Operational Support Senior Admin Manager (Band 4/ HEO)

Job summary

HSE is the national regulator for workplace health and safety in Great Britain and is committed to playing its part in the delivery of safer, healthier workplaces. HSE’s focus is on the safety, health and welfare of workers, but our regulatory interest extends to cover the impact of work activity on the public, consumers and the environment.

HSE is modernising its services and working to deliver improved efficiency and effectiveness. We are investing in new digital infrastructure and capability to support transformation, capability, and continuous improvements. We are seeking an exceptional candidate to join us as a Senior Admin Manager (SAM) to manage operational staff across five offices in the South East.

SAMs are responsible for driving a culture of teamwork, high performance and continuous improvement, ensuring consistency and clarity on roles and responsibilities for both Band 6 and Band 5 colleagues, setting and challenging expectations when needed. They are responsible for creating and maintaining a culture of personal development and support for and primarily via Band 5 Team Leaders, through coaching, mentoring, learning and development.

Part time working hours are available for this role. We can accept part time applicants who can commit to working a minimum of 30 hours per week.

Job description

You will work alongside the Deputy Head of Operational Support, ensuring the effective delivery of support to regulatory colleagues across the Inspection, Investigation and Specialist Divisions, contributing to the delivery of HSE’s strategic priorities and key activities as outlined in the HSE Business Plan.

Key Responsibilities:

• Providing strategic leadership, direction and line management to up to four Team Leaders, developing capability and promoting a culture of teamwork, high performance and continuous improvement.
• Providing strategic oversight of the Gas Operational Support function, ensuring consistent, timely and high-quality delivery across multiple teams and locations, in line with the Downstream Gas Procedure and agreed service standards.
• Leading the effective management and deployment of resources, including monitoring workloads, workforce and capability planning, and ensuring sufficient capacity and resilience to meet current and future operational requirements.
• Overseeing the prioritisation and delivery of proactive and reactive Gas work, managing performance, capacity and operational risk to maintain service quality, resilience and continuity.
• Working collaboratively with Customer Services, the Gas Enquiries Team and Investigation Division, and liaising with external stakeholders, including Local Authorities and Gas Safe, to ensure effective service delivery and resolution of operational issues.
• Driving continuous improvement and service development by identifying opportunities for procedural improvement and leading the implementation and embedding of new or revised processes and business change.
• Acting as the senior escalation point for complex operational issues and stakeholder concerns, using effective judgement to resolve issues and maintain service delivery.
• Providing effective governance, leadership and direction across a geographically dispersed team structure, ensuring consistency, accountability and alignment with HSE priorities.

Person specification

Essential Skills and Criteria:

• A track record of positive, visible leadership of geographically dispersed teams, communicating direction and priorities, building capability, employee engagement and continuous improvement
• Proven ability in delivering high performance through others and ensuring effective deployment of resources.
• Experience of implementing performance and attendance management measures when required
• Practical recent experience of managing operational delivery, utilising data and insights to understand existing and future levels of demand against performance, analysing this to take prompt action to ensure/improve delivery to strict time and quality service level agreements.
• Confidently reporting to key stakeholders on the same as necessary Motivated self-starter who responds calmly to unpredictable demands, who can work equally as well, individually, or as part of a team, with practical experience of leading teams through change
• Sound organisational skills with ability to prioritise, identify risks and tensions, and make pragmatic clear decisions, delegating and managing workloads as necessary
• Exceptional communication skills (both written and oral) with the ability to aid understanding, build consensus and tailor message and channel to the audience
• Proven ability to create a culture of inclusion, innovation, collaboration and teamwork, holding people accountable for performance, and celebrating success
• Aware of and experienced in the use of all Microsoft Office packages including MS Word, Excel, Outlook and SharePoint.

Hybrid Working

At HSE, we are proud to be able to offer our people the opportunity to work in a hybrid way which combines working from home and the office. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement, and your allocated office will be your contractual place of work.

There will be a requirement to travel to the office for various activities, e.g., collaborative working, supporting and training colleagues. If hybrid working is suitable for you and your role, you will be expected to attend the office, or other business-related site, for 60% of your working week. The arrangements will be determined primarily by business need, but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account.

Please note that the home office base for this role is London. There will also be a requirement to attend the following sites as needed: Chelmsford, Ashford, Oxted and Basingstoke.

Therefore, we would encourage candidates to consider if the commute from home to the office is a feasible distance to travel before making an application. Please note that if you are successful, hybrid working will be discussed prior to taking up the post.

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

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

• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,005, Health and Safety Executive contributes £11,010 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

We invest in our people with;

• Competitive rates of pay
• Access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme to which HSE contribute 28.97% far more than in the private sector.
• Family friendly policies and working hours to help balance your home life and career
• Carer friendly policies to help create a supportive working culture
• 185 hours annual holiday increasing to 222 hours after 5 years' qualifying service, plus public holidays and 1-day Civil Service privilege leave (recorded as 7.4 hours in addition to your annual leave balance)
• Parental leave benefits
• As a member of HSE you will gain access to a wide range of fantastic benefits that you can take advantage of such as the Cycle to Work Scheme, E-Gift Cards, and Vouchers via our partner EdenRed.

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 Experience.

Test Information

Upon submitting your short application form, you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Management Judgement Test.

Please complete the online tests as soon as possible, within 24-48 hours is recommended, to allow time to complete your full application.

If you successfully pass the test, you will then be invited to complete the final stage of your application. You must complete the online tests and your full application form by Midday on Tuesday 15th September 2026. If you fail to complete the online test and full application form before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn.

Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

Application Information

After successfully completing the tests, you will be invited to complete your full application form including:

• An anonymised CV which should include your career history and experience. Please be advised that the CV is for information purposes only and will not be scored.
• An anonymised Personal Statement, of no more than 1000 words which demonstrates how you meet the essential skills and criteria of the job advert.
• A statement of up to 250 words on the Lead Behaviour 'Managing a Quality Service'.

Application Guidance

Please access the following link for guidance and further information on the Civil Service Tests, including practice tests: Civil Service online tests - GOV.UK

Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply and how to complete a Personal Statement https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/how-to-apply/

Sift Information

The sift will take place from Tuesday 15th September 2026 where you will be assessed on your Personal Statement and your Lead Behaviour statement: 'Managing a Quality Service'. Please allow up to one week for the sift to be completed.

Please note: In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted on your Lead Behaviour Statement 'Managing a Quality Service'. If you meet the benchmark for the Lead Behaviour element, you will be progressed to a full sift in which the Personal Statement will also be scored. If you do not meet the standard for the Lead Behaviour statement, you will not receive a score for your Personal Statement.

Interview Information

Interviews will take place from the week commencing Monday 05th October 2026 where you will be assessed against the Behaviours detailed within the job advert.

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to attend an in-person interview at our London office, at 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU.

Please note that the sift and interview dates may be subject to change depending on panel availability.

Sponsorship

This role is not open to application from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and require sponsorship your application will be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment will be withdrawn.

Further Information

Please note that a Reserve List will be held for the period of up to 12 months. There is no guarantee you will be offered a role from our reserve lists, so if you see a vacancy on Civil Service Jobs that you are interested in, we recommend you apply.

HSE reserve the right to conduct additional checks, including Google and social media checks, when recruiting candidates into a role within HSE. These checks will be carried out in line with the Civil Service Commission Principles and, if used all candidates will be subject to these additional checks.

From 23rd June 2025, if you are successful at interview, as part of your pre-employment checks, HSE’s Recruitment Team are required to check your details against the Internal Fraud Hub (IFH), using your personal details – name, NINO, and date of birth. If you are included on the database, you will be refused employment. If you believe that there has been an error in the inclusion of your data and wish to make an appeal, please contact the CO email box internal.fraud@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Details of the types of internal fraud/dishonesty covered by this process are defined by the Cabinet Office and can be found here Internal Fraud Register privacy notice - GOV.UK

It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful in their application. For a summary of HSE terms and conditions as part of Civil Service Reform, please see the attached HSE Terms and Conditions document.

Progression through pay ranges is subject to annual pay awards as permitted within annual Civil Service pay remit guidance and negotiations with Trade Unions.

HSE is proud to be a part of the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS). As a Disability Confident employer, we positively welcome applications from disabled people. We are committed to making workplace adjustments to ensure anyone can participate in the recruitment and selection process.

If, during the application or interview process, you require any assistance due to a disability or a medical condition, please contact us at the email address below to discuss how we can support you. For example, if you have a disability, and you need an application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please contact: HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk

If successful in securing your role, HSE can provide suitable workplace adjustments to support you throughout your career with HSE.

Any move to HSE from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility here.

Please note, if you are a current civil servant and you are currently undergoing any of the following formal actions your application will not be progressed any further; Formal discipline action, any formal action regarding attendance, poor performance or any restriction of duties as a result of disciplinary action.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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.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 : DSU.recruitment@hse.gov.uk
• Email : DSU.recruitment@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.resourcing-team@hse.gov.uk

Further information

If you believe that Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition have not been met, you can raise a complaint by emailing: HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk or by writing to HSE at the following address:

HR Resourcing Team, 2.3 Redgrave Court, Merton Road, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 7HS. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact Civil Service commissioners:

https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/code/civilservicecode…

Attachments

HSE Terms and Conditions - CSJ Advert Annex Opens in new window (pdf, 516kB)