In the Department of Health and Social Care, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you would like to work in, we would love to hear from you.
The Social Care Group is an inclusive, friendly, supportive, and dynamic place to work. We aim to establish a workforce which reflects the society we serve, and we are strengthening our presence outside of London by developing opportunities for people to develop their careers in Leeds. We welcome applications from all; and we are especially interested to hear from gender diverse, disabled, LGBT+ candidates, and candidates from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds, including Black, Asian, mixed, and other ethnic groups. Diversity of experience helps us improve outcomes and reduce inequalities across health and social care. If this sounds like an environment you would like to work in, we would love to hear from you.
We are recruiting for a Diary and Business Support Officer to work for three Deputy Directors in the Strategy and Reform Directorate. In Strategy and Reform, our mission is to make adult social care better now and for the future. With divisions leading work on analysis and evidence, social care markets and commissioning, and funding and strategy, we support ministers to design and deliver a sustainable adult social care system that is fit for the future.
We are looking for someone who can work in a fast-paced environment and is always searching for opportunities to improve the service delivered. In return, we will support your professional development by ensuring you receive appropriate inductions, support for ongoing learning and development and tailored support to enable you to identify and progress towards your chosen career goals.
This is an apprenticeship opportunity. An apprenticeship provides work-based, on the job training and development. The training is fully funded, so it doesn’t cost you anything – and you’ll earn while you learn. Apprenticeships provide you with the skills, knowledge, and behaviours you need to be fully effective in a designated role.
The Diary and Business Support Officer will support three Deputy Directors in the Strategy and Reform Directorate, although this number may change. Deputy Directors usually lead teams of between 20 and 40 people, with at least four direct reports in their line management chain.
You will be the key point of contact for any administrative or business support needs for these Deputy Directors, managing their diaries and ensuring they can attend the meetings they need to, when they need to. You will need to respond to requests for meetings at short notice and rearrange the diary to accommodate any changes. You will work alongside the Directorate business managers to ensure that the Deputy Directors can fulfil their responsibilities as line managers and senior leaders within the Social Care Group, prioritising time with their direct reports and wider teams.
You will balance their time working in the office and working from home, and you will be expected to work with them in the office from time to time to build good working relationships with them and your other colleagues. This will be in line with DHSC’s office attendance policy of at least 8 days per month, but you might not be based in the same office location as the Deputy Directors you support and so might not always be working in the same office as them.
Finally, the Diary and Business Support Officer will be responsible for managing any visits or meetings with external stakeholders which the Deputy Directors attend, including greeting visitors when they arrive for meetings. You will also be a key member of your Deputy Directors’ teams, as you will help to arrange team meetings and support your colleagues to liaise with the Deputy Directors at the right time.
Role responsibilities
* Responsibility for diary management and business support for multiple Deputy Directors.
* Maintaining a broad understanding of your teams’ portfolio and priorities and ensuring that these are reflected in diary commitments.
* Anticipating and identifying potential problems arising in the diary, especially when there are competing priorities and diary changes at very short notice. Taking the initiative to act to resolve or minimise disruption.
* Responsibility for planning and organising internal and external meetings, video conferences, speaking engagements and visits. Ensuring papers and briefing are prepared in advance and available for meetings, and that in-person arrangements are made where needed, for example booking meeting rooms and greeting guests at reception.
* Establishing and maintaining good relationships across DHSC, other Government Departments and with external stakeholders and using these to ensure delivery of priorities.
* Building good working relationships with other PAs and business support staff to share knowledge and best practice.
* Arranging travel and accommodation and preparing detailed travel itineraries.
* Providing inbox support by identifying emails for urgent action and flagging these for review.
* Support with the organisation of team meetings and away days and contributing to the corporate life of the teams you are supporting.
* Keeping team distribution lists and the group organogram up to date.
* Providing cover for other PAs during periods of absence.
* Supporting with the onboarding of new staff line managed by the SCS.
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A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .