Job Description
Accessibility statement: If individuals have any accessibility issues when reviewing this document, please notify a member of the Travers Smith HR team so that the document can be provided in an alternative format. Travers Smith An award-winning city law firm. We build lasting relationships with public and private sector clients. It is Travers Smith's purpose to provide the very highest quality of service to our clients whilst enabling our people to achieve professional fulfilment in a supportive, inclusive, and enjoyable working environment. Department Built up of a team of 30 direct real estate lawyers focusing on the full life cycle of a real estate project, our department is one of the leading advisers to private equity and real estate opportunity funds in the UK. The practice includes mainstream real estate transactions involving assets in the leisure, office, and retail sector but also innovative and market-leading transactions outside the traditional and development markets. The Role You will be expected to provide high quality, comprehensive administrative support to lawyers and PAs within the Real Estate department. You will proactively contribute to the department, and ultimately, the firm's success by actively seeking to improve working processes, anticipating the needs of those requiring assistance, and facilitating flexible and efficient administrative support. As a Team Administrator in the Real Estate department, the expectation is that you will demonstrate the key characteristics described below. While these characteristics are not exhaustive, they provide an overview of the fundamental expectations that the firm places on its Team Administrators. Proactivity Team Administrators are expected to understand the varying needs of the individuals to whom they provide support. This will be realized through action and results oriented behavior, where requirements and challenges are pre-empted and resolved, and where opportunities to add value are exploited. Teamwork Team Administrators are expected to contribute to assist the PA team as well as fee earners as required, operating as one seamless 'unit'. This will involve maximizing individual strengths and drawing on the capacity of everyone in the team to collectively ensure that deadlines are met and excellent work product is delivered. This is likely to include sharing knowledge, providing support to others at times when absence or capacity issues arise and collaborating with the wider team to suggest and implement improvements to processes. Communication Good communication needs to be channeled in multiple directions to develop constructive working relationships. This will require managing expectations of key stakeholders by acknowledging and updating on the progress of tasks, including non-urgent tasks and those that are on-going. Effective communication skills will be evidenced by recognizing and assisting when colleagues require support. Ultimately, effective communication is vital for enabling effective team working and for developing trust. Inspiring Confidence The value added by Team Administrators has a direct impact on the level of service provided to clients. It is therefore imperative, as someone providing support for the department, that support is delivered with a genuine appreciation of the pace and extent of demands expected by the firm's clients. This will involve delivering work with a high degree of accuracy and professional presentation, turned around promptly to meet deadlines, with the parallel aim of going above and beyond wherever possible. Key Responsibilities Work to ensure unique and individual support needs for all members of the department and more broadly the firm's clients are understood and met. Use effective systems to ensure that urgent and non-urgent tasks are completed within the required timescales. Use initiative to take responsibility for essential administration that will assist the wider department, for example, coordinating expense payments, archiving, emptying confidential shredding, arranging photocopying, and developing administrative systems with the support of the Pas, as required. Be capable of operating all functions of the photocopiers and scanners including clearing jams, replenishing paper, and replacing the toner. Assist other members of the department (including PAs, paralegals, and the Business Development ('BD') team as required; and Develop a general awareness of business issues and challenges within which the lawyers operate to gain their trust and confidence in the support provided by the Administration team. Key Duties Deal with incoming and outgoing mail. Establish and maintain effective and accurate filing systems (hard copy and electronic) and assist with mapping folders to the DMS, as required. Management of deeds; scheduling, calling up packets, creating new packers and labels, liaising with the Records Management team, where necessary. Maintaining the Real Estate Hub Support the Knowledge team with Trainee training programme by ensuring that all new trainees are enrolled for the relevant training and collating weekly attendance sheets Assist with Extranet and Box uploads, formatting folders and providing access to individuals Assisting with searches, saving received searches to file and preparing and updating trackers Assist with Land Registry downloads Continually replenish the stationery cupboards and ensure that all stationery items are re-stocked promptly. Liaise with General Office to arrange couriers as and when they are required. Liaise with General Office, Facilities and other Business Services departments to progress issues that may arise within the department. Assist with photocopying, scanning, printing, and binding tasks, liaising with Print Services and General Office, as required; and Perform general ad-hoc administration duties, including assisting with conflict checks and file opening as required and assisting to support departmental BD activities, including updating Interaction contacts. Documents Where document work and/or collation is delivered, ensure that the work product is accurate (spell check, page numbers etc.); and Assist the PAs, paralegals, and other fee earners with ad hoc document work, as and when levels of busyness and overflow work dictates. Communication Demonstrate rapport and professionalism when communicating and use these skills to build and maintain collaborative working relationships with all colleagues, clients and stakeholders. Use internal and external networks to help you solve problems and devise effective solutions. Liaise with Business Services departments as required; and Communicate and work as part of the PA team to help cover busy periods and absences. Skills and Experience Strong attention to detail. Ability to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment while maintaining a high level of performance and focus on good client service. A proficient level of knowledge of MS Office applications (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint); Confidence and ability to learn other technology packages and systems to provide support to the Real Estate department. People skills that will allow effective interaction with people at all levels across the Confidence to proactively solve problems or seek assistance when issues Excellent ability to organise and prioritise effectively while handling multiple deadlines ; and Interest in working in a legal environment. 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