Careers

We are seeking a highly organised and proactive Executive Assistant to support our Chief Executive Officer, Board of Directors, and Executive Team.  The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring the smooth running of Board and Committee activities, Society events, and head office operations. This position demands exceptional professionalism, discretion, and an approachable manner in all interactions with Board members, executives, and colleagues.

This role has a wide range of responsibilities, from diary coordination and meeting support to ensuring the efficient delivery of administrative, secretarial, and governance functions.  It is a time of significant change for the business and you’ll be working with people who are committed to making change happen, while remaining true to the Society’s core values.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide secretarial support to our highly organised CEO, including diary management and approving holidays and expenses of her direct reports.
• Liaise with internal teams, suppliers, and external partners, including regulators, on behalf of the CEO.
• Working closely with the Society Secretary and Chair, organise the annual calendar of Board, Committee and other meetings, co-ordinating the diaries of Non-Executive Directors and others.
• Provide a corporate administration service to the Board and its members, booking travel, accommodation and events as required
• Act as Secretary to fortnightly Executive Committee meetings and other Committees, collating and issuing packs, taking minutes, recording and tracking actions.
• Make use of AI and other technology for the efficient production of minutes, action trackers and as a productivity tool.
• Collate and upload relevant Board and Committee papers work on the Society’s governance portal as required by the Regulators.
• Maintain confidential records and ensure all Board and Committee documentation is securely stored.
• Lead the organisation of major events including the Annual General Meeting (AGM) attended by members (customers), as well as Town Hall meetings and other Society-wide functions.
• Support the Society Secretary with preparations for the Annual General Meeting and related governance processes.
• Coordinate venue bookings, catering, invitations, and logistics to ensure events run smoothly and professionally.
• Prepare letters, reports, presentations, and other documents.
• Serve as a point of contact for suppliers and service providers.
• Support internal training events, such as lunch and learns
• Deliver ad hoc projects and tasks from the CEO, Board, and Society Secretary.
• Manage aspects of the head office, including ordering stationery, refreshments, and other sundries to support day-to-day operations.
• Welcome visitors, manage meeting room logistics, and provide hospitality.
• Support the management of office facilities, working closely with IT and Facilities teams.

What we are looking for:

We’re looking for someone who demonstrates discretion and professionalism and is comfortable interacting at all levels. You’ll:

• Be highly organised with keen attention to detail.
• Communicate with confidence, with excellent written and spoken English.
• Have experience of minute-taking, diary management, and working with confidential information.
• Ideally bring experience supporting Boards and Committees in a regulated or member-focussed organisation.
• Have advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office suite (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint) and Copilot (or other IT tools).
• Ideally have proven experience as an Executive Assistant, preferably within a regulated financial services environment.
• Have the ability to work independently and prioritise competing demands in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrate unwavering integrity, discretion, and professionalism.
• Have e a friendly, collaborative and approachable manner when dealing with colleagues, members, and external parties.
• Be quick to put your hand up to offer to help out when you can.

What we offer:

• Flexible working hours – we are open to part-time or reduced hours to accommodate other commitments you have
• 25 days’ annual leave in addition to bank holidays, with the option to buy an additional week’s annual leave each year
• Two paid days each year to take part in our community volunteering programme
• Generous pension scheme – we contribute 10% of your salary if you contribute 2.5%
• Life assurance
• A healthcare cashback scheme
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme
• Discretionary performance based bonus scheme
• Access to the colleague discounts portal to enjoy discounts from nationwide brands
• Flexible benefits, including a cycle to work scheme and discounted insurances
• Wonderful, committed colleagues who care about delivering great outcomes to our members, community and one another
• Town Centre offices, just minutes from Harpenden railway station

Reporting Line:

This position reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer and provides support to the Board and Executive Team.

 Application Process:

To apply, please submit your CV and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role to recruitment@harpendenbs.co.uk

We are committed to having a diverse team - we know it makes us stronger.  If you don’t have quite everything we are looking for, but would like a chat, please get in touch and we’ll arrange a time for an informal chat.  Please do let us know if you would like us to make any adjustments to our standard recruitment procedure to accommodate any special needs or preferences you have.

Purpose:

The Intermediary Support Adviser plays a vital role in delivering high-quality support and service to our network of intermediaries. This position is responsible for responding efficiently to enquiries, providing timely and accurate information, and ensuring a seamless experience for partners and stakeholders. The associate will act as a key point of contact, facilitating effective communication between internal teams and external intermediaries, with a strong focus on building and maintaining productive working relationships. By proactively identifying and resolving issues, the Intermediary Support Adviser supports the achievement of organisational goals, enhances customer satisfaction, and contributes to the overall success of the business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide best-in-class customer service to our mortgage intermediary (or broker) partners.
• Respond to inbound enquires from brokers, either via telephone or email.
• Proactively manage both the telephone and broker support inbox and engage other areas of the business to reach a satisfactory outcome.
• Both telephone and email enquiries have associated SLAs and responding in a timely manner and to a high degree of accuracy, is a key requirement for this role.
• Where necessary, you will escalate or direct enquiries to the appropriate internal teams and track outstanding requests to resolution.
• You will also support our team of field-based Business Development Managers (BDMs) with responding to overflow enquiries when they are attending events and face-to-face broker visits.
• There is an expectation for you to build some key relationships with our broker panel and leverage these to ensure high levels of satisfaction with the societies mortgage proposition.
• Maintain accurate and up to date records of all broker contacts, queries and application data using internal systems.
• Gather feedback from intermediaries about service experience and relay suggestions for process improvements to manager.
• Assist with the organisation and administration of broker events, webinars and roadshows, as needed.

Knowledge, skill and qualification requirements:

• Experience of customer service in the Financial Services sector is desirable.
• Knowledge of the UK mortgage market is desirable.
• Individuals with knowledge or experience of working within the mortgage intermediary sector would be welcome to apply.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Familiarity with Microsoft suite of IT software (Excel, PowerPoint, etc).
• Individuals with a passion for providing excellent service to valued partners.
• This is a full-time role working on a hybrid basis with the expectation of attending the Harpenden office twice weekly.

Regulation or legislation relating to this role

 You should complete required training and maintain good knowledge of the following in relation to your role. This is subject to change in accordance with regulatory needs and should not therefore be seen as an exhaustive list:

• e.g. MCOB/BCOB/SM&CR

Other requirements:

 Applicants with CeMAP are welcome to apply although this is not a mandatory qualification

• Support the Society in ensuring adherence to all appropriate external regulations and legislation e.g. Building Societies Act, PRA and FCA Handbooks.
• Maintain good knowledge, and demonstrate appropriate application, of the policies and procedures relating to your role.
• Ensure you maintain knowledge, understanding and evidence appropriate implementation of regulations relating to anti-money laundering, financial crime and anti-bribery and corruption.
• Ensure that you adhere to all audit and compliance requirements.
• Protect the personal data of Society employees, customers (members), and brokers whether displayed online, or printed on paper, while working from society premises or from home.
• If required in your role; deal with the PRA/FCA in an open and co-operative way, and disclose to the regulator appropriately anything relating to the Society of which either the PRA/FCA would reasonably expect notice.

Values/Behaviours

• Protect the culture and standards of the Society by living the values (as detailed in your PDR).
• Act in a professional capacity at all times with colleagues, customers, consultants, suppliers and others.
• Respect people’s differences and foster a supportive and inclusive working environment in line with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion aims.
• Adhere to the Society’s health and safety requirements, protecting yourself and others.

Performance/Training/Development

• Participate fully in the performance management cycle process and delivery of the required outcomes.
• Complete required Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to ensure you maintain a good standard of knowledge and skill relating to your role.
• Complete annual training requirements as specified such as mandatory Data Protection, Information Security, Whistleblowing, Health & Safety etc.

Customer

• Conduct rule number 6 (below) relates to Consumer Duty Regulations. Where your job role involves delivering outcomes for customers through product design and pricing, marketing, service, communications and complaint handling, you should ensure this is in line with regulatory expectations.
• You must undertake required Consumer Duty training and Vulnerable Customer training when required.

Conduct Rules:

You must at all times comply with the FCA’s Conduct Rules.   You must:

1. 1. Act with integrity
   2. Act with due skill, care and diligence
   3. Be open and cooperative with all regulators
   4. Pay due regard to customers interests and treat them fairly
   5. Observe proper standards of market conduct
   6. Act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers

Reporting Line:

This position reports directly to our Business Development Manager.

 Application Process:

To apply, please submit your CV and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role to recruitment@harpendenbs.co.uk

We are committed to having a diverse team - we know it makes us stronger.  If you don’t have quite everything we are looking for, but would like a chat, please get in touch and we’ll arrange a time for an informal chat.  Please do let us know if you would like us to make any adjustments to our standard recruitment procedure to accommodate any special needs or preferences you have.