Personal Assistant

THE ROLE

We’re looking for a brilliant, ambitious and highly organised Junior Personal Assistant to join our fast-paced CEO Office at Debenhams Group.

Working closely with our Senior PA and Executive Assistant, you’ll play a key role in keeping the CEO Office running seamlessly. From coordinating meetings and travel to managing expenses, preparing documents and jumping on last-minute requests, you’ll be the person who helps keep everything moving.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone early in their PA or business support career who wants exposure to a fast-moving, entrepreneurial retail Group and the chance to learn from an experienced executive support team.

Things move quickly here. Priorities change, diaries move and no two days are quite the same. We need someone who loves being organised, thinks ahead and gets things done.

The role is based at our Manchester HQ, five days a week.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING

You’ll be right at the heart of the CEO Office, supporting the Senior PA and EA and making sure the detail is taken care of so the wider team can operate at pace.

You’ll:

• Keep everything organised – taking ownership of delegated tasks, documents, trackers and day-to-day administration.
• Get meetings ready to go – coordinating rooms, meeting packs, video calls, refreshments and anything else needed to make sure meetings run smoothly.
• Support diaries and inboxes – helping with straightforward diary coordination, meeting changes and incoming requests.
• Coordinate travel and bookings – supporting with travel, hotels, transport, restaurants and team events.
• Own the admin – processing expenses, raising POs, tracking invoices and keeping accurate records.
• Welcome visitors – meeting and greeting senior stakeholders, partners and guests and making sure they receive a brilliant experience.
• Support projects – getting involved in CEO Office and wider business projects, pulling together information, preparing documents and helping drive actions forward.
• React quickly – picking up last-minute requests and solving problems when plans inevitably change.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

You don’t need years of executive support experience. Attitude, potential and how you operate matter just as much to us.

You may already be working as a Junior PA, Team Assistant, Office Assistant or Coordinator, or you could be in a busy office-based role and ready to take the next step.

Most importantly, you’ll be:

• Seriously organised – you love a list, notice the small things and naturally stay one step ahead.
• Proactive – you don’t always wait to be asked; you spot what needs doing and get on with it.
• A strong communicator – confident, professional and comfortable dealing with people at every level of the business.
• Brilliant on the detail – whether it’s a meeting time, travel booking or document, you check it before it goes.
• Tech confident – comfortable using Google Workspace and quick to pick up new systems and tools.
• Discreet and trustworthy – you’ll be working with confidential and commercially sensitive information every day.
• Calm under pressure – plans can change quickly and you’ll be able to adapt without being thrown off course.
• Low ego, high energy – happy sorting the small things as well as getting involved in bigger projects.
• Hungry to learn – you’ll have access to senior leaders across the Group and should want to soak up everything you can.

WHY DEBENHAMS GROUP?

This isn’t a traditional Junior PA role.

You’ll be working at the centre of a fast-moving Group, supporting the office of our Group CEO and getting exposure to some of the biggest names in UK fashion and ecommerce, including Debenhams, PrettyLittleThing, boohoo, boohooMAN and Karen Millen.

You’ll work alongside experienced PAs and EAs, learn how a CEO Office operates and see first-hand how decisions are made across a major retail Group.

For someone ambitious, switched on and keen to build a career in executive support, it’s a brilliant place to learn, develop and make your mark.