Office for National Statistics
Business Support Officer
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The locations for this role are Newport, Titchfield (Fareham), Manchester* & Darlington*.
This role is aligned to ONS hybrid working principles, which are based 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.
Due to workforce controls you can only select Manchester* Darlington* if you are an existing ONS employee contracted to that location. If you are not contracted at one of these sites, these options are not available to you.
Applicants who select a location they are not eligible for will be removed from the recruitment process and will not be considered for alternative locations.
Please refer to attachments for further terms and flexibilities. The induction process for the role will be conducted in person.
Job Summary
We're offering two Business Support opportunities within high-profile areas of the Office for National Statistics. While each role has a different focus, both provide the opportunity to build strong networks, work closely with senior stakeholders, and play a key role in enabling business areas to deliver their priorities.
Whether your interests lie in supporting strategic leadership, directorate operations, governance, recruitment, finance, or contract management, these roles will provide a varied and rewarding experience with excellent opportunities for professional development and exposure across ONS.
Opportunity 1: Methodology & Quality Directorate Support Unit
The Directorate Support Unit (DSU) sits at the heart of the Methodology & Quality Directorate (MQD), providing vital support to senior leaders and colleagues across the directorate. This varied role offers the opportunity to work across a broad range of activities, including executive support, recruitment, finance, governance, planning and stakeholder engagement. Working closely with senior colleagues and teams across ONS, you'll play a key role in ensuring the directorate operates effectively, helping to deliver strategic priorities while gaining valuable insight into the workings of a large and diverse business area.
Opportunity 2: Governance Team, Digital Services Directorate
The Governance Team sits at the heart of the Digital Services Directorate, ensuring governance activities are delivered accurately, on time, and within financial and resource constraints. Working closely with colleagues across the directorate and wider ONS, the team supports governance, recruitment, resourcing, contract management and supplier-related activities, helping to drive efficiency and effective business delivery. This varied role offers the opportunity to build strong organisational networks, contribute to continuous improvement, and collaborate with business support communities to share best practice and support positive change across the organisation.
What Both Roles Offer
Both opportunities provide:
- Exposure to senior stakeholders and key decision-making processes.
- The chance to build a broad network across ONS.
- Opportunities to develop skills in business support, governance, planning and organisational coordination.
- A collaborative and supportive working environment.
- The opportunity to make a tangible impact on how ONS delivers its priorities and services.
These roles are ideal for proactive and organised individuals looking to broaden their experience, develop professionally, and contribute to the success of high-profile business areas.
Job Description
The Business Support team plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth and effective operation of the directorate. Working closely with colleagues across a range of enabling functions, including Finance, HR, Communications, Programme Management, and Risk & Assurance, the team provides high-quality support that enables leaders and colleagues to focus on delivering organisational priorities.
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In this role, you will work collaboratively with colleagues across the Business Support function and the wider organisation to support the delivery of a broad range of business support activities. You will help provide effective support to the Director, Senior Leadership Team and colleagues across the directorate, contributing to the successful delivery of key operational and strategic priorities.
No two days are the same. You'll have the opportunity to work across a varied portfolio of activities, build strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels, and gain valuable insight into how ONS operates. The exact focus of your work will vary depending on the needs, structure and priorities of the directorate, providing a breadth of experience and development opportunities.
You'll also have the opportunity to join Business Support communities of practice across ONS, collaborating with colleagues to share best practice, solve operational challenges, drive continuous improvement, and help shape the future of business support across the organisation.
Responsibilities
Stakeholder relationships
Build and maintain excellent working relationships across the DSU and wider directorate, working collaboratively and flexibly to achieve organisational priorities.
Directorate support
Operating in a matrix management environment, undertake a broad range of business support activities under the guidance of a Business Support Manager, ensuring these are delivered within defined timescales and to agreed quality standards, including but not limited to:
- Corporate planning activities
- Collating MI
- Cascading key corporate and directorate information using appropriate media
- Cross-divisional functional support of key business activities as required.
Secretariat and key management meeting support
Assist with the organisation of key divisional and directorate meetings, which add value, including preparing and circulating the agenda, undertaking a secretariat or other facilitator role where necessary, writing minutes and records of actions from the meeting / workshop, obtaining updates on previous action points and chasing outstanding papers.
Team administration
Manage the team inbox(es) effectively, ensuring that emails are dealt with appropriately in a timely manner, drafting responses to queries as required, seeking advice and guidance from the Business Support Manager as necessary. Team-specific task. Where appropriate, carry out delivery tasks and/or support the delivery of small projects under the direction of the Business Support Manager, or other senior managers.
Recruitment and Capability support
Support enabling function spoke teams that sit within the DG group and / or directorate, including but not limited to:
- Recruitment: supporting recruitment activity logistics by providing secretariat function for resource panels ensuring recruiting managers provide all relevant information ahead of the panel; setting up interviews, liaising with recruitment managers and spoke teams to ensure panel members’ availability; maintaining divisional/ directorate workforce plan entries accurately.
- Capability: support capability teams with the logistics for learning events, that are focussed on professional and technical skills development.
Finance support
Finance: coordinate divisional responses to central and (where applicable) programme financial commissions; raising requisitions and receipting purchase orders as necessary; review financial transaction issues (e.g. gaps between values receipted and invoices), liaising with senior managers as required to resolve.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior colleagues, adapting communication style to suit different audiences.
- Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise, coordinate and manage multiple tasks and competing priorities effectively, including delegating work where appropriate to achieve high-quality outcomes.
- Ability to work effectively under pressure, delivering accurate and high-quality results to tight deadlines while responding promptly and positively to changing priorities and business needs.
- Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively, demonstrating flexibility, initiative and sound judgement, while seeking advice and guidance when appropriate.
- Ability to contribute to and support high-performing teams, taking ownership of objectives, leading or supporting others where required, and ensuring the successful delivery of key tasks and business outcomes.
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Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
- Managing a Quality Service
Alongside your salary of £28,138, Office for National Statistics contributes £8,151 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).
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.
Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.
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.
As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.
If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.
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.
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.
To work at the ONS, candidates must meet both UK right to work and security clearance requirements (where applicable).
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