Office Manager

Job summary

You will be responsible for managing two main office sites, making sure buildings are safe, compliant and run smoothly day to day. This includes handling building issues, co-ordinating contractors, and keeping accurate records.

You’ll lead the Business Support team, supporting their performance and development and help improve processes. You’ll also work closely with finance colleagues and take part in wider team discussions to support overall operations.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• primary point of contact for 2 of the key offices in the region, responsible for managing the building and front of house, coordinating building-related activities and overseeing compliance
• responsible for ensuring all relevant statutory tasks are delivered on time and to a high standard – including fire safety, electrical safety, security, and building safety
• responsible for maintaining accurate records to ensure compliance with audit, compliance or incident management
• primary point of contact for incident or building issues, managing contractor and stakeholder access, maintaining a safe and secure environment and coordinating building use and occupation
• manage and develop the Business Support team, ensuring performance management, learning and development, and wellbeing are managed in line with organisational policies
• promote a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging innovation and efficiency in systems and processes
• work closely with the Finance Manager to ensure effective collaboration, resilience, and cross-team support
• actively contribute as a member of the District Business Support Team, representing Support Services in meetings and decision-making forums
• flexibility to respond to day-to-day operational needs where required

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

• champion a positive health, safety, and wellbeing culture across the District, leading by example
• oversee the coordination and delivery of health and safety support to operational teams
• ensure compliance with all relevant health and safety policies, procedures, and legal requirements

Financial Management

• manage the Support Services budget for the District, ensuring effective planning, monitoring, and control of expenditure
• ensure compliance with all financial procedures, policies, and governance requirements
• identify opportunities for cost efficiencies and value for money

The duties of this post require the applicant to travel between office sites. You will therefore need to hold a full current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK. We are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• managing a team in an administrative, office management or business support environment
• managing and developing staff and building team capability
• managing budgets and monitoring expenditure
• working collaboratively across teams and functions to deliver shared objectives
• knowledge of health and safety responsibilities within a workplace environment
• strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships at all levels
• competent in IT systems, including Microsoft Office and business management systems

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,854, Forestry Commission contributes £9,807 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 is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Ability.

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.

You will be assessed on your experiences during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Working together
• Managing a quality service
• Communicating and influencing

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.

If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
• Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

Attachments

Forestry England Job Description - Office Manager - PB5 Opens in new window (pdf, 156kB)