About the job

Job summary

Are you an experienced, proactive administrator looking for your next role within a collaborative and welcoming environment? If so, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has exciting opportunities to develop your career as an Office Manager within either our Belfast, Cardiff or Edinburgh offices.

About the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

The role

As an Office Manager, you will enable colleagues and visitors to be productive in a collaborative, safe and clean workspace, ensuring the smooth running of your office and providing real-time support for all who use it.

You will join our Facilities Management team in a role that is broad in its scope, as you will undertake a range of responsibilities, including office space management, health and safety, and building estates. This will require you to establish strong stakeholder relationships with external service providers and the building estates team, ensuring that the appropriate services have been agreed and health and safety issues are addressed.

You will also act as a key point of contact for CMA staff at all levels within the organisation, providing help and support with office-related matters, whilst resolving issues and representing their office space needs. 

What you will need

You will possess excellent organisational skills, including proven ability in effectively prioritising your workload and delivering quality outcomes to deadlines.

You must also be able to work flexibly, and independently as needed, as part of a diverse and geographically dispersed team, demonstrating strong interpersonal and relationship building skills.

Alongside this, you will also demonstrate strong administrative and problem-solving skills, as well as the ability to make timely decisions and to handle prioritisation challenges at short notice.

To find out more about the CMA please click below:

CMA – Working for the CMA , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Further information on the CMA can be found on the our YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

Closing date for applications: Monday 5th February 2024

Job description

• Communicate all necessary location-specific information and updates to colleagues in your office, keeping in close contact with decision makers to help foster the CMA culture in your location.
• Grow and maintain stakeholder relationships within the building estates team, as well as external service providers, ensuring they are providing the services that have been agreed, and escalating promptly if necessary.
• Be a point of contact for colleagues, providing help and support for office-related matters, resolving issues and representing their office space needs.  Identify any improvements to the office space and lead them to fruition.
• Order and maintain office supplies as required and provide the tools and equipment required for the smooth running of the office.
• Ensure the workspaces are clean and safe, work with the building estates team and the CMAs Facilities Team to understand any Health and Safety issues and mitigate risks as required.
• Be the point of contact for any visitors to the office, arrange security passes and deliver building inductions, support meetings logistics including audio visual support, and arrange travel as required.
• Be the primary point of contact in your office for new colleagues during their induction, and ensure they are provided with the support they need.
• Be the point of contact for any building/office business continuity issues, and action/escalate as required.
• Monitor CCTV when required to do so by the security team.
• Any other reasonable duties

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application:

• Excellent organisational skills including the ability to successfully prioritise work and deliver timely quality outcomes (Lead Criteria).
• Ability to work effectively and flexibly as part of a diverse and geographically dispersed team and where appropriate without close supervision, being responsible for own workload and supporting others in the delivery of work (Lead Criteria).
• Good proactive administrative problem-solving skills, ability to influence effective and timely decisions and handle prioritisation challenges at short notice.
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) with the ability to communicate information clearly and influence and manage challenge with stakeholders and audiences at all levels to ensure business and communication objectives of the office are met at the required standard.
• Experience of building relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, as well as working as part of a team demonstrating excellent interpersonal skills.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,113, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £9,211 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.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and an interview. Please note that interviews will be held in person at the office location (Belfast, Cardiff or Edinburgh) that you have selected.  

An initial sift based on criteria 1 and 2 (Lead Criteria) may be held if a large number of applications are received. If your application progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification (above and in the attached candidate pack) will then be considered.

The role will close at 11.55pm Monday 5th February

The sift will take place between 6th - 12th February 2024.

If your application is successful you will be invited to attend an interview. You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account and book your interview slot. You will be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

Interviews will be held between Monday 19th and Thursday 29th February 2024.

The interview will be a 45-60-minute panel interview where you will be asked questions based on the Behaviours and Experience elements outlined in the role profile.

Reasonable adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. 
 
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should 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 example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information. 

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.