Job title: Senior Administration Assistant
Hours: 37
Contract: Permanent
Location: West Leeds – covering Farnley Hall, Albion House – Yeadon, Technorth – Chapel Allerton.
Would you like to be part of something bigger and join us in our ambition to become the Best City, working together as a Team for Leeds? Do your values match ours, and do you have something to offer?
Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.
This is a fantastic time to join us.
What we offer you
We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:
* a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
* membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
* a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
* a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further
About the role
The Business Administration Service (BAS) provides administrative support across Leeds City Council and all its services. The aim of BAS is to develop a professional service which meets service needs and supports the delivery of the Best Council Plan, ensuring the efficient use of resources, capacity, and technology.
As a Senior Administration Assistant, you’ll thrive in a fast-paced working environment. This role is office-based, predominantly supporting with minute taking for multi-agency meetings, where attention to detail and recording of key information is vital. You will be required to have strong minute taking and communication skills and be able to work with a wide range of people including the Police and other external partners as well as administration colleagues, service managers, social workers, and families who may be experiencing a difficult time in their lives.
You will have access to emotive and difficult information; therefore, it is important that you understand and appreciate the nature of this role and the emotional resilience required.
What you will bring to the role
* Strong minute taking skills, or a willingness to learn
* Excellent communication skills, with a positive attitude
* Flexibility and Resilience
* Strong organisational skills
* An ability to prioritise and negotiate with colleagues and partner agencies
How to apply
Please complete the online application form. Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.
If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role, please contact Claire Duguid on 0113 3785587.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
We promote diversity and want a workforce that reflects the population of Leeds. Leeds City Council is recognised in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2024. We are also an Age-friendly Employer, a Mindful Employer, and a Disability Confident Leader.
All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a six-month probationary period. This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.
If you do not have the right to work in the UK, candidates must consider their own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship, you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £38,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. For more information visit Skilled Worker visa on the government website. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.
Job Description
Job Purpose:
Shared Services consists of over 700 employees in the Business Support Centre and Business Administration Service. These services provide administration support activities to a wide range of teams and services across the council.
We help the council to streamline operations by redesigning processes, reviewing models of delivery to enable better sharing of resources and exploiting existing or introducing new technology to modernise the way we work.
Our staff use a range of computer programmes and systems to support services which include those working with teams based across the council in a number of different administration roles. The role involves hybrid working (home/office dependant on service need), potentially working face-to-face with customers and working within the council boundaries as required. Specific job purposes for all Business Administration Teams are detailed below. Further details regarding the vacancy you have applied for are detailed in the advert.
Responsibilities for Grade:
* Working with high levels of accuracy for tasks such as checking documents and recording numerical and alphabetical information.
* Identify problems and areas for improvement and offer solutions.
* Supporting staff and developing new team members.
* Use own initiative and judgement where appropriate, providing outcomes and solutions for customers from a range of options.
* Work on your own, manage your own workload and use your initiative to adhere to time scales and deadlines.
* Ability and experience to carry out administrative duties.
* Ability to analyse and collate data and use it to produce reports.
* Understanding of legal business, financial, audit, confidential and operational requirements of the service, and the impact on its day-to-day work.
* Work flexibly and move within service areas – working at different locations depending on service demand.
* Willing to abide by the Council’s Equal Opportunities and Health and Safety Policies.
* Willing to actively participate in training and development activities to ensure up to date knowledge, skills, and continuous professional development.
The above list is not exclusive or exhaustive, and the service may require the job holder to undertake duties commensurate with the level of the role. The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and this role will be expected to work within these parameters.
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: It is essential that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate on the application form that they meet all the essential requirements.
Method of Assessment will be through one or more of the following Application Form, Test, Interview or Certificate.
* Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills with a wide range of people including face-to-face, telephone and written communication skills. Including the processes for dealing with varied information with a range of audiences. (A/I)
* Work with, and within, multiple teams of staff and contribute to its development with suggestions for new ways of working. (A/I)
* Experience of working on your own and using your initiative to adhere to timescales and deadlines. (A/I)
* Knowledge of the applications, systems and IT programmes utilised by the service and being able to accurately record and retrieve information. (A/I)
* Experience and understanding of the importance of providing excellent customer services and experience of dealing positively with challenging situations. (A/I)
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS: It is desirable that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates are not required to meet all the Desirable requirements; however, these may be used to distinguish between acceptable candidates.
* Safeguarding
Relationships: The post holder will be required to maintain effective relationships with other Leeds City Council staff, Elected Members, members of the public and other partnership organisations as appropriate.
Physical Conditions: Primarily office based, potentially working face-to-face with customers, working within the council boundaries as required. Leeds City Council has a no smoking at work policy.
Social Conditions: Annual leave of 24 days, plus 4 days following 5 years local government service pro rata. 8 statutory holidays.
Economic Conditions: Grade: B3
Hours: 37 hours per week, any part-time opportunities will be detailed in the advert
Flexitime: Eligible to participate in flexi-time scheme
Conditions of Service: NJC National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service for Local Government Services apply.
Prospects: Promotion: Whilst there is no automatic progression to any more senior posts, opportunities do exist for advancement and promotion, dependent upon normal staff movements and on the capabilities of the individual post holder.
Training: The Department encourages training both “in-house” and external to meet the needs of the individual and of the Department.
DBS Checks: Some posts may be subject to checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service. A criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining employment; this will depend on the circumstances and background to any offence.
Disabled Employees: Where the postholder is disabled, every effort will be made to supply all necessary aids, adaptations or equipment to allow them to carry out all the duties of the job. If, however, a certain task proves to be unachievable, job redesign will be given full consideration.
Council Values: The council values are at the heart of everything we do. They inform the way we design and deliver our services and the way we all work and behave. Our values | Leeds Jobs
Job Description Updated March 2025
Job purposes
Safeguarding
This role provides administration support to statutory decision-making panels/meetings and is fundamental in supporting Children & Families with their statutory child safeguarding and protection responsibilities. By providing administrative support you will find this is a rewarding role if you have an interest in supporting professionals to help some of our most vulnerable families. You would be required to deal with sensitive and confidential information professionally and in accordance with strict deadlines and information governance requirements. You will be required to answer and refer incoming calls and therefore will need to speak directly to families, professionals, and partners. You will provide administrative support to these panels by preparing the meetings, minuting the meetings and sending out the actions and provide support to families, professionals, and partners. You will have access to emotive and difficult information; therefore, it is important that you understand and appreciate the nature of this role, and your own emotional resilience if you are successful in the recruitment process.
Safeguarding – Fostering
This role involves close working with the Fostering social work team and the Fostering Panel Administration Team to manage the administration of fostering panel outcomes. Responsibilities include updating database systems, tracking data for statistical purposes, and producing a variety of monthly/annual reports. Additionally, you will handle incoming referrals and queries for the Mockingbird Family Hub, as well as minuting of meetings. Strong organisation and multitasking abilities and a keen interest in working with spreadsheets are essential.
Youth Offer
This role is working in the Business Administration service supporting the Youth Offer, which is responsible for providing youth work and supporting young people across Leeds. You will work as part of a team to fulfil purchase orders, maintain financial spreadsheets, and administer important processes such as volunteering and commissioned youth work. The work uses finance suites such as FMS and Lloyds. You will be able to communicate clearly and effectively as you will be responsible for corresponding to queries through our busy inbox and phone line.
Safeguarding – Duty and Advice
This role involves providing high-quality front-line telephone advice and other administration related support to customers contacting the Children & Families Duty and Advice Team. You will ensure a responsive, professional and caring service is provided to customers and appropriate safeguarding referrals are made to the Social Work Duty and Advice Team. You will work closely alongside Social work colleagues including Social Workers, Team Managers and Service Delivery Managers to ensure this critical service runs smoothly.
This is a highly sensitive safeguarding support role where you will be required to comply with information governance practices and deal with emotionally sensitive telephone referrals. You would be required to maintain a good knowledge of customer issues, processes and related services to enable you to deal with and resolve customer enquiries without assistance, and to direct customers to the correct contact point in complex cases. You will also support with MARAC/DRAM administration arrangements which deal with cases of high-risk domestic violence.
This role is providing administrative support to the Children’s Social Work Management teams, facilitating complex meetings that are crucial for statutory child safeguarding and protection. This role involves scheduling and minuting multi-agency meetings, handling sensitive and confidential information, and ensuring compliance with strict deadlines and information governance requirements. You will also support other panel administration meetings and must possess emotional resilience due to the nature of the information handled. This office-based role is rewarding for those interested in supporting professionals who help vulnerable families.
Activity Centres
This role is based on site at the activity centres. Working with the wider activity centre team you will engage with schools and other customers and stakeholders to co-ordinate bookings, and support the centre manager and activity workers to welcome visitors and ensure the smooth running of the centre day to day. You will be able to communicate clearly and effectively as you will be responsible for corresponding to queries through a busy inbox. You will use finance systems to invoice customers and prepare budget projections, and use social media to promote the centre and support income generation to the council.
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