Part Time Farm Secretary – Woodbridge – REF 943

An opportunity has arisen for an experienced Farm Secretary to join this large family farm located in Rendlesham Suffolk. The office has views over the River Deben and grounds of the Hall, so a fabulous working environment. This is a job share with the existing Farm Secretary and the successful person will be required to work 3 days a week.

The farm has 1200 acres of arable land which is managed by a contract farmer. In addition the family own 190 acres of woodland and 120 of permanent grass both managed in house. There are also a number of residential properties 14 of which are let and managed in house.

The Position:-

• The day to day running of the office including dealing with post, emails, phone calls and general correspondence
• Dealing with tenants, arranging property repairs, preparing tenancy agreements, dealing with deposits, and general property management. Producing budgets and management reports for meetings
• Organising and keeping up to date the extensive active and dead filing system as well as managing and transferring to a cloud based system
• Monitoring numerous bank accounts, arranging payments of monthly invoices, producing cash flow reports and instigating cash movements to maintain balances.
• Preparing for and attending farm and housing management meetings, taking minutes and resulting decision processing
• Liaising with insurance brokers on annual renewals for the Estate, home and motor fleet policies and obtaining competitive premiums
• Liaising with the accountants the provision of year end information for the farm and Bunbury family entities
• Running monthly Payroll and maintenance of pay for employees
• Ensuring timely payment of tax liabilities

The Person will have:-

• Good secretarial skills (some shorthand or speedwriting an advantage but not essential)
• A knowledge of bookkeeping and a feel for figures
• Experience with Farmplan Business Manager
• A good working knowledge of Sage 50 Payroll
• Good organisational and decision processing skills
• The ability to work independently and as a part of a small team
• A love of dogs
• Diplomacy, flexibility and total discretion
• Good IT skills
• Self Employed status if possible

It is vital that the successful person is reliable, with a good sense of humour and the ability to think on their feet. Polite and with the ability to deal with a myriad of different situations with a range of people over the phone and face to face.

There will be an initial period of training offered and the chance to work closely with the existing Farm Secretary to develop the role.

Interviews will begin mid/late February with a start date at the end of March 2022.

Tel Jackie 07979501997