Job summary
The National Science Centre for Animal Health (NSCAH) Department represents APHA on estates projects at its Weybridge headquarters, and across the APHA national estate. NSCAH has business obligations to ensure its smooth running, and strong integration into corporate workstreams and initiatives. This role is the engine that drives those business operations, with responsibility for autonomously refining and running the function with oversight and support from the NSCAH Business Lead and Office Manager.
Job description
Recruitment�
1. Manage NSCAH�s end-to-end recruitment process.
2. Maintain understanding of APHA recruitment processes, and be NSCAH point-of-contact for recruitment enquiries.
3. Forecast the NSCAH recruitment profile and report progress to central APHA and SCAH.
Finance and Procurement�
4. Lead engagement with Finance to be the conduit of information and co-ordinator of queries/requests-for-information between NSCAH, APHA Finance, and delivery programme finance teams.
5. Work closely with Finance to ensure that Defra/corporate policies are understood and implemented efficiently to avoid duplication.�
6. Ensure preparedness of the Department, and the HoD, for regular APHA Finance meetings, such as Star Chamber.
7. Establish an annual Departmental budget (including rental budget) and then monitor spend and update forecasts as necessary.
8. Manage the governance process around procurement requests of the NSCAH budget.�
9. Manage and communicate the correct use of work-recording codes for estates projects to ensure accurate time recording by NSCAH colleagues.
10. Lead on NSCAH procurement, including developing an end-to-end process for, and managing, procurement activities of the Department, and providing support and advice on procurement processes.
Relationship Building�
Build and maintain strong working relationships with the:
11. NSCAH Head of Department (HoD), to assist them in their HoD obligations to APHA.
12. NSCAH Business Lead and Office Manager, to develop and follow a strong vision, and ways-of-working, for the NSCAH Business area.
13. NSCAH Places Team, to ensure firm management of the NSCAH estate.
14. NSCAH Departmental colleagues to ensure that NSCAH fulfils its Departmental business obligations to APHA.
15. Science Business & Admin Team Lead.
16. Science Business Manager network.
17. APHA Quality Network.
Governance and Reporting�
18. Administer the required NSCAH business Departmental meetings, such as the monthly Senior Management Team meeting, the monthly Team Brief, and weekly team touch-point meetings. This includes developing agendas with the chair, preparing slides where necessary in conjunction with the chair and wider team, taking minutes, actions, and decisions, and managing actions and decisions logs.
19. Report progress against the 2024/25 Departmental Scorecard, and work with SSP to develop the 25/26 NSCAH Scorecard.
20. Assist and prepare the HoD for corporate Directorate-level meetings, such as Science Directorate Ops.
21. Manage the NSCAH risk register.
22. Complete and return when required all obligatory documentation such as fraud and error returns, gift declarations etc.
Information Management�
23. Manage the flow of information within NSCAH, including controlling information storage in repositories, SharePoint Online, Content Cloud, Personal OneDrives etc.
24. Engage stakeholders to ensure seamless flow of information to and from NSCAH.
25. Rejuvenate the current NSCAH SharePoint Online site to provide a more effective repository, and provide guidance on its use.
26. Develop the process for storage of corporate documents on Content Cloud, and provide guidance on its use.
Quality and Audit�
27. Represent NSCAH as the Local Quality Manager, and ensure that the Department fulfils all quality obligations, for example, completing the ICQA, or leading the Department though all quality audits, including preparing the team through holding mock-audits.
28. Contribute towards the APHA Quality network, and through it engaging other Quality Managers to manage quality requirements on estates projects.
Estates Management�
29. Manage the ten staff houses at Weybridge, including billing and utilities.
30. Manage the rental income.
31. Liaise with council where required.
Corporate Duties and other responsibilities�
32. Line or functional management of one EO post for Business Support. This includes management through setting goals and reviewing performance, mentoring, and supporting development and learning.�
33. Lead the end-to-end annual NSCAH People Survey process, from ensuring team population of survey, to analysis of results, communication of key points, generation of action plan for improvements, and follow-through of actions.
34. Lead the socialisation within NSCAH of the APHA Business Plan, and the APHA Science Directorate Business Plan.�
35. Develop and maintain the NSCAH Business Continuity Plan.
36. Ensure that NSCAH fulfil all APHA Business Continuity exercises, such as test cascades.
37. Develop and maintain the NSCAH Succession Plan.
38. Work with colleagues to identify learning and development opportunities to feed into overarching Training Plans.
39. Monitor training across NSCAH to ensure that mandatory training is being completed.
40. Work within NSCAH HEO cohort to complete ad hoc tasks and lead areas of responsibility when required.
Person specification
You will need to demonstrate the following:
41. Proactive and self-motivated, with ability to own and drive areas of responsibility autonomously.
42. Strong relationship builder, with ability to use those relationships to advance work and overcome issues.
43. Ability to create novel end-to-end processes, as well as improve existing processes.
44. Effective planning and organisational skills, with ability to switch between and manage multiple workstreams concurrently.
45. Excellent written and oral skills to be able to communicate plainly and succinctly.
46. Basic understanding of Civil Service administrative processes and procedures around people management and recruitment.
47. Basic understanding of fundamental financial practises, such as budgeting, forecasting, and resource-allocation.
48. Knowledge of good working practise for information management.
49. Knowledge of quality systems such as ISO9001, and audit processes assessing against those systems.
50. Management of budgets and preparation of reports, forecasting etc.
51. Organisation of workshops and minute-taking.
52. A-levels or higher, or sufficient relevant experience of the above.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
53. Managing a Quality Service
54. Communicating and Influencing
55. Working Together
56. Changing and Improving
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
57. Managing a Quality Service
58. Communicating and Influencing
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
59. IT literate - particularly Microsoft Office (particularly Excel and Powerpoint) and SharePoint Online
Benefits
Alongside your salary of �35,857, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes �10,387 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
In return for your dedication and hard work, we will support your ongoing personal development through appropriate training as inclusion, support and the development of our people matter to us. We aim to support the career and personal wellbeing of everyone in APHA. Our benefits include generous annual leave, a generous employer, staff bonuses and recognition, salary sacrifice benefit options, and an employee discount scheme, reward vouchers and in-year bonuses. We also offer additional days off if accrued extra hours (flexi-time �if accumulated), three paid volunteering day per year. We also have a social committee who run team building and fun events at the Weybridge site. Further details can be found in the Candidate Information Pack.�
Everyone in APHA is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. When you join the Directorate, you will be welcomed into your new team through an induction programme that will provide you with helpful information on the civil service, our work and our policies. Your line manager will also work with you to establish your priorities for the year, developing a performance, learning and development plan tailored to you and your role.�