Department: Business Solutions

Function: Projects Office administration support

The group is responsible for customer liaison, business analysis and project management across all business areas and technology platforms.It works closely with the other departments to ensure approved business requirements are met within a common systems framework.
The Projects Office is responsible for administering and assisting in the use of the project management method (Prince II); providing administration and reporting support to individual projects and programmes; and producing consolidated reporting to management.
Projects vary in nature from package rollouts to bespoke developments and may be located at the company’s offices in Essex, London, and Oxford.
The Projects Office is currently based in Essex and this new role will establish a presence in London.
The role will be primarily based in London although some travel to other company offices may be necessary.
The jobholder will report directly to the Project Services Manager and liaise with other Projects Office team members and individual Project and Programme managers.

The typical support administration activities provided by the Projects Office will include:

Project Reporting:

Preparation, updating & tracking project plans (in liaison with Programme and Project managers).
Risk, Issue & Change Control logging & tracking.
Collating / entering information for project financial reporting.
Assisting with the production of Project Highlight reports.
Assisting with meeting minutes where required.

Organisational:

Assisting with the organisation of workshops and meetings.
Assisting with making travel and hotel arrangements.

Document management:

Updating and version control of documents.
Controlling the logical filing of project documents.
Circulating documents as required.

Projects Office Duties:

Supporting the business process for requesting new work.
System support for project and portfolio management tools.
Resource planning.
Assisting in the improvement and adoption of the project life-cycle method.

Experience Required:

Essential:

Relevant business or I.T experience with proven use of analytical skills, relevant to the above activities Sound experience working with Microsoft Project.
Sound working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Project, Power Point, Outlook).
Previous experience in a Project Office environment.
Knowledge of a formal project management method.

Desirable:

Experience within the publishing industry.

Attributes Required:

Excellent organisational skills.
Excellent interpersonal skills & communication skills both spoken and written.
Ability to work within time constraints and defined deadlines.
Attention to detail and good analytical skills.
Ability to produce summarised analysis of complex data & produce clear and appealing analytical visuals.
Ability to work effectively on multiple tasks.
Ability to show initiative / self motivation.

Education:

The post holder will preferably be qualified to A level or equivalent.