About the job

Job summary

Business Support Services Group provide business management support across Dstl, the Business Support Officer is accountable for providing professional business support services to an assigned Senior Leadership Team.

Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.

We particularly welcome female and ethnic minority applicants and those from the LGBTQI community, as they are under-represented within Dstl at these levels.

Job description

In this role you will:

• Provide support to an assigned Dstl Business Manager and Operation Support Manager in the delivery of key business and operational activities which seek to maintain and safeguard our staff, information and assets; 
• Provide subject matter expertise in a required business support area; e.g. asset management, SharePoint, Excel, to maximise the quality of output delivered by the management teams; 
• Ensure information is accessible, accurate and controlled to meet Dstl’s information management policies e.g. active roles, assets; 
• Act as a point of contact for communications, ensuring that the appropriate message is communicated to the right audience within a controlled manner;
• Provide business continuity by acting as a Point of Contact for the Operations Support Manager and/or Business Manager in their absence. Also providing continuity of business support across Dstl to maintain business performance;
• Provide professional administrative support services that enhance and maintain the reputation of Business Support Services, across Dstl; 
• Provide support in making evidence based decisions through the collation and provision of timely and accurate business information;
• Provide support and analysis for key reports (e.g. HR reports, People Survey) ensuring information is accurate and is communicated in a controlled manner. 

Person specification

We are looking for someone who has:

• The ability to communicate clearly with stakeholders and colleagues across Dstl.
• A good understanding of information and records management in Dstl, or a willingness to learn.
• The desire to provide high quality administrative support to a range of customers.

Evidence of good standard of general education e.g. GCSEs or equivalent including English and Mathematics at Grade C or above. 

Appropriate qualification or vocational training in business administration e.g. A Levels, NVQ Level 3. In the absence of a formal qualification, relevant experience will be 
considered (i.e. 3-4 years working in an administrative or operations support environment).

ITQ Level 2 or equivalent IT proficiency qualification / experience.

Important Information

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. For some roles Developed Vetting will also be required, in this case you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,620, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £7,457 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 and Experience.

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

Sifting will take place week commencing 2nd January 2024 , with interviews to be arranged from 15th January 2024.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

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.