Facilities Assistant

A full time, up to 12 month Fixed Term Contract based in our Manchester office 

Purpose of the role

Reporting to the Facilities Manager, this is a key role within the facilities team to ensure the successful day to day running of our Manchester office. You will have the opportunity to work with a range of stakeholders on a variety of challenges, whilst also having access to excellent learning and development opportunities. You will be an integral member of the facilities team and take responsibility for all questions and queries ensuring that staff and partners have access to a comprehensive and high-quality facilities service which provides outstanding customer service to both internal and external clients.

Main responsibilities

• Ensure all incoming and outgoing post is dealt with efficiently and effectively. This includes opening, date stamping and scanning in of all incoming mail. Scans are emailed to addressees. Any mail without an addressee will need further investigation and processing. Outgoing post is franked using the correct service including special deliveries and collated for collection by Royal Mail
• Undertake reprographic duties to the highest standard (e.g., photocopying and scanning post/documents/files, printing from online data rooms, creating USB Data Sticks and collating/binding documents for bundles)
• Ensure the reception desk is staffed appropriately for the day’s requirements. Welcome visitors to the office in a polite and professional manner. Liaise with fee earners and executive assistants to ensure that visitors are not kept waiting. Order catering from our external provider for meetings, book taxis if required, regular meeting room checks to ensure they are well always presented and ready for us
• Management of 5 meeting rooms (using Outlook), rearrangement of tables & chairs, AV / IT equipment set up and trouble-shooting, making refreshments, room clearance and cleaning after each meeting
• Replenish, clean and maintain coffee machine in staff kitchen. Order office refreshments from our nominated supplier ensuring stock levels are maintained within agreed budgets. Liaise with external caterers to supply food for our client meetings ensure relevant cost codes have been obtained
• This role includes management of bookings, troubleshooting any issues, adding new starters and generally supporting agile working in the office
• Work with the Facilities Management team and other service lines to ensure compliance with the firm’s clear desk policy, undertaking regular desk and key safe audits to ensure compliance with our ISO27001 accreditation
• Conduct daily office inspections to ensure all desks and equipment are in full working order and there are no health, safety or building management issues. Any issues identified reported to the relevant person in a timely manner
• Ensure photocopiers are in full working order and fully stocked with paper, toner and all faults are reported. Liaise with engineers or IT team as appropriate
• On occasion you may be asked to assist with office moves. These are occasionally done out of hours and in support of an external professional move team. Tasks can include packing and unpacking cupboards, minor desk furniture assembly and liaising with contractors
• Ensure that there is an adequate stock in each of the stationery hubs, ordering from our supplier and staying within agreed budgets
• 1 Circle Square is a multi-tenanted building so maintenance requirements will be managed by us (via a third party) and some by the building management company. Liaison will be needed with both groups to ensure all issues are addressed and repairs carried out in a timely manner
• It may be necessary on occasion to work over and outside your normal hours to cover colleagues in periods of absence, both planned and unplanned
• The firm holds a number of professional accreditations that require regular audits to ensure all offices are compliant and we do this by regularly auditing our processes, procedures, and documenting this for the auditors
• Provide assistance to other business support functions which are not based in this office (IT, HR, Finance or Marketing) if requested. Assist line manager in additional tasks appropriate to the role as required
• Boxing up files, recording file movements on archive database, dealing with archive requests, file audits and assisting the file & deeds co-ordinator as necessary

Key Skills & Experience

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Outstanding customer service skills
• A high level of attention to detail
• The ability to prioritise workload in an agile environment

The Mills & Reeve business services career structure

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. For the purposes of the framework, this role is at an Assistant level and the role profile that details the outcomes and activities expected across the firm is included with this job description. Further information on the firm’s business services career structure will be available as part of the interview process.

The package

As you would expect, the firm offers a generous salary and benefits. The firm’s standard benefits are here.

The firm

What really sets Mills & Reeve apart from other law firms is the way we collaborate 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 knowledge, innovation, people management and community engagement.

Pre-employment screening

Please note that, if we make an offer of employment, we will conduct pre-employment screening that includes checks relating to your professional and academic qualifications, references from previous employers, your eligibility to work in the UK and any disciplinary history recorded with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). You will also be required to complete a self-declaration to assess your character and suitability.

Disclosure and barring service check

This post is also subject to a satisfactory response from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (to check for any previous criminal convictions).

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.

Job Description