The firm Lewis Silkin works with leading businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets - their ideas, their people, their brand and their future. We call it: Ideas. People. Possibilities. With offices in London, Oxford, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin and Hong Kong, we are recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for our unique culture, market-leading practice areas, sector focused approach and for providing solutions to complex, multijurisdictional business challenges, with a pragmatic and human touch. We have two things at our core: people — both ours and our clients’— and a focus on creative, tech and innovative businesses. Our culture is encapsulated by an ethos of bravery and kindness, guided by our values of Integrity, Clarity, Unity and Excellence (our ‘I-CUE’). We aim to provide a supportive environment for our people, clients and wider community and embrace diversity & inclusion, ensuring people are able to bring their full selves to work. The department The Employment, Immigration and Data, Privacy and Cyber practice groups are one of the leading employment law practices in the UK and consistently top ranked by independent legal directories, we have more recognised experts in employment than any other UK firm. Lewis Silkin’s employment, immigration and data, privacy and cyber team offers an unrivalled service supporting clients, including many of the world’s leading businesses, on their HR, employment, data and immigration law needs domestically and internationally. The work of the team as a whole is a mix of contentious and non-contentious matters, for a wide range of clients. The lawyers undertake a significant amount of business development and knowledge-sharing including giving seminars, training the team and creating content for various channels and publications. There is a significant international element to the team’s work, largely on account of its membership of the Ius Laboris international alliance of employment lawyers. Responsibilities The Departmental Assistant will be part of the Employment, Immigration and Reward secretarial team and provide administrative support and assistance to the Legal Practice Groups at all levels, including Secretaries, Associates and Partners on a day-to-day basis as required. General administrative tasks, including but not limited to; photocopying, printing and scanning, and liaising with post room colleagues to arrange couriers and other delivery methods as required. Archiving files with the use of the Elite management system and FileTrack. Opening new clients/matters and drafting retainers. Assisting with booking travel using our travel booking system. Arranging for disbursements, when received from third parties, to be put onto the system, ensuring they are put onto the relevant matter. Assisting with other financial forms and processes as and when needed (i.e. receipt forms, immediate payment forms etc). Processing expenses. Assisting with the maintenance of the firm’s CRM system. Meeting and greeting clients when required and supporting clients with any administrative requests (i.e. copying, printing etc). Assisting the other Departmental Assistant(s)/Secretaries and if necessary, providing holiday cover. Supporting the Secretaries by helping to pick up overflow tasks. Assisting with new work enquiries received via the Firm’s external website. Providing general assistance to the whole team as requested. Any other task as required in line with the level of the role. Candidate profile: This is a challenging role offering actual experience working in a legal environment. The successful candidate must have excellent communication skills with stakeholders at all levels and enjoy working in a team environment. They must be highly organised; have a flexible nature and a co-operative and willing attitude. Specialist experience Previous demonstrable experience of office/administrative work. Abilities and desired qualities Typing skills (40 wpm); Good eye for detail; Excellent organisational skills and the ability to effectively prioritise workload as needed; Ability to communicate at all levels; Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure. IT skills required Experience or knowledge of Word/Excel, document management systems and Outlook would be beneficial, although not essential as full training will be provided. Educational and professional qualifications required: Good grammatical English - at least to GCSE standard or equivalent. Additional information At Lewis Silkin our ethos is simple. We strive to do the best for our clients, our people and the communities in which we operate. We recognise that an inclusive workplace allows for all kinds of ideas and thoughts, a variety of points of view that can trigger discussions or deliver innovative results, and a wide range of versatile skills and expertise. We are proud of the diversity within Lewis Silkin and of our culture that allows people to be themselves at work, ensuring we provide the best possible service to our clients. We are committed to finding the right person for this role and are open to discussing flexible working patterns and office location.