About the job

Job summary

The Business Support Team provides important functions within the Planning Inspectorate.  We work to ensure our organisation operates efficiently by delivering the facilities, goods, services and estates that our colleagues need to complete their jobs effectively.  This includes:  

• Ensuring that our offices (currently The Engine Shed and 2 Rivergate), are a safe, productive, and pleasant environment in which to work 
• Ensuring that services for offsite storage, courier, travel, purchasing, event bookings, and car hire are effectively processed, tracked, and delivered

The Planning Inspectorate has a long and proud history in ensuring a fair planning system for England. The work we do has a significant impact on people’s lives, the communities where they live and the economy.

We want our colleagues to be able to work more flexibly and more collaboratively, exploring new and innovative ways to improve the way we provide services.

 

For further information on the Planning Inspectorate, please see the information pack attached. You can also view our careers page at Civil Service Careers

Job description

We are looking for someone who:  

• Is proactive and focussed.
• Enjoys working with colleagues to deliver positive outcomes via clear and effective communication and through developing robust relationships
• Who enjoys problem solving and delivering excellent customer service

This position would suit a person who is motivated by a varied role that is challenging, interesting, and fulfilling. It’s not desk bound and at times will be very active – these tasks will involve support from colleagues and contractors.  

You’ll interact with all teams in The Planning Inspectorate helping all achieve their goals by being part of the team that supplies and facilitates the needs of our colleagues. 

Typically during the working week, the post holder will be involved in: monitoring and maintaining shared inboxes to focus on various requests such as: processing building passes, attending to reports of issues in buildings by escalating to the appropriate body or by solving the issue within the team, walking inspections of our offices to ensure that everything is clean and functioning, preparing documents and boxes for off-site storage including completing the paperwork, ensuring deliveries are directed to the correct person in the correct building, confidential destruction of out of date documents, ad hoc duties as they arise – these could include assisting at a conference, directing contractors who are delivering / removing furniture, maintaining and updating tracking documents process documents, assisting the Business Support Team with internal and external bookings of meeting rooms, ordering of ordinary and specialist supplies and equipment, making suggestions of improvements to processes and procedures. 

There’ll be a mix of online and in-person meetings over the course of a month. 

This post will require regular office attendance (at least 3 times a week, sometimes more when needed)

For full information on the role and assessment process please refer to the candidate pack attached.

Office Attendance

For this role, you will be offered an office-based contract with a possibility of working from home on some occasions depending on the needs of the business.  Your time will be split amongst our 3 offices in central Bristol. If you’d like to discuss our Hybrid Working Policy in more detail, please contact: PINS.Recruitment@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Experience of delivering excellent customer service.
• Experience of developing and maintaining positive and constructive relationships with others.
• Good problem solving and decision-making skills, with a proactive and creative approach.
• Excellent communication skills. 
• The ability to undertake light physical activity including (but not limited to) moving items such as parcels, small heaters, and boxes of confidential papers.
• Good IT skills including Microsoft Office.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of working in an Estates/Facilities Management environment 
• Experience of delivering training to colleagues
• Experience of designing processes to meet needs of customers and monitoring them to ensure effective delivery

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,288, Planning Inspectorate contributes £7,666 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Application 

Complete the online application form on Civil Service Jobs which requires the following information:

• A CV: The CV section is an opportunity for you to detail your career history. It should outline the jobs you have done, the length of time you were employed within each role and a brief description of your role, responsibilities and duties which demonstrate relevance to the role you are applying for against the essential criteria. You must type, or ‘copy and paste’ into the text box called ‘Employment History’ within the online application. You cannot attach a copy of your CV.
• A Personal Statement (750 words max): The personal statement allows you to outline your suitability for the role in more depth, expanding on your CV evidence. It is an opportunity for you to provide evidence against the essential criteria listed within the candidate pack on the Person Specification page and link your answers to the listed Success Profile elements we are also assessing against .

We will assess your application on the evidence you have provided against the Essential Criteria and Success Profile elements detailed in the Person Specification in the candidate pack.

We are also advertising for Business Support Administration Officer with reference no 352009.  Please have a look at the advert for further details and please do apply if your skills are better matched to the essential criteria.   

All shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome shortly afterwards.

Interview 

If you are shortlisted, you will:

• Be asked to attend an interview to have a more in-depth discussion about your experience and suitability for the role
• Interviews will be a blend of behaviour and strength questions

 Candidates who are successful at shortlist stage will be sent full assessment requirements with their interview invitations.

Other Information 

Shortlist Date: between 14th and 16th May 2024

Interview Date: between 22nd and 24th May 2024 

Interviews are currently being completed remotely using Microsoft Teams. We would like to reassure candidates that the virtual interview will not be recorded (or retained) within the Planning Inspectorate, other than usual interview protocol and in line with the Civil Service jobs Privacy notice.

We encourage all candidates to make themselves familiar with the role and what we will be assessing you against which is detailed in the Person Specification.

The Planning Inspectorate is committed to finding the right person for the job. We recruit using Success Profiles and consider the criteria you will need to demonstrate to be successful for the role, by doing this we are pushing up performance, diversifying our workforce and creating an inclusive culture.

ID and Documents

If specific qualifications/memberships are essential for the role and you are successful, you will be asked to provide accurate scanned or photographed images of the qualifications/memberships that you listed on your application prior to your start date.

We must check that any successful candidates are allowed to work for the Civil Service before we employ them. If successful, you will be asked to do a right to work check using identity document validation technology (IDVT) through the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP), Civil Service Jobs.  If we are unable to confirm your right to work and through the IDVT we will need to do a manual right to work check using original documents with you in person.

Visa Sponsorship

The Planning Inspectorate cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates, we do not hold a Visa sponsorship licence.

Disability Confident Interview scheme

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. We run a Disability Confident Interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria for the job.

To be considered for an interview under the scheme you must:

• have a disability defined by the Equality Act 2010
• provide evidence in your application that you meet the minimum criteria in the job description
• meet all of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential

While we will endeavour to provide you with all the appropriate information, you are the expert on your specific requirements so if you require any adjustments, you should consider the information provided about the assessment process in the candidate pack and then:

• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. The earlier and more clearly you tell us what you need and why you need it, the more likely we are to be able to accommodate you in a timely fashion.

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. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.