Department for Education
Records Manager
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Sheffield, Manchester, Nottingham
Please note – Nottingham currently have site controls in place. Therefore, this location option is only available to existing DfE employees already assigned to this office location.
Job Summary
The primary aim of the Records Management function within the Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) team is to ensure the Department for Education (DfE) fulfils its statutory obligations in the appraisal and selection of paper and digital records for permanent preservation at The National Archives. The team also supports the department in the effective management of its records.
This post offers a unique insight into the workings of the Department for Education (DfE), its history and development, from policy to projects and Public Inquiries, through the capture of its records over the past 20 years. As a Records Manager you will contribute to the development of strategies and policies that will shape the approach for managing the DfE paper and digital records over the coming years.
You will be customer-focused, professional and flexible with the confidence to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders. You will need to be well organised and capable of managing your own workload with minimal supervision.
This is an office-based role requiring you to work mainly with physical paper records. It carries an expectation of 100% office attendance, with only limited scope to reduce to 80% as a minimum requirement on exception, which is above the standard 40% departmental minimum for office attendance. This is an operational necessity because most of the responsibilities of the role can only be done in a DfE office.
This role has a physical manual handling aspect i.e. lifting files and unpacking boxes to secure the files in locked drawers/cabinets.
Job Description
Role Responsibilities
- Appraise and select paper records for permanent preservation at The National Archives (TNA) in accordance with TNA’s appraisal and selection criteria to ensure the department is compliant with the Public Records Act (PRA).
- Ensure efficient, effective cataloguing of corporate records across the department.
- Conduct comprehensive searches for information in support of DfE’s response to public inquiries.
- Support the management and delivery of records management services, including governance, across the DfE.
- Respond to enquiries related to records from customers both within the Department and externally.
- Take ownership of the shared mailbox and ensure all queries are actioned, seeking advice where necessary.
- Build effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders, particularly The National Archives and the Department’s off-site storage provider.
- Help develop and maintain the team SharePoint Workplace to manage the team’s information and ensure it is fit for purpose.
- Develop and manage content for the Records Management Team’s Knowledge Base in SharePoint.
- Participate constructively in team meetings, sharing knowledge with the wider team, including acting as the chair and note taker.
- Seek opportunities to lead on discreet pieces of work contributing to the improvement of records management across the Department.
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Person Specification
Essential Criteria
- Ability to read, analyse and evaluate large volumes of historic information both in paper and digital format.
- Ability to manually handle physical records.
- Good communication skills to enable the development of effective relationships with own team, wider DfE and external stakeholders (e.g. TNA and offsite storage contractor).
- Attention to detail with a good grasp of written English.
- Experience of using Microsoft M365 applications (specifically Excel, Word and Teams).
- Positive, proactive ‘can do’ attitude with a desire to get involved and make a difference.
- An enthusiasm to learn new technologies and tools.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience of using SharePoint.
- An understanding/awareness of the Public Records Act, Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act.
- Previous experience of working in a records management or KIM (Knowledge and Information Management) environment.
Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
Salary and Benefits
- Alongside your salary of £32,581, Department for Education contributes £9,438 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
- You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.
- We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
- Part-time hours available, from a minimum of 0.8 FTE.
- As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.
Application Process
To apply for this role, you will be required to provide:
- A CV
- A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words)
Your CV should include details of your employment history, and the skills and experience gained in those roles.
Your Statement of Suitability should demonstrate how your experience meets the essential criteria listed above.
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We will use your CV and statement to assess your suitability for the role against the essential criteria listed in the person specification section above.
To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 750. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 750 words will not be taken into account.
Interview
At interview you will be asked questions around the behaviours listed in the advert.
We will also ask you some strength-based questions
Interviews may be via Microsoft Teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.
In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you. This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment.
Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:
- name/title
- educational institutions
- age
- gender
- email address
- postal address
- phone number
- nationality/immigration status
Other Information
- We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.
- Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.
- If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.
- Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.
- A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
- Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.
- New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Contact Point for Applicants
-
Job Contact
- Name: Matt Beavis
- Email: Matt.Beavis@education.gov.uk
-
Recruitment Team
Further information
The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages.
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