Business Support Officer

Job Title: Business Support Officer
Contract: Permanent

Location: Multiple locations. Ross-on-Wye, Leominster and Hereford
Hours: Full time - 37 hours per week
Salary: HC05 - £25,183 per annum

Flexible working: work from home and the office. Minimum of 3 days office working per week.

Exciting opportunities have arisen for a Business Support Officer within our Children & Young People Directorate in our Safeguarding & Support Team.

To work as part of a team and to be a first point of contact for a wide range of enquiries for Herefordshire Children’s services from the public and professionals.

To contribute to the Business Support function providing administrative assistance to enable efficient service delivery, ensuring that resources are optimally allocated to support frontline and specialist services.

About you:

• You will have experience of working within an administration role
• Ensure the effective day-to-day running of the service maintaining and managing mailboxes and telephone calls.
• Work in an organised way, with attention to detail, and be able to collate information from a variety of sources.
• Collaborate effectively within a team environment.
• Knowledge of Microsoft applications including Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams are essential.
• Previous minute taking experience would be beneficial.

A full list of responsibilities is outlined within the job description; however, we are more focused on your drive, potential and aptitude for learning and provide a comprehensive induction and training for the right candidate.

Purpose of the role:

A full business support function to all teams across the Children & Young People Directorate.

This demanding yet highly rewarding role will suit a motivated and flexible individual with excellent attention to detail and an ability to interact confidently at all levels. You will have demonstrable communication and time management skills, with the ability to multi-task, prioritise a workload and work well under pressure and to deadlines.

The work involves issues of a sensitive and confidential nature, and applicants will need to display a clear understanding of the need for complete confidentiality at both application and interview stage.

In return, we offer a comprehensive training programme covering all aspects of our service delivery.

We embrace a “can do attitude” resulting in a team that is flexible and adaptable to meet the service requirements.

We promote a “grow our own culture”, where staff are supported to develop and have pride in their contribution to better support the outcomes of children and their families

If you feel you would like to be part of this friendly team then we would like to hear from you.

Benefits of working for Herefordshire Council:

A competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:

• Pension Scheme Enrolment in the Local Government (LGPS)
• Generous Annual Leave: 31 days (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum
• Flexible working: flexi-time, job-share, part-time hours
• Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling
• Pick your perks – our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back and discounts.

The Council plan sets out how we will make our contribution to achieving a better and more successful Herefordshire, please see the link below to find out more:

Herefordshire Council Plan 2024-28

About Us

Herefordshire is a beautiful, historic county located in the heart of the Marches on the border with Wales. We are one of the most rural and sparsely populated counties in England with a wealth of unspoilt countryside, distinctive heritage, and lively and attractive market towns.

Our priority in Herefordshire is to keep children safe and give them a great start in life. It’s the priority for the council, our partners and for all of us who work with Children & Young People. 

How do we do this? By having dynamic, dedicated, passionate and professional staff who work in a culture that focuses on what we can achieve with children, what they can achieve themselves, and the relationship we build with families and partners to enable this. We have invested heavily in training and developing staff in our relational practice approach with our improvement partner Leeds City Council, so it's an exciting time to join Herefordshire – we believe in investing in you so you can be the best you can be!

Herefordshire has a really strong team ethos. Our teams are passionate about the work they do and the positive difference they and the teams they are in make to people’s lives. This is all underpinned by the focus and support from their managers and the council as a whole. 

We will deliver better support to our most vulnerable children and their families, develop stronger relationships with partners across the region, and beyond.

Therefore, we take our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults seriously and expect all of our staff, visitors and volunteers to share in this commitment.

Come to Herefordshire and join the journey.

Herefordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children & young people and vulnerable adults. If you are offered this position, it will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced check and further pre-employment checks.

We welcome applicants whatever their personal characteristics or social identity. All requests for flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments will be considered.

The following candidates will be interviewed if they meet the essential criteria for the post they are applying for:

• Those who indicate that they have a disability. This is part of our commitment to the “Disability Confident” scheme;
• Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, or their families. This is part of our pledge to support the Armed Forces Covenant; and
• Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they are a Herefordshire care leaver. This is part of our commitment to supporting young people leaving our care.

Please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification for more details of this role.

To apply, please submit your CV and complete the supporting statement within the application form, referring to the job description & person specification, detailing how you meet the specific requirements of the role.