Customer Services Administrator

Job summary

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.

Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (RCCE) Directorate

The Radiation, Chemical, Climate and Environmental Hazards Directorate (RCCE) is part of the UKHSA Chief Scientific Officer Group and is responsible for promoting improved health and reduced harm from:

• radiation
• hazardous chemicals in the environment
• environmental change
• extreme weather events such as flooding.

RCCE’s functions and responsibilities include:

• providing advice on the topics above
• the assessment of health risks by means of research and collaborative projects
• providing commercial services for radiological and chemical hazard
• covering key roles in the RCE Emergency Plans, especially plans for major radiation incidents which need to be maintained in a state of readiness.

Job description

The post-holder’s main duties will involve participating in the day-to-day work of the Customer Services office and maintaining a high level of accuracy in accordance with standard operating procedures. This will require some knowledge and experience, as well as the ability to interpret and deal with customer queries.

There will also be close contact with other areas such as UKHSA Accounting Services when the post holder will need to investigate invoice/payment queries and liaise with both the customer and Accounting Services.

Personal Dosimetry Service

The Personal Dosimetry Service (PDS) is a commercial service, approved by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), and accredited to ISO/IEC 17025. PDS serves over 5,500 employers working with ionising radiations in the industrial, research and medical sectors, by assessing the radiation doses to their employees. This is carried out by means of passive personal dosemeters, which are worn by the employee for a period then returned to PDS for processing and reporting. The service also helps build experience which informs UKHSA’s advice to government and users of radiation and makes a significant contribution towards RCCE’s annual income. The PDS is a group of around 35 staff, plus 10 bank staff, who issue and assess doses from dosemeters to over 80,000 workers in the UK and overseas.

This post contributes to the health and safety of employees exposed to ionising radiation in their work environments and requires highly specialised technical, scientific and legislative knowledge and skills coupled with extensive relevant experience.

This post will work as part of a small team which is responsible for dealing with customer queries, processing orders, forwarding contracts, invoicing for all PDS services provided (over 5,500 customers) and maintaining an excellent level of customer care. The post holder will work with the team to invoice PDS customers.

Your duties will include:

• Provide information to both new and existing customers on all aspects ordering our services.
• Deal with queries via post, email, fax and our on-line service and liaise with the customer to ensure their queries are answered.
• enter orders on to the PDS program, run reports to ensure order continuity, collect and check the resulting data and run invoicing and credit reports to produce invoices and credit notes. Enter order data onto the PDS bespoke database
• Enter data, and extract data from, the database to answer queries. Data entry is mainly manual and requires a high level of thoroughness and accuracy.
• Assist in investigating customer queries and in answering these queries verbally and in writing.

The work involves continual contact with customers and is carried out to deadlines specified in regulatory requirements, in QA documentation or by line managers. The post holder will have direct responsibility in dealing with a selection of customers. The office supervisor (line manager) will be responsible for the organisation of the whole office workload but the jobholder will be responsible for his/her own work and will work as part of a team to fulfil the required duties.

Please note, this list is not exhaustive.

Key Working Relationships

The post holder will develop working relationships and communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, internal and external to UKHSA. This will include:

Internal

• Scientific and administrative staff within PDS group
• Scientific staff in Department up to Group Leader
• Administration staff in Department
• Specialist staff in other groups/departments such as Leeds PADC Lab team
• Head of Department
• Scientific staff in other Departments up to Head of Department
• UKHSA corporate: HR, ICT, Procurement etc.

External

• Commercial customers. This is likely to be phone or e-mail contact with customers at a wide range of levels, from non-specialists up to senior management. It will involve communicating non-routine results such as high doses, urgent assessments, and dose queries.
• Direct and regular contact with a selection of key larger-value customers for whom they will be the first point of contact.
• Customer contacts range from radiation specialists (RPA and wearer of dosemeters) to those who have little knowledge of radiation (administrators and receptionists), at both senior and junior levels.
• Occasional liaison with customers during visits to PDS.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• 5 GCSEs at grade C or above including Maths and English (or equivalent qualification) or equivalent experience of working in a customer-oriented, commercial environment to include direct contact with customers and knowledge of good customer care
• Previous experience of working in an administrative environment using computerised data systems, and database entry work
• Previous experience of accounting and order processing
• Able to work on own initiative, using problem solving skills to help with customer queries
• Excellent organisational and prioritising skills; handling a busy workload and meeting deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively and to form good working relationships with colleagues, suppliers, and customers.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team

Desirable criteria

• General awareness of the hazards and uses of ionising radiation. Familiarity with the uses of personal dosimetry and awareness of the regulatory framework for personal
• Ability to react quickly to changing work plans to cope with peak demand periods

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,335, UK Health Security Agency contributes £7,918 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%

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

This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your qualifications, knowledge and experience and / or skills and abilities outlined in the essential criteria.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 8 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:

• Application form (Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• 750 word supporting statement.

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

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 C.V –please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.

Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 750 words. We will not consider any words over 750 words.

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

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria

If used, the pile ‘Meets all essential criteria’ will proceed to shortlisting.

In the event of a large number of applications we may conduct an initial sift, on the lead criteria of:

• Experience of working in a customer-oriented, commercial environment to include direct contact with customers and knowledge of good customer care
• Previous experience of accounting and order processing
• Ability to communicate effectively and to form good working relationships with colleagues, suppliers, and customers.

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

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview

You will be invited to a single face to face interview UKHSA, Harwell Science Park, Chilton Didcot, OX11 0RQ.

If face to face interviews are planned, in exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.

Knowledge, experience, skills & abilities will be tested at interview

Interviews dates to be confirmed.

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

Location

This role is being offered as office based at our Scientific Campus in Chilton (Didcot). Please note, hybrid working is not available for this role.

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a basic disclosure and barring security check before they can be appointed.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Counter-Terrorist Check.

Based at our scientific campus, you will be required to have a Counter Terrorism Check security vetting check as a minimum. 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 Counter Terrorism Check (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.

Eligibility Criteria

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

Salary Information

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.

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.

Careers website

Please visit our careers site for more information UKHSA Hub , Civil Service Careers

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

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 : Timor Miakhel
• Email : timor.miakhel@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 the UKHSA Complaints team via email at: 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 for further information: Home - Civil Service Commission

http://www.healthjobsuk.com/vacancy/8007111