conflict.
• Accountable to children:Children can rely on us to respond to their voices and to treat them with respect and dignity.
• Anti-racism:Anti-racism is not merely a belief. It includes actions that we mainstream throughout our work to change and challenge policies and behaviours that perpetuate racism.
• Transparent:We expect to be held to account by our supporters and participants and we respond with openness and honesty.
• Supportive of each other:We support each other to achieve ambitious goals and be the best we can be. We are honest and open, sharing our successes & confronting our challenges.

Our Benefits

• Flexible working- we recognise the considerable benefits that flexible working can bring and are happy to discuss any possible flexible working options with our employees from hiring. For most roles, the following types of flexibility are usually possible: flexible hours, occasional working from home and compressed hours.
• Annual leave– 28 days per year (full-time) rising to 33 days with service, plus bank holidays
• Pension- all eligible employees automatically enrolled into a Group Personal Pension Plan with a 5% employer contribution, with minimum employee contribution on a salary sacrifice basis. This increases to 6% after one year's service.
• Family leave– we offer enhanced Maternity, Partner/Co-Parent/Paternity Leave, Adoption & Shared Parental Leave
• Health & wellbeing- employees may take advantage of a healthcare cash plan and a range of wellbeing initiatives and training. In addition, all employees have access to free, confidential one-to-one wellbeing consultations with trained counsellors.
• Learning & development- dedicated to the investment in learning and continuing professional development for all our employees
• Workplace Nursery Benefit– employees make tax and NI savings on nursery costs for children up to the age of 5
• Flexible public holidays- up to two standard UK public holidays can be exchanged for those that have cultural or religious significance.
• Voluntary contributions can be made through payroll allowing employees to claim back on a range of cancer treatments.Cancer Cover:
• GP 24/7 Helpline:A GP helpline is be available to all UK employees providing access to a qualified GP, 24/7 via a telephone or webcam consultation, and offers diagnosis, advice and reassurance on a range of medical matters, as well as authorisation of private electronic prescriptions.
• Welcome Bag for new starters:A War Child Tote bag, War Child T-shirt and some other practical things to welcome new colleagues to War Child.
• Discounts on War Child Merchandise: 25% discount on full price War Child merchandise, available to all employees, sold through Shop for Good.
• Range of flexible benefits such a Cycle to Work scheme and season ticket loans.

Flexible Working

We positively support flexible working arrangements. These currently include: office working, homeworking, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexi-time, flexi-place (hybrid working) and job shares. We would be happy to discuss individual flexible working requests during the interview process.

How to Apply

• To apply, simply submit an application through our Current Vacancies page and attach a copy of your CV.
• On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their application as early as possible.
• If you have any questions about reasonable adjustments before or during your application, we welcome the opportunity to talk about what we can do to fairly adapt our process for you. Please share what you’re comfortable with to help us put the right support in place, by emailing careers@warchild.org.uk. Anything you tell us will be kept completely confidential by our HR team.
• We are unable to provide sponsorship for this post. In order to apply, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the country where this role is based.

Safeguarding

Our work with children and at-risk adults to ensure their safety is our top priority. We are committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in all aspects of our work. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any behavior or practices that put children and/or vulnerable adults at risk of abuse or harm.

Successful applicants will be required to comply with and sign our Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, and PSEAH Policy. You can find the Safeguarding and Integrity policies here:https://warchild.sharepoint.com/sites/Integrity

Diversity and Inclusion

We value diversity and inclusion and are committed to ensuring that all our people and job applicants are treated fairly, irrespective of where, what or whom they were born, or of other characteristics. We want to offer a safe and inclusive workplace where all our people, especially those who are currently marginalised or underrepresented, can be themselves at work. You can read our Diversity and Inclusion policy on our website, and if you have any questions about our commitment to diversity and inclusion do get in touch: https://www.warchild.org.uk/our-work/policies-and-reports/diversity-and-inclusion

Pre-employment Checks

Employment with War Child will be subject to the following checks prior to your start date:

• a satisfactory police record check to include a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and/or an International/National Criminal Record Check
• a clear vetting and Due Diligence check
• receipt of two professional satisfactory references