Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive

Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority

Nottingham NG2 3NG, UK

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 2 weeks

Administration

Flexible

£27,300 - £28,500 per year

Job summary

Do you thrive in a challenging environment and actively seek solutions? Do you want to be part of a newly created team to deliver a quality service and drive improvements? We are currently recruiting for the position of Executive Assistant to join our Chief Executive Office. This role will be essential in allowing the GLAA to prosper and deliver on its strategic priorities.

About the GLAA

At the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), we provide exceptional service to the public, businesses, and workers in the fight to stop worker exploitation. We are seeking inspiring leaders who can set clear direction, role model exemplary leadership behaviours, and deliver our vital services to our wide range of beneficiaries with a focus on efficiency and excellence. Building a culture of belonging, we are committed to providing an experience that is inclusive, equitable and kind. We prioritise diversity and believe in a culture rooted in collaboration, growth and team cohesion. Every day, everyone on the team contributes to stopping worker exploitation.

The GLAA is one of the principal investigative law enforcement bodies for labour exploitation in the UK. The GLAA ensures that workers in the UK are treated fairly, properly and are protected from abuse and exploitation. We have three core functions:

Regulation - We regulate businesses that provide workers to the horticulture, agriculture, shellfish gathering and food processing and packaging. Our regulatory work includes operating a licencing scheme, undertaking inspections to ensure compliance with that scheme, and taking enforcement action where there are breaches.
Prevention – We work with a broad range of stakeholders locally, nationally, and internationally to help prevent workers from being exploited.
Enforcement - We investigate allegations of worker abuse under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. GLAA Officers conduct civil and criminal investigations and take enforcement action, including prosecutions and court orders to disrupt criminal activity. We also support victims who have been abused, in particular by ensuring they can access specialist help from our partners.

Job description

Why is this role important to GLAA

This role is vital in ensuring efficient and effective support to the Chief Executive and Chair.

You will manage the CEO and Chair’s diaries, leading on briefing requirements and logistics.
Through your excellent organisational skills, you will ensure the best use of the CEO’s time, balancing effectively competing demands and accurately and quickly judging changing priorities.
You will play an essential role in ensuring the CEO is engaged with the organisation and external customers at the right time and in the right way.
You will provide the full range of organisational and administrative support to the CEO, ensuring the smooth and effective running and prioritisation of the CEO’s workflow, diary, travel and budget.
You will also build a close relationship with the CEO, learning their preferred working styles, anticipating questions, and responding to feedback.
Through your excellent communication and people skills, you will build and maintain relationships that ensures the CEO is able to get things done. You will develop and maintain your own network of contacts in support of this.

Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the role is responsible for:

Providing professional and confidential dedicated administrative assistance and support to the Chief Executive and Chair
Managing the Chief Executive and Chair’s diaries and email inboxes to ensure the smooth functioning of the Executive’s office and supporting their day-to-day activities
Providing diary support for three Directors

We are currently underrepresented by female, transgender, non binary, ethnic minority and disabled colleagues, and are keen to change this, so welcome applications from all parts of the communities we serve.

Things you need to know

The Government’s plan to Make Work Pay included a commitment to establish a single enforcement body to enforce workers’ rights, including strong powers to inspect workplaces and take action against exploitation. Bringing together state enforcement for workers’ rights will better support businesses who want to comply with the rules, create a strong, recognisable single brand so individuals know where to go for help, and lead to a more effective use of resources and coordinated enforcement action. Bringing state employment enforcement together will create a single executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade known as the Fair Work Agency (FWA). The FWA will bring together the enforcement bodies – HMRC’s National Minimum Wage enforcement function (HMRC NMW), the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS), the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and the Director of Labour Markets (DLME) strategic functions.

This role is part of a transition process and is expected to transfer to The Fair Work Agency (FWA) as part of planned organisational changes. Further details will be provided as appropriate during the recruitment process

Person specification

When giving details in your employment history and demonstration of behaviours you should highlight your experience in line with key responsibilities below:

Providing professional and confidential dedicated administrative assistance and support to the Chief Executive and Chair, including dealing with correspondence, diary management, handling travel arrangements and scheduling meetings to ensure their time is managed effectively.
Inbox management for the Chief Executive and Chair, including responding to mail/emails where information is known and prioritising correspondence where responses are required of the Chief Executive, to support timely and professional responses.
Acting on behalf of the Chief Executive and Chair as a point of contact for internal and external stakeholders and ensuring all enquiries are dealt with as appropriate, a highly professional service is provided, and all deadlines are met.
Meeting and greeting visitors on behalf of Chief Executive ensuring a positive and professional image of the GLAA is given at all times. Ensuring adequate and appropriate facilities are available including meeting rooms, refreshments and any necessary IT equipment such as video conferencing and audio equipment.
Maintaining all relevant filing systems (including electronic systems), registers etc., to ensure all material is accurately logged, updated, secured and can be readily accessed as and when necessary, in line with organisational information management standards.
Attending meetings as required by the Chief Executive and Chair, providing a full secretarial service from completion of minutes to ensuring that actions are undertaken and reported back on at the next opportunity.
Acting as support to the Secretariat Officer when required in relation to activity for Board Committees.
Coordinate with colleagues, as required, to ensure all information/papers are received by the set deadlines, to the required standard, and the Chief Executive and Chair are appropriately briefed ahead of upcoming meetings.
Any other reasonable duties commensurate with the post.

All offers are subject to satisfactory references, DBS and security clearance (SC).

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Making Effective Decisions
Delivering at Pace
Managing a Quality Service
Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,300, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority contributes £7,908 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We offer a generous total package to our employees which includes the following:

32.5 days annual leave in addition to 8 public holidays
Flexible public holiday scheme
Choice of pension schemes, including access to the extremely generous Civil Service Pension, which also provides a death in service lump sum payment and a survivor’s pension payment
Annual performance related bonus scheme
Access to employee discounts
Access to a wellbeing portal
Employee assistance programme
Access to mental health first aiders within the organisation
Flexibility for working hours through the Flexitime scheme
Hybrid working available
Enhanced maternity and paternity benefits
Commitment to employee development
We’re proud to be an Endometriosis Friendly Employer

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application Information

As part of your application, you will be invited to complete an anonymised CV (including your career history, qualifications and experience), and 250 words for each of the required behaviours.

Sift Information

At Sift you will be assessed on your CV and the behaviours listed in the job advert. In the event of a high number of applications a pre sift will take place on the following behaviour.

Making Effective Decisions

The Sift will take place during w/c 23 February 2026.

Interview Information

At interview, you will be assessed against the following behaviours:

Delivering at Pace
Managing a Quality Service
Communicating and Influencing

Interviews will take place at Loxley House, Nottingham City Centre w/c 9 March - w/c 16 March 2026

Travel expenses will not be reimbursed.

Please note that dependent on numbers of applications received these dates could be subject to change.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Salary range

£27,300 - £28,500 per year