Personal Assistant

Job description / Role

Thales people architect solutions that support 85 million mainline and suburban passenger journeys, worldwide, every day. Our Rail Signaling and Communication systems are used on metro lines across major cities, and 72,000 kms of route, 52,000 trains per day in 16 countries are controlled by our Traffic Management Systems. Together We deployed the first-ever nationwide ticketing system which processes over 50 million ticketing transactions in 100 cities daily.

Thales has built a presence in Egypt for over 40 years and has today over 100 employees. Thales in Egypt is part of our Middle East business that has 1,800 people across Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, KSA, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar and UAE. Together We delivered fare collection and control and communication systems for the first metro line in Africa, Metro Line 1 in Cairo. Since then we have continued to bring growth and security and safety to the country by upgrading these transportation systems as well as providing solutions for customers in air traffic management, air defense and Navy.

Job Objective:

Personal Assistant supports GPM and PMs to make the best use of their time by being proactive in dealing with secretarial and administrative activities. S/he needs extensive knowledge of the organization. Knowing the key personnel (internal and external) and understand the organizations aims and objectives. S/he are heavily relied on by their Directors, trusting that work will be handled efficiently in their absence, discretion and confidentially are essential attributes. Working closely with GPM and PMs to provide high level administrative support and helping them make the best use of their time.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Diary Management:
- Organizing, prioritizing and maintaining diaries and making appointments including the capturing of routine appointments
- Ensuring all necessary information has been captured within the appointment. (For example, venue, purpose of meeting, invitees, maps and briefing papers if necessary etc)

Meetings:
- Organizing meetings and ensuring all necessary information for the meeting has been captured on the invite
- Ensure that his/her Director is well prepared for all meetings particularly informing theDirectorif any preparation is required for the meeting
- Meeting preparation. To include: analysis of agenda and the Minutes/Actions of previous meetings and preparation/collation of the relevant presentation material, coordinating input from attendees and producing hand-out packs where necessary
- Provide support to meetings with respect to taking informal notes or formal minutes and progressing actions
- Provide an information pack where necessary for each meeting. Including minutes/actions from last meeting, copy of presentations, etc.

Travel:
- Arrange travel and accommodation. (For the team/department)
- Challenge, as appropriate, methods and costs of travel prior to booking
- Provide travel pack to the Director prior to travel including itinerary, maps, contact numbers and any other supporting information
- Hosting Visitors:
- Meeting and greeting visitors at all levels of seniority
- Ensure all necessary arrangements for the visit and site security rules are observed
- Providing support throughout the visit ensuring the visit runs smoothly and any issues are dealt with in a timely manner

Data Management:
- Dealing with incoming email and post. Screening of junk mail
- Devising and maintaining office systems, including data management, filing (hard and soft) etc
- Monitoring IT/Smartphone accounts, managing technical glitches
- Maintaining task list for Directors and allocating diary time for resolution of tasks. Support the line Director in progressing actions
- Producing PowerPoint presentations, documents, briefing papers and reports when necessary

Other tasks:
- Completing expense claims for the GTS Leadership Team
- Organize and expedite the flow of work through the senior team; anticipate the administrative needs of the office and proactively develop relationships and systems to ensure optimum performance
- Develop a practical, working knowledge of the organizational structure of the business; use this appreciation of the wider context to prioritize the Director’s work and appointments
- Screening telephone calls, enquiries and requests, and handling when/as appropriate
- Carrying out specific projects and research
- Provide cover for other PAs for sickness, holidays and other absences champion site policies and procedures
- Building relationships and liaising with Clients, suppliers and other staff
- Organizing off site team days etc. as required
- Overseeing the on-boarding of new staff, liaising with other departments to organize IT/phones, HSE/Induction training and produce and organize induction agendas support the generation of new policies and processes
- Adherence to GTS Charter as appropriate

Requirements

Essential Skills:
- Awareness of the company’s vision and goals and of the department’s processes and procedures
- Skills in use MS office software (Outlook, Word, Excel & PowerPoint)
- Demonstrates business awareness, good communication skills (verbal and written) and ability to interact effectively, courteously and professionally both within internal and external customer communities
- Able to prioritize workload and complete work within agreed timescales to outstanding quality requiring minimal rework/no rework
- Must be able to work independently as the Director will often be out of the office. Self-motivated and enthusiastic
- Have outstanding organization skills. Ability to meet stretch deadlines and demands of the team. To be proactive in finding solutions to problems
- Ability to ‘think on feet’ and make last minute decisions working within pressurized situations
- Able to deal with people at all levels of the organization
- Handles confidential and sensitive information in a discrete and controlled manner
- Excellent spoken and written English, Italian Language would be an asset
- Effective personal organization and an ability to remain composed and focused under pressure

Experience:
- 7+ years of Personal Assistant and/or Executive Assistant experience in a busy industry environment.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 65,000 employees in 56 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working. Great journeys start here, apply now!

About the Company

Thales is a global leader in advanced technologies, investing in digital and “deep tech” innovations – connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum computing – to build a confident future crucial for the development of our societies. The Group provides its customers – businesses, organizations and governments – in the defense, aeronautics, space, transport, and digital identity and security domains with solutions, services and products that help them fulfil their critical role, consideration for the individual being the driving force behind all decisions.

Thales has 81,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2020 the Group generated sales of €17 billion and Self-funded R&D 1B€.