Business Support Officer

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Bristol

About the job

Job summary

In DHSC, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you’d like to work in, we’d love to hear from you.

This role is based in the OHID South West Region supporting the delivery of national and regional priorities for prevention and health inequalities, ensuring a joined-up approach to public health, building strong interfaces with different teams and areas of public health, across the regional system. 

This is an exciting role within a regional OHID office offering an opportunity to work closely with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Health and Wellbeing programme managers and public health consultants as well as a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

The successful candidate will be expected to work flexibly as part of a multidisciplinary team providing a range of specific operational and day to day administrative and/or project support to the teams within the South West region.

The post holder will work with minimum supervision and be expected to work duties which include region wide support.

Job description

The post holder will work within the business operations team for one of our regional offices and will be responsible for providing operational and administrative support for a range of corporate functions.

The successful candidate will work collaboratively with all members of the team and wider Directorate to provide an effective administrative support service.

The individual should be enthusiastic with a pro-active and flexible approach to their work and the ability to work independently and under minimal supervision. The post holder will be expected to demonstrate strong communication and written skills as this role will be required to communicate on a regular basis with a wide range of staff and stakeholders across multiple organisations at all levels.

The post holder will work with colleagues who are based across the country at different sites and/or who work remotely and may be required to travel to other sites as necessary, but this would be minimal.

The successful candidate will be encouraged to undertake learning and development opportunities offered by DHSC.

Person specification

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Specific duties of the role may vary depending on the site and teams/functions operating there. As examples:

Administrative Support

• Provide comprehensive administrative support to teams across the region.
• To proactively lead and act as a central and coordinating point of contact for a range of business administration activities.
• Communicate and engage effectively with a range of people, internal and external staff.
• Responsible for the organisation of meetings and events and production of reports, papers, minutes, and meetings notes as required.
• Provide secretariat support to region teams and other internal meetings and networks as relevant to responsibilities.
• Have delegated lead responsibility for certain corporate function processes. For example, compiling and updating distribution lists, training records or reporting of sickness absence and preparing and submitting returns on behalf of the team as required.
• Support the development of systems and procedures where necessary to ensure efficiency, quality, and cost effectiveness across the administration function.
• Participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects, services, and initiatives to provide, information and administration support to designated managers/project leads.
• Undertake ad hoc PA duties on behalf of individual members of the team as requested.
• Using a variety of IT applications, carry out timely and accurate information analysis and reporting on agreed areas of their working area and present findings in an agreed manner.
• Develop and maintain databases required by job.
• Maintain administrative and information resources e.g.: filing systems.
• Deal with stakeholder enquiries promptly and courteously by e-mail, referring to the relevant lead where appropriate.
• Contribute to effective information management and assist with the dissemination and/or collation of information/returns for the region in a timely manner.
• As required, participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects to provide information/analyst advice and support and to maintain data collection systems for effective use by the team.
• Responsible for organising and controlling own workload ensuring deadlines are observed and duties performed efficiently.
• Provide cover as directed by Line Manager for other members of the team in their absence and assist with their workloads as necessary.

Project Support

• Undertake project support for short, medium, and long-term activities, responding to information requests and other tasks which will involve meeting tight deadlines.
• Assist and work closely with members of the relevant project teams, supporting elements of projects as directed by the relevant lead for Business Operations or project manager.
• Maintain project plans, supporting the provision of management information and participating in working groups.

Financial and Physical Resources

• Provide support and information to aid effective management of budgets.
• Oversee the placement and/or orders for goods and/or stationery, receipt goods and maintain log of expenditure.

Leadership and Management

• To be a visible, positive, and competent role model and motivator.
• Provide training, advice, and support on own area of responsibility.
• Support training and induction of new and existing staff
• Supervise the team on their day-to-day activities that may include call handling or data inputting and provide line management to identified administrative staff.
• Participate in the recruitment process of support staff

Other

• The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by your line manager.
• The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the department.
• It should be noted that some work of the region is of a confidential nature and must not be communicated to other persons except where required for authorised purposes.

Professional development

• Identify, discuss, and action own professional performance and training / development needs with your line manager through performance health checks / individual development plan. Attending internal / external training events
• To participate in all mandatory training as required, for example Health & safety, Fraud and information governance and all other mandatory training.

Communication And Key Working Relationships

The post holder may communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, clinical and non-clinical, internal, and external to DHSC.

This may include:

Internal

• Head of Business Operations and Stakeholder Engagement.
• Business Operations Manager
• Business support team colleagues
• Executive management team
• Region teams including Population Health improvement and Wellbeing, Healthcare Public Health, Dental Public Health, other NHS Teams, and the wider administration team.
• Other OHID Teams and regional offices
• National DHSC staff, including Human Resources, Health and Safety, Finance, Estates, Occupational Health, and IT.

External

• Directors of Public Health and their public health teams
• Local authority staff, including Chief Environmental Health Officers and their teams.
• Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)
• NHS England
• University staff as appropriate
• Emergency services staff, including the Ambulance Service
• Environment Agency, State Veterinary Service, Health and Safety Executive and the Care Quality Commission
• Building & Accommodation Services, including landlord and building facilities contractors
• Members of the public
• Other relevant organisations and professionals

Key skills and experience required for the role:

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to NVQ 4 level in a relevant subject or equivalent level of qualification or significant equivalent experience A/I
• GCSE or equivalent qualifications, graded A* – C in English and Maths A/I

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• Significant administrative/ secretarial experience including developing, implementing, and maintaining office systems. A/I
• Knowledge of financial systems e.g., procurement, monitoring expenditure or processing invoices
• Knowledge and experience of providing excellent customer service and/or working with stakeholders.
• Experience of drafting agendas and taking minutes at meeting

Desirable

• Line management skills or experience (if applicable to the role)
• Project support and information analysis A/I

Skills and capabilities

Essential

• Proven communicator with excellent writing, data entry and presentation skills: capable of constructing and delivering clear information/ instructions to a wide range of people. A/I
• Ability to work without supervision using own initiative, organising and prioritising own and other workloads to changing and often tight deadlines A/I
• Proven attention to detail with ability to input data accurately and good attention to detail in all aspects of work. A/I
• Numerical data analysis ability for purposes of production of reports. A/I
• Experienced in IT skills, advanced Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint A/I
• Ability to work on own initiative and organise own workload with minimal supervision working to tight and often changing timescales A/I
• Ability to work as part of a team and able to demonstrate a professional attitude at work whilst remaining flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of the business A/I
• Experience or knowledge of handling sensitive information A/I

Equality and diversity

An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, but also in relation to management systems

• Assessment will take place with reference to the following information

A = Application form I = Interview 

Qualifications

Educated to NVQ 4 level in a relevant subject or equivalent level of qualification or significant equivalent experience

GCSE or equivalent qualifications in English and Maths

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Changing and Improving

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,079, Department of Health and Social Care contributes £7,311 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

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

Job contact :

• Name : Matt Palmer
• Email : Matt.palmer@dhsc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dhscrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact the DHSC Central Recruitment Team at DHSCrecruitment@dhsc.gov.uk

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/

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