About the job

Job summary

We are looking for a part-time Heritage Cleaning Specialist to join our Department of Facilities at the House of Lords. This is an exciting opportunity to work within a UNESCO World Heritage site, providing specialist cleaning to ensure the preservations of our extensive collections.   

This role requires you to work on-site at Parliament, for 17.5 hours per week between 07.00-15.00. This is a fantastic position for somebody who enjoys a hands-on role and is keen to develop their skills and is interested in the area of collection care and preservation. You will have strong customer service and team-working skills and have prior knowledge of heritage, detailed cleaning in a heritage building including knowledge of health and safety manual handling.

This role requires you to work at height and in confined spaces.

Job description

You’ll be accountable for –

• The general preservation cleaning of different materials and collections.
• Reporting to team leader and heritage specialist stakeholder any damage or physical risk to collections and the fabric of the building.
• Reporting to Heritage Specialist Team Leader and Facilities Management any health and safety challenges.
• Participating in salvage training and have clear understanding of your supporting role.
• Assisting with pest monitoring and recording as requested by the Heritage Specialist stakeholder.
• Inputting relevant information, descriptive pictures into cleaning reports.
• Condition checking of furnishings and reporting to parliamentary stakeholders.
• Supporting the facilities team in reporting maintenance issues and carrying out room checks with the service delivery contract manager, using the facilities management software.

For the full list of role responsibilities, please see the attached job description.

Person specification

What we’re looking for -

• Excellent customer service - proven experience of working in a front of house service role delivering excellent customer service.
• Communication Skills – clear and accurate oral, written, and online communication skills and ability to adapt style of written and oral communication to meet the needs of the audience.
• Basic Knowledge and experience of MS – including MS Outlook and Word.
• Continuous Professional Development- a willingness to learn and update knowledge and skills through research and training.
• Team working - ability to work well in a team environment, communicating, sharing knowledge and ideas.
• Health and Safety - working knowledge of health and safety regulations relevant to heritage cleaning, including manual handling practical hands-on experience of detailed cleaning.

 

It would be even better if you had or if you’re willing to learn…

• Evidence of additional heritage-based training participation in Heritage collection training events and presentations.
• Experience of working at height.

 

Benefits

What you’ll get in return

• 30 days annual leave (increasing to 35 after one years’ service)
• Generous pension scheme
• Discounts from well-known brands and retailers
• Parliamentary health and wellbeing programme
• The opportunity to witness history in the making!

The work we do is vital to House of Lords, and you will be a pivotal member in the team strengthening the work of the House. The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK parliament. It is independent from and complements the work of the House of Commons to:

• Make laws
• Check and challenge the actions of the government through questions and debates
• Investigate public policy and provide a forum of independent expertise

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Please complete your online application by 23.55pm on Sunday 17th March 2024.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the application process, please contact hlrecruitment@parliament.uk or call 020 7219 5973.

Job offers are standardly offered at the minimum of the salary range.

The House of Lords Administration is committed to increasing diversity and maintaining an inclusive workplace culture. We welcome applications from all candidates regardless of their age, caring responsibilities, disability, gender/sex, gender reassignment/trans status, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and socio-economic status. The Administration will also consider flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments.

We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. For this role we particularly welcome applications from groups which are currently underrepresented within the team, including applications from Black, Asian and ethnic minority candidates and candidates with disabilities.

 

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 counter-terrorist 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

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.