About the job

Job summary

We recognise the challenges that people with 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.

Are you a proactive and organised individual, who can effectively manage numerous tasks?

Do you enjoy collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders and developing positive working relationships?

If so, we have a fantastic opportunity available to join the Shareholding, Appointments and Inquiry Directorate and would love to hear from you.

Job description

The Shareholding, Appointments and Inquiry (SAI) response Directorate is responsible for working with the Department for Transport (DfT’s) portfolio of Government Owned Companies and public corporations; building capability and excellence in shareholding, sponsorship and public appointments across the Department; and coordinating the DfT response to the COVID-19 Inquiry.

As Business Support Officer, you will be responsible for providing support to SAI’s Shareholder Teams and their Deputy Directors, who manage the relationship with some of DfT’s biggest transport delivery bodies – including High Speed 2 Ltd, National Highways, and Network Rail.

You will have a key role in supporting the Deputy Directors by completing various tasks, such as managing their schedules, ensuring they are prepared for appointments and liaising with contacts on their behalf. All of which feeds into supporting the teams to deliver high-quality, professional and reliable advice to ministers and senior officials, enhancing DfT’s relationship with these organisations.

As a result of providing support to SAI as a whole, this exciting and varied role gives you the unique opportunity to gain an understanding of the strategic view of the department. You will view the range of challenges facing DfT across all of its priorities, whilst working with a wide variety of stakeholders. This will include gaining exposure to a range of senior colleagues.

We will provide training where required to support you when in the role, and you will be presented with various opportunities to get involved with other complementary work across the Directorate, depending on your interests and skills.

Your key responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Performing a range of support functions for the Deputy Directors where needed, including proactively managing the Deputy Directors’ schedules, to ensure sufficient time for priorities and arranging meetings etc.
• Dealing with a range of colleagues in person and on the telephone including from DfT, our delivery bodies, other Government Departments, and from organisations in the wider public sector.
• Supporting the wider Shareholder Teams by completing various tasks, including co-ordinating the team’s monthly returns for the Risk Register and Key Performance Indicator reports and management of the team’s shared email inbox.
• Undertake business support activities for the wider Directorate, including setting up and taking minutes of meetings, leading on ensuring information and documents are appropriately filed, arranging Directorate away days etc.

For further information, please see the attached Role Profile.

Person specification

About you

• You will be highly organised and able to manage various tasks in parallel, as well as organising and prioritising your work to maximise productivity and achieve all deadlines. You will be highly adaptable and flexible, enabling you to adjust to the requirements of the role.
• You will be an articulate and confident communicator, with the ability to express yourself in a concise manner with colleagues at all levels. You will represent the department both professionally and clearly, ensuring key messages are delivered to both internal and external stakeholders in a timely fashion.
• You will have excellent interpersonal skills and enjoy working collaboratively with different business areas. You will embrace the challenge of influencing others to achieve business outcomes. You will build rapport quickly with both internal and external stakeholders, enabling you to build positive and trusting working relationships.

Additional Information

This vacancy is a job-share role, to join an existing staff member in their role. This position requires the successful candidate to work a maximum of 22.2 hours per week, to be worked on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The advertised salary is full-time. Your salary will be calculated as a proportion of the full-time rate according to the hours that you work.

For more information about job sharing within the Civil Service, please click here.

This role is available to individuals who wish to be spending their office time in Leeds or Birmingham, and we would also expect the individual to be willing to travel to visit alternative DfT office locations.

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. 

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport.

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.

How to Apply

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role, and within your CV and Personal Statement (maximum 750 words) please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following:

• Developing effective working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicating with and presenting information to a wide range of audiences, adapting your communication style to suit.
• Proven organisational skills and ability to adapt to changing priorities and managing conflicting demands simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.

The sift is due to take place from 25/01/2024.

Interviews are likely to be held from 08/02/2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:

• an interview

This interview could be conducted online via Teams or face to face at one of our offices. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, DfT is committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

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 had their employment continued. Any applicant’s 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.

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.