About the job

Job summary

Do you enjoy taking and writing meeting minutes?

Would you like to work in a supportive environment, working with colleagues to build relationships and achieve results?

Are you excited about being right at the heart of an organisation that is vital as it keeps the food on everyone’s plate safe?

If the answer is yes – our Private Office Assistant role might be just what you need!

We are looking for a Private Office Assistant to work across all the teams in Private Office providing support, and resilience, as necessary. 

Private Office sits at the heart of the organisation, a vibrant and exciting hub of activity that connects the Chair, Chief Executive and Chief Scientific Adviser with the work being carried out throughout the rest of the organisation. Impacting the safety of food across three nations - England, Wales and Northern Ireland - we offer direct support that helps these senior figures effectively lead the FSA and also to other committees and meetings.

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1400 people. Having left the EU, we play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

Job description

The Private Office Assistant will report to the EMT and BDG Secretariat Manager and participates in working across all the teams in Private Office.  It’s a varied role with the support of meetings at its core including effectively taking, drafting and circulating minutes. Our senior leaders are approachable, and meetings are chaired well, so it’s a particularly enjoyable aspect of the role.

You’ll provide best practice administrative support across Private Office. The post will be stretching and demand the highest level of customer service.  You’ll have the chance to establish good, credible working relationships, and levels of communication, with stakeholders across the Agency to enable the functions of your role are carried out effectively.

Work in the Private Office can be fast paced, so you will be adept at prioritising and managing various administrative task to deliver to tight deadlines.  You will need to be flexible and able to support the wider Private Office team as needed.

If you are proactive, accurate, keen to learn and happy to offer up your time to other team members when you can, please apply today.

This post is advertised as a 12-month Fixed Term/Loan appointment (with possibility of extension or permanency).  Candidates that are already established Civil Servants or from non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will come to the FSA on a Loan basis and will need to request permission from their Home Department for the Loan prior to applying for this job. 

Note for FSA employees:

You must seek approval from your substantive manager before applying for any non-permanent vacancy, this includes applying for a new post during an existing temporary posting.  Please note that if applying for a temporary post within the FSA or elsewhere on promotion, successful appointment will not automatically result in a permanent promotion - you will revert to your current substantive grade at the end of the Fixed Term or Loan period (unless funding has been approved to make the post permanent).

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,259, Food Standards Agency contributes £7,658 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.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. 

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Experience

• Lead criteria:  Experience of effectively taking and writing meeting minutes.
• Proven experience of using different IT systems and organisational skills to deliver meetings effectively.
• Demonstrable experience of prioritising and managing various administrative tasks and workstreams to tight deadlines to ensure outputs are delivered.
• Proven experience of working with colleagues to build relationships and achieve results.
• Excellent spelling and grammatical accuracy (this will be assessed via the content of your application and personal statements).

Lead Criteria An initial sift may take place on just the identified Lead Criteria indicated.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience and Civil Service Behaviours Level 2.

Behaviours

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for each Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.

Experience

• Experience of effectively taking and writing meeting minutes

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 28 January 2024 (23:55)

Sift: Expected to take place during weeks commencing 29 January and 5 February 2024

Final panel interview: Expected to take place during week commencing 19 February 2024

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application.)

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

The FSA is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity for all.

Being truly reflective of our society and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to the work of the FSA. We are looking to recruit from the widest possible talent pool and encourage candidates to apply from a diverse range of backgrounds. We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer and are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment and selection process and beyond. All appointments are made on merit.

Please be assured that diversity or socio–economic information requested during the course of your application plays absolutely no part in our selection processes and is not seen by anyone assessing applications.  Any information provided is anonymised and used for statistical purposes only.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.

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.