About the job

Job summary

National Location £25,976- £30,264

Outer London Location £27,722 £32,505

Inner London Location £29,737 £34,453

The UK Health Security Agency spends billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on health programmes that keep the public safe by developing the UK’s resilience to the risk of health hazards, whether they be biological, chemical or environmental.  Its budget is spent through commercial contracts managed by UKHSA’s Commercial Directorate, covering laboratories, laboratory equipment, testing for Covid and other diseases, non-Covid vaccine programmes, logistics and infrastructure, among other areas.  Our commercial expertise is critical not just to the operational delivery of UKHSA’s mission, but its overarching strategy and reputation.

This role sits within UKHSA’s award winning Commercial Directorate, which played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Truly dynamic, our teams operate at significant pace in a commercially complex environment to procure a diverse range of goods and services in a highly competitive global market.     

The UKHSA Investment and Approvals Boards support adequate scrutiny and approval of business cases and commercial proposals to ensure they represent value for money and compliance to relevant Cabinet Office and Arm’s Length Body spending rules.

We are the Approvals Secretariat working within UKHSA that focuses on compliance with governance for Commercial Business cases that require UKHSA and external approvals. Our small team is passionate about what we do.

Location

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London).  For certain roles, some additional flexibility may be possible, which will be agreed upon with the hiring manager based on individual requirements and business needs.

*Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available.* 

Job description

Your main responsibilities will include:

Working as part of a small team in this fast-paced environment, you will carry out the following duties:

• respond to general commercial governance secretariat queries and act as a subject matter expert
• management of Approvals Secretariat Mailbox, including management of queries
• manage and track app approvals checking compliance
• update the tracker to monitor and reflect approval status
• work with team to ensure all approvals evidence and appropriate documentation is stored on SharePoint
• extract compliance reports from Power BI and other ad hoc reporting
• support team with co-ordination of Boards as required, including diary management and preparing Board packs
• support team members with running of Boards
• creation and distribution of minutes for Boards​
• maintain Secretariat Standing Operating Procedures

The post holder will play a critical role in managing the Approvals Secretariat process supporting compliance to ALB delegations and Cabinet Office Spending Controls.

• Ensure approvals for all business cases are thoroughly triaged and considered by the appropriate Approvals Board for approval, to enable the organisation to deliver against its priorities.
• Manage the end-to-end process to effectively track and monitor full approvals.
• Maintain integrated working partnerships internally with Board members, at Senior Director level and externally with DHSC and Cabinet Office.
• Interaction across UKHSA, Finance and Commercial.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Person specification

It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 words that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the essential criteria (for full details of all essential criteria please refer to the attached job description):

Essential

• Experienced at working under pressure handling multiple tasks and prioritising own workload.
• Experience in a Board or Secretarial related role, including effective and thorough minute taking.
• Be proactive, taking ownership and accountability to drive Board efficiency and operation.
• Experience working as part of a team in a customer-oriented environment, dealing with a wide range of customers.
• Attention to detail, ensuring accuracy, including quality assurance checks.
• Strong technical skills - experience in data management and reporting, Excel including Pivot tables.
• Problem-solving skills and the ability to think quickly and creatively when faced with a novel or unexpected issue.
• Able to communicate effectively and compellingly both orally and in writing with different levels of seniority.
• Microsoft Office knowledge: Outlook, Excel and Word.

Desirable

• Experience of working in a commercial role or involvement
• Experience using and promoting Quality Assurance processes to improve business outcomes.

Benefits

Working for the UKHSA

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.

For more information on the UKHSA please visit: UK Health Security Agency - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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%
• Range of health and wellbeing support

Any move to UKHSA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at Childcare Choices , 30 Hours Free Childcare, Tax-Free Childcare and More , Help with Costs , GOV.UK

Things you need to know

Selection process details

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT: 

You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the full list of essential criteria as detailed in the attached job description – please do provide evidence of how you meet this. Your Statement of Suitability should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section).

You will also be asked to provide information within the ‘Employer/ Activity history’ section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history. This will be scored at sift stage.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.

STAGE 2 – INTERVIEW 

This competition will involve an interview by video. 

As part of the process, candidates will be invited to interview which will involve an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. 

The Success Profiles framework will be used to assess and recruit the most suitable candidate.  The following behaviours will be used at the interview:

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

For further information on the selection process, please refer to the attached Candidate Pack.

Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 23:55hrs on 2nd April 2024– unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Interviews: TBD 2024

Please note these dates could be subject to change.  

Security clearance level requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.  Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.  People working with government assets must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard checks.

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest. 

Please Note

This role is to be appointed under Civil Service Terms & Conditions. Full details on the T&C’s are found https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

Are you already a civil servant, or employed by a Civil Service Commission accredited public body? Please state home department on your application form.

Do you meet the nationality requirements for this post? https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

Complaint process:

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints1@ukhsa.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.