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Location
About the job
Job summary
About OPSS
Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge, and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!
We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade (Previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.
Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, recently with the addition of construction products regulation.
Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence.
Further information can be found on our website here
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
We are Inclusive
We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible and recognise how important inclusivity is to achieve the best outcomes. We hope to attract applications from all underrepresented groups.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation if required to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.
Job description
About the Team
We are the OPSS Digital and Technology team, and we build digital services focused on product safety and regulation.
Our team is a mixed team of civil servants and contractors that collaborate in agile service teams working on user centred designs.
We have an exciting portfolio of services that have internal and external users and there are already further services in our pipeline for future development.
This is an exciting time to be at OPSS Digital. As a fast-growing area of the Department for Business and Trade, we’re raising compliance standards across the board and making a real-world impact on millions of lives nationwide.
We are looking for a Business Support role to help us effectively manage our growing portfolio of work through project support and reporting. The role will also have the opportunity to deliver a crucial role in our Technology area, supporting the implementation of end user computing for office staff in Birmingham.
OPSS has sites in Birmingham, London, and Teddington. This role is based in our Birmingham office but there maybe be a need to travel to our other sites on occasions.
About the Role
As our Business Support Officer, you will support the team across a number of workstreams, ensuring adherence to service standards, key performance indicators and associated service level agreements. You will work in conjunction with colleagues to:
- Undertake senior level administrative tasks to ensure the effective delivery of Digital work-strands.
- Act as the first contact point across OPSS, for office-based queries, problem solving and using initiative to support and guide colleagues, escalating issues where appropriate.
- Undertake the collation and reporting of statistics for the Digital team.
- Develop team processes and procedures to ensure they reflect the current working environment.
- Ensure service standards and all SLAs are adhered, utilising resource and work allocation to support the requirements of the team.
- Leading your own development in line with the Digital Skills and Proficiency Matrix.
- Support Major Incidents across OPSS in a reactive manner.
- Work closely with senior management and colleagues across the Office to support the development and refinement of IT services in place.
- Provide reassurance and information to increase OPSS colleagues’ confidence.
- Utilise all resources available ensuring that work being undertaken is completed at the most appropriate level.
- Using your experience in the role you’ll be able to feed into the wider strategic direction we choose to take OPSS in with guidance and support from your manager. Can you contribute to a team to build services to help people? If yes, we want to hear from you!
- We also nurture talent and offer a broad range of learning and development opportunities that will help you thrive in your role.
We work hard to maintain a positive working culture and are committed to helping you fulfil your potential. We value diversity and provide an open, inclusive, and encouraging environment to help you do your best work.
As a Business Support Officer, you will lead on:
- Supporting OPSS colleagues who require onsite assistance.
- Providing practical support with meeting room bookings and equipment.
- Building relationships with the DBT Service Desk team for raising/escalating issues and obtaining replacement equipment etc.
- Building comms packages to aid onsite users to support themselves by means of self-service.
- Proactively provide administrative support across the Digital team.
- Provide support and guidance at all staff events.
Support project reporting to OPSS Programme Management Office and the Departmental Digital and Data function.
Person specification
Essential criteria
We would love to hear from you if you have the following:
- Must recognise quality service and always strive to provide a good level of assistance to users.
- Must be able to manage customers’ expectations effectively where necessary.
- You are a strong team member and can work flexibly with other teams such as Estates and DBT Service Desk.
- Must have good interpersonal and communication skills and be able to adopt a patient and polite manner when dealing with users at all levels.
- Should preferably have experience either in IT support or in a customer service role.
- As this is a key operational support service role, the post holder will be expected to beonsite for a minimum of 3 days with the option to work from home for 2 days, this is to support key service hours. This is essential to the role. If you cannot commit to this, unfortunately you will not be considered for the role.
Desirable criteria
- Hands on experience of resolving hardware and software issues.
- Understanding or experience of service management models such as ITIL (the Information Technology Infrastructure Library) would be an advantage. (If not, potential to gain ITIL qualification in role)
We are looking for candidates with the experience that matches the responsibilities listed previously. We are keen to promote diversity, and we are not realistically expecting any applicant to have experience of every responsibility. You should apply if you think you have experience related to the majority of the role responsibilities and the skills and experience criteria, and we will support you to fill gaps in experience.
Please visit our Careers website at https://opss-careers.co.uk/ for further information.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities
Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.
Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.
After the closing date It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date though this is subject to change.
To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the Essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages.
- A Personal Statement of up to 500 words, explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the Essential criteria.
In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
Reasonable Adjustments
We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment:
Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process.
Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at DBTrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Candidate Support
You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.
Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department.
Further Information:
- A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.
- Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.
- The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.
- New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
- Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty. Any applicant who has details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
- A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
- Terms and Conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
- Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.
However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
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) (opens in a new window)
- 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
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email: Resourcing@businessandtrade.gov.uk.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.
For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints
