Job responsibilities
Operational & Project Support
- Lead business continuity support and administration for UKHSA to support the achievement of organisational strategic objectives.
- Work collaboratively and at pace across all areas of UKHSA to ensure that business continuity activities in their area of responsibility are delivered in line with best practice such as the ISO22301 standard principles.
- Design and implement processes to track the business continuity planning cycle for each area/division of UKHSA, implement robust processes to track business continuity plans in place, their date for renewal, and subsequent engagement activity to ensure plans remain in date, tested when appropriate, and opportunities for improvement are utilised organisation wide tracking
- Develop and implement a robust document management system which aligns to best practise standards.
- Provide senior secretariat support to the business continuity team and wider Network, including organising meetings, secretariat, and general coordination activity and other internal meetings and/or external networks
- Support the requirement for internal and external audit of organisation wide BC plans
- Undertake procurement of services, supplies and equipment as required and in line with corporate policy.
- Support corporate projects and service reviews, identifying requirements and providing options to improve ways of working across the BC team., When directed, undertake project support, responding to information requests and other tasks which will involve meeting tight deadlines, maintaining documentation supporting the provision of management information and participating in working groups.
- Planning and managing the coordination of audits, gathering information to update senior members of the BCT as needed
Communication and Stakeholder management
- Work with the Business Continuity Manager, taking the lead in some areas, to;
- Develop a comms and engagement plan, and actively and meaningfully engage and communicate across areas of UKHSA to support the understanding and delivery of business continuity planning, requirements, and review timelines. For example, this could include attending SLTs, area level or face to face meetings with colleagues to raise awareness of the requirement to have Business Impact Assessments and Business Continuity Plans in place.
- Act as the first point of contact for stakeholders interacting with the BC team, providing BC advice and assistance, and escalating where necessary
- Develop partnership with other areas, for example, development and coordination of the Business Continuity Network, providing secretariat support, organising meetings and general coordination activity
- Arrange and facilitate business continuity workshops and the evaluation of these
Leadership and management
- Effective line management (if applicable) of administrative staff and management of administrative functions to ensure flexibility and capacity to meet the BC team requirements. Line management will include: undertaking appraisals; ensuring direct reports can achieve their objectives and have access to appropriate training; recruitment; induction; and progressing any disciplinary or capability issues.
- Deputise for the Senior Business Continuity Manager to cover absence and holidays.
Essential criteria
Please note we will be assessing on the below 10 essential criteria, to view all essential and desirable criteria please refer to the attached job description.
- Demonstrable experience of working collaboratively and at pace within an environment of changing priorities to develop and co-ordinate operational activity, including; performance reporting, continuous improvement, lessons identified and recommendations for improvement
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work collaboratively and maintain effective relationships with partners across all levels, presenting information clearly using the appropriate tools.
- Stakeholder Management: Demonstrable experience in using negotiating and influencing skills to respond to stakeholder needs, with the ability to actively engage and challenge when needed to deliver required outcomes
- Able to demonstrate attention to detail and ability to critically evaluate information gathered across multiple sources
- Experience of acting as secretariat to provide high level support to senior level networks or meetings.
- Demonstrable experience of coordinating multiple workstreams in complex and challenging environments working at pace, flexibly and able to adjust to changing requirements in order to deliver time critical activity
- Advanced IT skills, using Microsoft Office including Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams
- A clear and proven ability to be proactive and work at pace, managing competing demands (self and others) in an outcomes and quality focused way.
- An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships.
- Experience of writing or coordinating Business Continuity Plans and/or Impact Assessments within Government or other large organisation
Selection Process Details
Stage 1: Application & Sift- Success Profiles
You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the above listed essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:
- Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the Application Form)
- 1250 word Statement of Suitability.
This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.
Please do not exceed 1250 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.
The Application Form and Statement of Suitability will be marked together.
In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on the following criterion:
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work collaboratively and maintain effective relationships with partners across all levels, presenting information clearly using the appropriate tools.
- Experience of writing or coordinating Business Continuity Plans and/or Impact Assessments within Government Organisation
Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications / large amount of successful candidates
Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview and assessment
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.
Stage 2: Interview- Success Profiles
You will be invited to a single remote interview.
Behaviours, experience and strengths will be tested at interview.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working together
- Changing and Improving
- Delivering at Pace
Interviews are planned for week beginning 3rd March, these dates are subject to change.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Selection Process
Please note you will not be able to upload your CV. You must complete the application form in as much detail as possible. Please do not email us your CV.
Eligibility CriteriaExternal-Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants). Location
This role is being offered as hybrid working. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's core HQs (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London) or at our scientific campus site in Porton Down.
If based at one of our scientific locations, you will be required to have a Counter Terrorism Check security vetting check as a minimum. For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years as the role requires Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) clearance. In exceptional circumstances UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further information.
Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Security Clearance Level Requirement
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard (unless based at Porton Down- see above for details)
