Executive Assistant (Academic)

Executive Assistant to the Provost / Chief Academic Officer and the Deputy Provost

This role operates on a hybrid working arrangement that will require occasional travel into our UK locations listed below when required. This is expected to be twice a month, but may fluctuate in line with business requirements. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that a UK Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.

Occasional travel will be required into the following locations:

• Coventry head office
• Birmingham campus
• Leeds campus
• Manchester campus
• London area (Tower Hill, Holborn & Ealing)

Salary: £36,000 - £40,000 per annum

Employment type: Full-Time Permanent

Hours per week: 37

Reporting into: Provost & Chief Academic Officer

Department: Academic Office

Click here to read the full job description and view ourexcellent benefits here

We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines, forge worldwide partnerships, and expand our locations.

The Academic Office at Arden University plays an important role in supporting academic governance, quality assurance, and student success. The department oversees key processes such as programme validation and approval, policy development, regulatory compliance, and assessment management.

Working closely with faculties, professional services, and external regulatory bodies, the Academic Office ensures that Arden’s academic standards align with sector benchmarks and accreditation requirements. It is also responsible for enhancing student experience by maintaining fair and transparent academic policies, supporting assessment boards, and facilitating effective learning and teaching practices.

As an Executive Assistant, you will provide seamless, proactive support to the Provost/Chief Academic Officer and Deputy Provost, managing diaries, scheduling meetings, handling administration, and overseeing meeting logistics, including minute-taking where needed. You will also contribute to broader tasks to ensure smooth academic operations.

Check out our jobs description to learn more.

We are looking for a highly organised and proactive Executive Assistant with experience supporting board-level or executive leadership in a fast-paced environment. You should be confident in managing diaries, coordinating meetings, and handling sensitive information with professionalism and discretion.

Essential requirements:

• At least 5 experience as an Executive Assistant supporting a board member or senior executive.
• Strong administrative and organisational skills, with excellent attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and Teams/Zoom.
• Effective written and verbal communication, with the ability to liaise across diverse teams.
• Experience in event and meeting coordination, balancing multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and problem-solve to improve processes.
• Up-to-date knowledge of GDPR and data protection.

Desirable requirements:

• Experience using AI tools to support workload management
• Experience as an EA within the Education sector

Check out our job description to learn more.

At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!
• A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%
• SimplyHealth plan option
• Private Medical Insurance 
• Access to Perkbox benefits
• Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends
• Plus, other excellent benefits
• Our ‘Golden Ticket’ which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education
  

Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness, reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you are excited by the chance to be the driving, creative force within a growing business, we want to hear from you.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines and locations.

Closing Date: Tuesday 6th of May

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date should we receive sufficient applications or in order to respond to business needs. In order to avoid missing an opportunity to apply please submit your application as early as possible.

If you are a current Arden student or have an upcoming course with us, you are not eligible to apply for Student Experience roles due to a conflict of interest related to system access.

Arden University is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. This means that if you have a disability, as defined by the Disability Equality Act 2010, you may be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, you can indicate via the application form below. By doing so, you are also consenting for this information to be shared with the hiring team. For more details on what qualifies as a disability under the Disability Equality Act 2010, please refer to the guidance here.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Therefore, we make sure that our recruitment and selection processes never discriminate based upon people's age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances, and actively welcome applications from all groups.

Please be aware that some roles may not meet the points requirement for a sponsored Skilled Worker visa under the points-based immigration system. However, we welcome applications from candidates who do not currently have the right to work in the UK but may be eligible for a visa through an alternative route.