Executive Assistant to the President and Chief Executive Officer

Royal College of Anaesthetists

About the Organisation

Royal College of Anaesthetists is the professional body responsible for the speciality throughout the UK. We are the third largest medical royal college in the UK by membership. With a combined membership of more than 24,000 Fellows and Members, we ensure the quality of patient care by safeguarding standards in the three specialities of anaesthesia, intensive care and pain medicine.

About the role

This role provides confidential, high-quality, effective and proactive support to the RCoA President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This role ensures the smooth day-to-day management of the CEO and President’s working lives and often represents the College as the first point of contact for both external and internal stakeholders. Along with the ability to anticipate and understand the President and CEO’s needs and priorities, this role plays an important part in the Governance Team, which works closely with the President and CEO to carry out a yearly operational plan and various projects.

The role requires extensive stakeholder interaction with the President, CEO, Vice Presidents, Council, Trustees, and Executive Team, members of the College, as well as organisations across the healthcare / political / education sectors, as required by the officers, CEO and Council.

We are seeking a highly organised and proactive Executive Assistant to provide confidential, high-quality support to the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This is a key role that enables senior leaders to focus on delivering the organisation's strategic priorities while ensuring the smooth running of their day-to-day activities. In this role, you will:

• Manage complex diaries, schedules, meetings, travel arrangements, and competing priorities.
• Coordinate communications and correspondence, acting as a key point of contact for internal and external stakeholders.
• Prepare meeting papers, briefings, and other documentation, ensuring actions are tracked and followed up.
• Build effective working relationships with senior leaders, members, and external partners.
• Provide secretariat and administrative support to leadership meetings, projects, and governance activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes and contribute to an efficient, professional, and inclusive working environment.

You will be an experienced Executive Assistant, Personal Assistant, or administrator with a proven ability to deliver high-quality support in a busy and fast-paced environment. You must be organised, adaptable, and able to manage a varied workload while maintaining excellent attention to detail.

Responsibilities

Executive Assistant to the President and CEO:

• Deliver comprehensive and proactive diary management, managing time most effectively and efficiently while scheduling complex and demanding priorities
• Manage the President and CEO's correspondence, including drafting responses on their behalf, ensuring all communications are handled with discretion and sensitivity
• Set up regular meetings with key stakeholders and ensure actions are followed up (in liaison with other teams across the College) and notes taken if required
• Respond to or redirect written and telephone enquiries on behalf of the CEO and President, drafting replies or directing emails to colleagues where appropriate
• In their absence, manage the President and CEO’s email inboxes, deciding which emails require forwarding and triaging all emails received for their return
• Manage all meeting and travel arrangements, ensuring all information and papers are provided in good time, and actions followed up
• Lead on the onboarding of a new President, ensuring all practical and administrative arrangements are in place (typically every three years)
• Communicate with the office of HRH the Princess Royal, the College’s patron
• Manage the safekeeping of the College chains of office
• Coordinate work and meetings across the Executive Team and Senior Management Team
• Provide secretariat support for meetings and discussions on an ad hoc basis, as required
• Manage expenses on behalf of the President and CEO as required, and ensure budgetary management and prompt payment of suppliers for work commissioned by them
• Support other projects, as required

Governance Support:

• Support the Governance Team with core governance functions, including elections and General Meetings, during periods of absence or peak workload

Other Duties:

• Maintain a good understanding of the President's clinical commitments and diary priorities to support effective diary management
• Provide general support and cover for colleagues within the team during periods of absence or increased workload
• Lead on managing the office environment, making it an appropriate and welcoming space for visiting stakeholders
• Evaluate existing processes, redesigning and implementing necessary changes
• Undertake any other duties that might be reasonably required by the CEO or Head of Governance

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Qualifications, Skills, Knowledge & Experience:

• Proven experience as an Executive Assistant or Personal Assistant at a senior level
• Proven experience of managing a varied and extensive workload effectively and prioritising successfully under pressure
• Experience of dealing professionally with a variety of internal and external stakeholders and forming good working relationships at all levels
• Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Excellent writing, proof-reading, grammar and spelling skills
• Proactive approach to problem solving with the ability to resolve issues and improve systems
• Ability to present information fluently and persuasively to people at a range of levels
• Ability to prioritise to ensure delivery of multiple objectives within short time frames to high standards and multiple deadlines
• Intermediate level skills with Microsoft software, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams and Outlook
• Confident using a range of IT systems, with the ability to learn new systems

Desirable:

• Awareness of general governance principles

Required Qualifications

• Educated to degree level, or equivalent work experience

Compensation & Benefits

• 26 days of annual leave, plus bank holiday
• 1 additional paid day of leave for the purpose of celebrating your birthday
• Healthcare support through Benenden Health
• Up to 12% pension contribution
• Hybrid and flexible working
• Wellbeing hour once a week
• Cycle to work and employee discount schemes
• Training and development opportunities
• Access to Mental Health First Aiders and Employee Assistance Programmes

Conditions of employment

• Applicants must reside and have the right to work in the UK. No agencies please.

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely

How to apply

• If you believe that you are the right person for this role, please submit your CV and Cover Letter to [email protected] by Sunday 9th August 2026.
• In your covering letter (maximum 500 words), please tell us:
  • Why you're interested in this role
  • An example of supporting a senior leader through competing priorities
  • What attracts you to working for the Royal College of Anaesthetists.
• Please note that the closing date is subject to change, depending on the success of the recruitment process.
• If you have any questions or would like more information about this opportunity, please contact: [email protected]

Interviews

• Interviews for successful candidates will be held on Thursday, 20th of August 2026 in London.
• Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications, we are not able to provide detailed feedback on each application. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted after the closing date. Please note that the closing date is subject to change. 

Policies

At RCoA, equality, diversity and inclusion are integral parts of our culture, so it is important to us that they are reflected in everything we do. We welcome applications from all individuals irrespective of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or belief, disability, marital status, or parental responsibilities to ensure we actively embrace an inclusive and representative culture that encourages, supports and celebrates our differences.

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