Executive Assistant (Risk and Compliance)

This role can be based in either our Cambridge or Norwich office.

The role

This pivotal role is responsible for supporting the Risk & Compliance team across the firm, including the Director of Risk Management.  The Risk & Compliance team covers a very broad role, including administration of claims, complaints, information security incidents, regulatory inquiries, insurers and general support to the firm on all risk and compliance issues.  You will be working with all levels of the business and business support including the senior management team, and lawyers across the firm.  There is scope for this role to develop and change depending on the abilities of the successful candidate and the needs of the Risk & Compliance team.

What does the role involve?

Complaints administration and support

• Take responsibility for the administration of complaints received, including:
• primary responsibility for the maintenance of internal complaints records and opening and managing complaints files and Risk records
• organising, managing and attending monthly internal complaints meetings with the Risk & Compliance solicitors and recording and taking appropriate follow-up actions
• Supporting liaison between Risk & Compliance Solicitors, the Complaints Partners and other colleagues
• Assisting Risk & Compliance Solicitors with complaints handling, including:
• collating information from teams across the firm
• general support for investigations
• preparation of templates and draft letters
• Supporting the team on “lessons learned”, including some involvement in new training materials
• Collating complaints statistics for management reporting and the annual management review

Development of new Risk & Compliance software

• Risk & Compliance have new software (“Riliance”) which is currently in the early stages of being rolled out. It provides opportunities for better recording of risks, events and outcomes. The role will include working with the Riliance development team within Risk & Compliance by:
• helping to develop “know how” guides for the whole team
• becoming a “super-user” on Riliance
• identifying and supporting best practice in the use and development of Riliance

General administrative support

• Supporting the whole team with diary and file management, including setting up meetings and making travel and other bookings
• Organising and attending team meetings and team events
• First port of call for occasional payments from the Risk budget (note that the role does not involve any billing responsibilities)
• Maintain and develop accurate Risk files and folders, including some filing
• Support the whole team as required with administrative assistance, including creation of templates and documents and monitoring of inboxes

SRA

As with all law firms, Mills & Reeve LLP is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) which provides firms with a regulatory framework that focuses on the ethical and competent practice of the profession (both firms and solicitors) in order to ensure clients and the public are protected.

• Assist with the collation of data for the firm’s annual bulk renewal of practising certificates submission to the SRA.
• Assist the COLP and the Risk & Compliance team with any queries at the behest of the SRA.

International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)

The firm has both ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ISO 27001 (Information Security) certifications.

• Support the firm’s continued ISO certification by:
• assisting with the practical arrangements for the quarterly ISO audits
• completing relevant ISO documentation ahead of the audits
• setting up meetings between the auditor and the interviewees for each audit

Marketing

• Support the firm’s business development activities by being the first point of contact for tender queries from the Bids team and forwarding those queries to the appropriate team member to respond
• Management review
• Support regular management reviews by liaising with the firm’s Finance team and relevant partners across the firm for information needed for the report.

Insurance

The firm has a suite of insurances which currently renew on 1 April (3 policies) and 1 June (4 policies). The firm’s insurances are business critical and the renewal process is a challenging and time consuming process which will require substantial input from the successful candidate.

• Insurance renewals
• Assist with the collection and collation of information from across the business.
• Fill out renewal forms and documents for submission to brokers/prospective insurers.
• Answer queries arising out of the renewal process
• General insurance administration
• Answer general queries regarding insurances, providing information as required.

The person

This is a busy and challenging role and to be successful, your background will include good office-based work experience in an EA or similar legal role within the firm

The role requires someone who:

• is IT literate and who is familiar with MS Office, including Excel;
• has good communication skills, both written and oral, and is able to liaise confidently with staff and partners across the firm;
• is able to demonstrate an organised and methodical approach to their work;
• is able to meet deadlines when under pressure with multiple tasks;
• has a proven administrative background
• has strong attention to detail;
• is enthusiastic and engaged with the development of a new, central role within the Risk & Compliance team

In addition, you will need to:

• be willing to travel to the firm’s other offices on occasion; and
• be flexible and able to work longer hours as the role demands.

We have a firm wide Business Services career structure and a published career progression framework.  Within the firm wide career structure there are five career levels and this role will be an Assistant level.  Further information on the firm’s Business Services career structure is available from the HR team.

The package

As you would expect, the firm offers a generous salary and benefits.  The firm’s standard benefits are detailed in the following link:  https://www.mills-reeve.com/careers/benefits 

Working at Mills & Reeve LLP

What really sets Mills & Reeve apart from other law firms is the way we work with our clients. We understand that clients, in the 21st century, no longer want a traditional law firm – they want one that embraces forward thinking approaches to service, billing, commercial know-how, innovation, people management and community engagement.  If you are interested to know more about working at Mills & Reeve, please see our values by clicking on the following link:  Our values | A guide on how we work with you and with each other at Mills & Reeve 

And finally‿

Mills & Reeve is committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment. We are happy to consider flexible working arrangements and endeavour to achieve the right balance for both our people and the business. This attitude to flexible working ensures we continue to provide outstanding service to our clients, whilst allowing our people to develop their careers in the knowledge that personal priorities will remain just that.

Mills & Reeve is committed to promoting equality, diversity and to providing an inclusive and supportive environment. Please click the link below to find further information regarding our diversity policy.

 https://www.mills-reeve.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion 

If you would like any more information about Mills & Reeve, you can visit our website by clicking on the following link:

 http://www.mills-reeve.com/