About the job

Job summary

The Corporate Support Teams are part of the Business Support Services Group which sits within the Operations Division. We have an exciting opportunity for Senior Personal Assistants (SPA) within the Corporate Support Teams providing professional business support services to a Senior Principal based in Porton, Salisbury.

The primary role of the SPA is to provide consistent, high quality professional administrative support to nominated Senior Managers 

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:
• Proactively plan, organise and monitor the commitments of the Directors/Senior Managers, making best use of resources and opportunities (i.e. inbox management, diary management, visits / travel
arrangements);
• Act as a point of contact for the Directors/Senior Manager
• Be an enabler for effective Executive/Directorate/Department meetings, including VIP visits, through the provision of professional administrative support with timely preparation of meeting documentation,
accurate minute/sensitive minute taking, prompt circulation of actions;
• Ensure that Executive/Directorate/Division information is accessible, accurate and controlled to meet Dstl’s information management policies;
• Act as a point of contact for Executive/Directorate/Department communications, ensuring that the appropriate message is communicated to the right people in a controlled manner.

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.

Person specification

We are looking for someone who has:

• The ability to handle conflicting priorities successfully delivering to changing requirements.
• The ability to successfully manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Good communication skills 

Qualifications
Essential
• Evidence of good standard of general education (e.g. GCSEs or equivalent including English and Mathematics at Grade C or above).
• Appropriate qualification in business administration e.g. NVQ Level 3.
In the absence of a formal qualification, relevant experience will be considered (i.e. 2-3 years working in an administrative support environment).
• ITQ Level 2 or equivalent IT proficiency qualification / experience.
Desirable
• NVQ level 4 in Business Administration (or equivalent)
• Stage II RSA (or equivalent) certificate in typing/word processing
Skills
Essential
• Competence in using Microsoft Office software products, specifically Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Good time management and the ability to prioritise competing demands.
• Minute taking.
Desirable
• Customer service skills.
• Influencing skills.

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 the 8th January 2024 with interviews to be arranged from the 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.