BUSINESS SUPPORT OFFICER

Location: Civic Centre, SM4 5DX
Start Date: ASAP
Contract Duration: 3+ Months
Working Hours: Mon – Fri, 09:00 – 17:00, 37 Hours per week
Pay Rate: £ 18.86 per hour
Job Ref: 5274982

KNOWLEDGE:

• Excellent understanding of the organisation, management, and control of administrative and customer contact processes.
• Working knowledge of one or more of the core services supported by the admin team.
• Good working knowledge of the requirements relating to handling sensitive data and information, particularly in relation to the Data Protection Act 1998 and General Data Protection Regulations 2018.
• Knowledge of financial procedures and regulations.
• Working knowledge of Health & Safety in the workplace.
• Good knowledge of customer service provision.

SKILLS

• Excellent ICT skills including spreadsheets, databases, and word processing.
• Confident user of core business ICT systems.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a high level of numeracy.
• Highly developed customer care skills, including an ability to deal sensitively with a wide range of customers and maintain good relationships with internal or external partners.
• Highly developed organisational and time management skills.

Experience

• Good demonstrable experience of providing a high-quality and comprehensive administrative service, delivering core business processes to agreed performance standards.
• Good demonstrable experience of dealing with the public face-to-face, by telephone, and via web enquiries.
• Experience of working within a busy team.
• Experience of mentoring, guiding, and training other staff on a daily basis.
• Good demonstrable experience in handling contentious and confidential issues in an effective manner.
• Experience in working within a pressurised environment, prioritising and organising conflicting workloads.
• Experience of working on own initiative, but identifying when it is necessary to seek advice or refer on to a senior officer any highly complex or contentious issues.

General Education

• Good standard of general education.

Personal Qualities

• Responsive and customer-focused attitude to work.
• Flexible approach to meeting the needs of the service and a willingness to learn new skills.

Circumstances

• Able to attend meetings in the evenings, to work outside normal office hours, and to work beyond minimum hours as and when required to achieve deadlines.

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Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 3 months
Pay: £18.86 per hour
Expected hours: 37 per week

Experience:

• Business Support Officer: 1 year (required)

Work Location: In person
Reference ID: 527498

SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES AND PERSONAL DUTIES:

• Support, guide, and mentor the Admin Assistants on all aspects of the work, including providing input into the PES process as required.
• Receive, sort, and distribute incoming and outgoing post (including via electronic systems) for the division.
• File records accurately and maintain electronic or paper filing systems.
• Photocopy, scan, and index documents to ensure information can be distributed to intended recipients.
• Collate, print, and distribute documents or materials as required by the team.
• Take accurate minutes or notes at meetings, panels, or other events, ensuring confidentiality is maintained at all times.
• Support the maintenance of records and monitoring for service budgets and contract registers.
• Manage all internal queries and information requests, including more complex casework.
• Raise Purchase Orders (POs) and process invoices, ensuring compliance with the Council’s financial procedures and regulations.
• Undertake general office management tasks, including supporting Business Continuity and Health & Safety processes.
• Research and collate information for complaints and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, liaising with staff and managers to ensure deadlines are met.
• Coordinate recruitment activity for temporary and permanent staff in conjunction with individual services and HR.
• Coordinate induction and training sessions for new staff within the department.
• Work flexibly across the commercial operations and development service to provide cover for other officers as required.
• Order and issue stationery, supplies, and other equipment, ensuring the safe and secure storage of items.
• Receive deliveries and check goods received against purchase order forms.
• Manage both routine and more complex enquiries from customers via telephone, face-to-face, web, or email in a sensitive, courteous, and professional manner.
• Provide basic information on individual services, processes, or legislation/procedures and signpost to other sources of information.
• Extract information from systems or databases and provide reports to managers as part of service, departmental, organisational, or national reporting requirements.
• Undertake both basic and more complex information searches when required.
• Provide project management support as requested.

OTHER DUTIES

• Carry out the duties of the post with due regard to the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy and core values.
• Participate in the Performance Evaluation Scheme (PES) and undertake appropriate training and development.
• Comply with the Council’s Health & Safety policies and procedures at all times.
• Assist in carrying out the Council’s Environmental Policy within the day-to-day activities of the post.
• Undertake other duties, commensurate with the grade, as may reasonably be required.
• Consideration will be given to restructuring the duties of this post for a disabled postholder.