Administrative Assistant, Sawday's

Job Title  

Administrative Assistant 

Reports to   

Line Manager 

A bit about us... 

The Sawday’s group is a collection of travel brands all centred on a passion for special places to stay. Since 2017, the company has been 52% employee-owned, with the rest made up of a Charitable Trust and the founding family. We’re proud to be B Corp certified and recognised by them as one of the top 5% places in the world for employees.  

We are leaders in sustainable and ethical travel, and every team in our business plays a vital role in achieving our impact goals. Our Impact Report outlines our five-year strategy and annual objectives, which form the foundation of our company-wide approach. These goals drive every decision we make, and we expect all team members to contribute to their success as part of our shared mission. 

This role involves working for Sawday’s, who have spent over 25 years curating a collection of special places to stay across the UK and Europe, every one of which we inspect in person. We work with independent owners, offering them an alternative to platforms that undercut their pricing and flood the market. 

Your role: Administrative Assistant 

• Spinning the administrative plates to support team members and maximise the team’s time 
• Ensuring all data entered is correct and all records up to date  
• Maintaining a happy relationship with Sawday’s owners and guests  
• Assisting the Operations Coordinators and Account Managers with tasks that may take them away from page building and account management/sales activities  
• Working smoothly with internal and external teams  

Works with   

• Membership team 
• Finance, Platform and Marketing teams when necessary  

Main tasks and responsibilities  

Administration and data management:   

• Answering customer queries by phone and email   
• Processing owners' updates to their data online and managing content on the website 
• Respecting and maintaining the consistency and good quality of the owners’ pages  
• Approving and entering guest feedback into the system 
• Processing owner applications and recommendations    
• Identifying priorities for the team and organising your tasks in accordance with them   
• Supporting Sawday’s owners in making the most of their Membership   
• Maintaining the Sawday’s experience of “special’’   
• Occasional communication with our inspectors and writers  
• Occasionally working with our Marketing team, liaising with owners and collecting data from owners for campaigns  

Skills and experience   

• Strong administrative skills  
• Natural collaboration skills – a team player who builds positive working relationships to get work done  
• Flexibility to work across multiple projects and prioritise workload to meet deadlines and liaise with others  
• Self-motivated, a willingness to work hard and a can-do attitude  
• A sense of humour (work has to be fun!) and a streak of creativity when responding to problems  
• Effortless diplomacy: able to deal with owners and guests in a calm, confident and professional way  
• A solution-focused thinker - someone who uses their initiative to really make the most of opportunities and solve problems  
• Happy questioning processes and systems to make things work better  
• An eye for really Special Places to Stay, and empathy for their owners and guests  

Knowledge and qualifications  

Essential:  

• A people person who is confident responding to customer queries by phone and email 
• Good knowledge of Microsoft packages  

Desirable:  

• Knowledge of French or Italian - some of our owners are French or Italian speaking, so this would be useful over the phone and when responding to emails 
• Experience with Salesforce or other content management systems 

Salary and benefits   

• An annual salary of £15k (£25k FTE)  
• Part-time, 22.5 hours a week across 4-5 days 
• 26 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays (pro-rated) 
• Company pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions at 4%, and an optional salary sacrifice scheme   
• An employee-owned company: after your introductory period, you will be eligible to a share of any dividends   
• A special place to work: a colourful, upcycled, recycled, open plan office on Bristol’s buzzing harbourside   
• DEIBA Team: a team focused on diversity & inclusion efforts for our employees and customers 
• £290 per year towards staying in one of our special places 
• 20% employee discount and 10% family & friends discount on UK based Canopy & Stars breaks, 15% discount on EU based breaks.  
• 15% employee discount and 8% family & friends discount on Paws & Stay breaks in the UK. 
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay 
• A volunteering day per year 
• 15 wellbeing hours per year (pro rata) 
• A ‘Climate Journey Day’ policy, which gives you the opportunity to earn up to two paid days per year to travel to and from a holiday destination using low-carbon transport 
• Social and wellbeing events held throughout the year. 

Applications  

• You must be within a commutable distance of Bristol. This role requires a minimum of 3 days working in the office, however flexi time and hybrid working is possible, with the option to work some of the week from home. You will need to be in the office full-time during the initial training period. 
• Closing date for applications: Tuesday 1st September 

Our Behaviours and Values 

How we work is just as important as the success we achieve at Sawday’s. During your time with us, you will be expected to treasure, protect, and embody our behaviours and values every day. 

We celebrate quirkiness and difference 

• We dance to the beat of our own drum 
• We encourage curiosity and creativity 
• We champion individuality and the ‘special’ 

We follow head and heart 

• We are solidly commercial while flexible and ‘human’ 
• We are empathetic, generous and supportive 
• We make ethical, holistic, long-term decisions  

We do important things brilliantly 

• We use business as a force for social, environmental and economic good 
• We are committed to our craft and deliver with ambition and purpose 
• We relish our role in sustaining a happy, healthy world 

We bring positive energy 

• We foster a genuine spirit of togetherness and family 
• We take pleasure in empowering and delighting others 
• We are driven to learn, grow, connect and contribute 

Finally

We place a strong emphasis on ethics, people and the environment and it is important to us that you understand, strongly identify with, and are able to develop the company ethos. 

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and an inclusive company, where diverse backgrounds and perspectives are valued and where everyone can bring their full, authentic selves to work.  

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview to any disabled candidate who meets all the ‘Essential’ skills listed above and is a commutable distance from the office.  

If you need any further assistance with your application, or require the application form in a different format, please email Charlotte on charlotte@sawdays.co.uk or call 0117 204 7828.