Administration Officer

Job summary

The laboratory in Bristol is situated within the Severn Pathology suite of laboratories at North Bristol NHS Trust Southmead site. The service is delivered by collaboration between North Bristol NHS Trust and UKHSA. The laboratory also has management input into a hot lab and near patient testing initiatives in University Hospitals Bristol. The laboratory receives in excess of 1 million specimens a year from a large number of clinical specialties across the Bristol and Bath hospital trusts, primary care, as well as referred specimens from the wider South West region and beyond, which contribute to an interesting and varied workload with a continuous assay review and development program.

We are looking for an Administration Officer to assist the Laboratory Office Manager in providing personnel and administrative functions, ensuring that an efficient and effective administrative service is provided to the laboratories, its staff, its customers and UKHSA Bristol.

The Administration Officer will assist with liaison between the Bristol laboratory and other units of UKHSA, NHS organisations and local authorities.

The Administration Officer will be expected to assist in any UKHSA coordinated response or activity of a national/international nature, e.g. a bioterrorism incident or a major disease outbreak, e.g. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Job description

The Administration Officer will provide secretarial and administrative support to members of the Bristol Laboratory and support the Office Manager in the organisation and functions of the Laboratory Office.

The Administration Officers will also assist with liaison between the Bristol Laboratory and other units of UKHSA, NHS Organisations and Local Authorities.

The Administration Officer will be required to:

• perform general offices duties including typing, filing, photocopying etc
• answer telephone queries from external callers and take and pass on messages for senior staff of the laboratory
• ensure that all tasks are carried out to the required safety standards
• report all accidents and incidents or near misses and dangerous situations to line manager.Your attention is drawn to the Health & Safety Act of 1974 which requires you to take reasonable care for yourself and others who may be affected by your acts and omissions at work; and to co-operate with your employer on any matters of health and safety
• maintain a high standard of work and comply with departmental quality policy
• be responsible for receiving reporting queries from customers and suppliers
• use Laboratory Information System, as well as Word and Excel
• ensure confidentiality and conformance to Data Protection Act in collaboration with designated Caldecott Guardian, Data Protection Officer and Security of information Officer

Main Responsibilities

• To record and prepare draft minutes and action tables for meetings, specifying decisions made and follow up action required for subsequent completion.
• To organise a range of meetings and events, including venue, attendees and occasional travel arrangements.
• To ensure the timely registration of goods received notes onto the Finance and Resource Management system.
• To undertake office functions for members of the Bristol Laboratory team, including:
  • arrangement of meetings
  • maintenance of diaries
  • dealing with telephone enquiries, directing and prioritising queries as appropriate, to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery
  • IT support, e.g. word processing, generate and maintain spreadsheets for the collection and analysis of data
  • assistance with checking of ledgers etc.
• To assist with the production and issuing of invoices on the UKHSA MAPS system on behalf of the Laboratory.
• To assist with the routine operation of the UKHSA MAPS, including purchasing and stock.
• To assist with the routine operation of non-pay expenditure and to match delivery notes to invoices for non-stock expenditure.
• To assist other office members with the timely registration of goods received notes onto MAPS.
• To ensure compliance of the above with UKHSA Standard Financial instructions.
• To assist with the Laboratory related functions of the office, e.g. booking in, result entry, post, answering telephone enquires etc.
• To assist with the inputting of sensitive results onto the laboratory computer system.
• To assist with the ordering of vaccines, ensuring that appropriate records are kept and that they are dispatched in a timely manner.
• To extract, collate and distribute data to enable preparation of statistical reports or returns.
• To perform any other duties required by the Office Manager

Professional Development

• Identify, discuss and action own professional performance and training / development needs with your line manager through appraisal / individual development plan. Attending internal / external training events
• To participate in all mandatory training as required, i.e. fire safety, information governance and all other mandatory training.

Key Working Relationships

The Administration Officers will develop working relationships and communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, clinical and non-clinical, internal and external to UKHSA. This will include:

Internal

• To always communicate effectively with all members of the Infection Sciences team
• Trust Pathology and University staff
• To attend and participate in relevant meetings and updates on an ad hoc basis

External

• Liaise with Staff in health service organisations and other external organisations including senior laboratory staff of laboratories within the South of England and further afield
• To assist with liaison between the Bristol laboratory and other units of UKHSA, NHS organisations and local authorities
• To deal with enquiries from service users, members of the public and those undertaking services for the laboratory

The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of these roles. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required. The job descriptions and person specifications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• English and Maths GCSE grade C or equivalent or equivalent work experience in an administration environment
• Good IT and data entry skills
• An understanding of the importance of confidentiality
• A willingness to learn and improve
• The ability to communicate effectively with a good telephone manner
• Good literacy, numeracy, minute taking skills and telephone manner
• Able to work with accuracy and meet deadlines
• The ability to work either in a team or under one’s own initiative
  Reliability and flexibility

Desirable Criteria

• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships

These roles are being offered based at our site:

• Bristol Lab, Pathology Building, Infection Sciences, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, BS10 5NB

Please note hybrid working is not available for this role.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £25,651, UK Health Security Agency contributes £7,431 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers

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

Application & Sift

This vacancy is using Competency.

At sift stage you will be assessed against the 9 Essential Criteria listed in this job advert.

You will be required to complete an:

• Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• Up to 1000 word Statement of Suitability

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role.

You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your CV – please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible).

Longlisting

In the event of a large number of applications, we may longlist into 3 piles of:

• Meets all Essential Criteria
• Meets some Essential Criteria
• Meets no Essential Criteria

Only those that 'Meets all Essential Criteria' will progress to Shortlisting.

Shortlisting

In the event of a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift on the following Essential Criteria:

• Good IT and data entry skills - including Word and Excel
• An understanding of the importance of confidentiality

Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications/successful candidates.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Interview stage (Competency based)

You will be invited to a face-to-face interview. In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.

During the interview we will assess against the below in relation to the Essential Criteria:

• Knowledge
• Experience
• Skills and Abilities

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).

Salary Information

Grade: AO

AO National: £25,651 - £27,220

If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.

Location

This role is being offered based at our site:

Bristol Lab, Pathology Building, Infection Sciences, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, BS10 5NB

Please note hybrid working is not available for this role.

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed.

The level of security needed is Counter-Terrorist Check. For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years as the role requires CTC clearance. In exceptional circumstances UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

Future location

UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK. The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone. To help you during the recruitment process, we will consider any reasonable adjustments that could help you. An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work. This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme. If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: Reasonable Adjustments , Civil Service Careers

International Police check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.

Internal Fraud Check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.

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 counter-terrorist 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

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).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

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 : Sarah Handy
• Email : sarah.handy@ukhsa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ukhsa.gov.uk

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. 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 UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints@ukhsa.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website here.

https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v7832496