Office for National Statistics
Administrative Support
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Locations
The locations for this role are Newport and Titchfield (Fareham).
Working Principles
This role is aligned to ONS hybrid working principles, which focus on attending the office with purpose. The postholder will be expected to contribute to the organisation’s overall 40% office attendance, in line with business and role requirements. This level of attendance will apply for most of the programme, although requirements may vary at different stages, with periods of increased or reduced on-site working in response to census priorities, delivery phases and business need.
The induction process for the role will be conducted in person.
Job Summary
Are you an organised, proactive individual who enjoys keeping things running smoothly and helping stakeholders get the clear, accurate insight they need? If so, we may have the ideal role for you!
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime and migration.
Census 2031 represents our most ambitious data collection project yet – a once-in-a-decade opportunity to capture a complete picture of everyone living in England and Wales. Building on the digital success of 2021, we're pioneering new ways to reach every household and community, ensuring no one is left uncounted. This vital work will provide the foundation for policy decisions, resource allocation, and community planning for the next decade.
The Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest profession in the Civil Service. ODP’s 200,000+ members work in a wide range of operational delivery roles across government, providing essential services that support and protect UK citizens at home and overseas. They help to make ONS a great place to work.
As a member, ODP supports you by providing learning and development opportunities, career pathways, tools and resources to help develop your skills and progress your career. This is an exciting opportunity to join a modern, innovative and inclusive Civil Service profession that sits at the heart of public service delivery.
Job Description
As an Administrative Support, you will assist and support the smooth operational running of the team and contribute to the effective capture, management, and organisation of key stakeholder needs. Your work will help ensure that decision‑makers have clear, accurate insight into what users require from our statistics.
This is a varied role in a fast‑paced environment, ideal for someone who enjoys coordination, organisation, working with stakeholders, and supporting analytical teams to deliver high‑quality, user‑focused outputs.
Population and migration statistics are among the most high‑profile outputs in the ONS. This role requires curiosity about how different data and products relate to one another, helping ensure users can easily find and understand the information they need.
You will collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders across multiple directorates and the wider organisation, supporting engagement, coordination, and the smooth running of operational processes.
Key Responsibilities
- Secretariat support for various key group meetings, including the possibility of a Topic Expert Group.
- Provide logistical support for meetings, including calendar invites and document circulation.
- Liaise with internal teams for timely responses to queries.
- Maintain logs of stakeholder queries, user needs, and follow up actions using Microsoft Lists and other management systems.
- Support the extraction, refinement, and organisation of user needs, ensuring they are clearly documented and available for analysis by the research team.
- Maintain and update the team’s engagement tracking systems, ensuring outstanding actions are captured and progressed.
- Support the development of an internal process to help the team track alignment, activity, and operational efficiency.
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Person Specification
Essential Criteria
- Strong organisational and administrative skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.
- High attention to detail, ensuring accuracy across logs, documentation, and user-need records.
- Clear and confident communication, with the ability to liaise professionally with a wide range of vital stakeholders.
- An interest in understanding how population and migration statistics are created and used, and how user needs are the backbone to their development.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £25,501, Office for National Statistics contributes £7,387 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.
Inclusion & Accessibility
At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.
Application Process
Number of Stages
- Stage 1: Civil Service Judgement Test
- Stage 2: Application
- Stage 3: Interview
Stage 1 - Civil Service Judgement Test
Upon submission of Part 1 your application form you will be sent an invitation to complete Civil Service Judgement online test. There will be full instructions on how to complete each test including an opportunity to practice before undertaking the actual test. These tests are not time limited.
If you pass all tests for this vacancy, you will be invited to complete the final stage of your application, this is where you will provide information such as your work history, Skills and experience and Personal Statement.
If you fail a test your application will not proceed to the next stage.
Stage 2 – Application
The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.
A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum wordcount allowed is 1000 words, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
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In instances where a high number of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted, and candidates will be invited to interview based on merit order, i.e., those with the highest scores. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.
Stage 3 – Interview
If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert and any required technical skills.
Interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams.
Important Dates
- The Sift will be conducted from Friday 14th August
- Interviews will be conducted from Wednesday 2nd September
Dates are subject to change.
Security Clearance
For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.
If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this link, or contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.
At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:
- Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
- UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
- Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
- Security Services records
Visa Sponsorship
ONS are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants are expected to hold a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are applying on a time-limited visa, this will need to be valid for at least 18 months at point of application.
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)
- 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
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code 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.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal
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