Job vacancy: Assistant Business Manager, UK Health Security Agency, Manchester

Job summary

Main area

Administrative

Grade

Civil Service: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Part time
Job share
Flexible working

37.5 hours per week

Job ref

919-HM-310376-EXT

Employer: UK Health Security Agency
Employer type: Public (Non NHS)
Site: Manchester Laboratory, Clinical Sciences Centre, Manchester Royal Infirmary
Town: Manchester
Salary: £40,661 - £46,613 per annum, pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 20/11/2024 23:59

Assistant Business Manager

Civil Service: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)

The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

UKHSA’s remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nation’s expert national health security agency UKHSA will:

Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation’s readiness, defences and health security
Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats and reduce inequalities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Your key responsibilities will include:

Provide support on contract and agreement matters, business operations and diagnostic output monitoring to the laboratory management team and members of the divisional office.
Ensure Specialist Microbiology Services Network Managers and Laboratory Management receive appropriate contract management, business operations and diagnostic output monitoring support; this involves working closely with the Microbiology Network Managers and Laboratory Management Teams in the provision of appropriate information.
Support ensuring those NHS contracts and reports submitted for review are compatible with the standard NHS contract clauses and strategic objectives and highlight issues including financial, safety and quality impacts.
Provide information and support to the SMS Operations lead on all aspects of activity data including data collection and validation relating to regular outputs such as the regional activity indicators, and monitoring and analysis of such data.
Assist the Head of Operations in the establishment and maintenance of robust systems and processes for administration, risk management and business support across the division.
Assist the Head of Operations lead in undertaking any necessary analysis of financial and management information in accordance with corporate policies and procedures.
Comment on, propose changes and support in the implementation of policies and procedures used by the laboratory (in relation to Business Management).
Support for the monthly invoicing of NHS contracted work for NHS customers.
Respond to internal and external customer inquiries/ problems regarding invoicing.
To keep up to date on developments within UKHSA and to identify and assess and inform the Specialist Microbiology Services Network Managers and the SMS Operations lead about developments in the NHS and Public Health Community.
Assist in the development of business cases submitted to the SMS Divisional Office.
Provide general administrative and financial support to the Laboratory Office.

For a full list of the main duties and responsibilities of the role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Essential Criteria:

A degree in relevant field or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level
Experience of managing and motivating a team
Strong computer literacy including the development and use of spreadsheet applications, databases and word-processing
Good communication skills to people at all levels either on a one-to-one basis or to groups
Good written communication skills e.g. ability to draft policy/procedure documents, write reports/presentations and business cases
Dealing with documents and correspondence of a confidential and/or sensitive matter.
Numerate
Good organisational skills and systematic approach to working
Sound analytical skills and good judgment when providing opinion or advice to others.
Strategic thinking – ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise
An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, but also in relation to management systems

For a full list of essential criteria, please refer to the attached Job Description.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Strengths.

Stage 1 - Application & Sift:

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the above listed 11 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:

Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application
1200 word Statement of Suitability.

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

The application form and statement of suitability will be marked together.

Please do not exceed 1200 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number. If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview. Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview (success profiles)

You will be invited to a (single) remote interview.

Behaviour's and strengths will be tested at interview.

The Behaviour's tested during the interview stage will be:

Changing and Improving
Making Effective Decisions
Working Together
Delivering at Pace

Interviews will be held week commencing TBC. Please note, 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.

Location

This role is being offered as office working based at:

UKHSA Manchester Laboratory

Clinical Sciences Centre
Manchester Royal Infirmary,
Oxford Road, Manchester
M13 9WZ

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).  

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

Person specification

Application form and Statement of Suitability

Essential criteria

Application form and Statement of Suitability

Behaviours

Essential criteria

Changing and Improving
Making Effective Decisions
Working Together
Delivering at Pace

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

Your application may be rejected and/or you may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence (AI), as your own.

This is a Non-Reserved post under the Civil Service Nationality Rules. To be eligible for employment in the UK Civil Service applicants must meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) which operate independently of and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks.

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

For more information on job nationality requirements and the right to work in the UK, see the Civil Service Nationality rules (opens in a new window) and the UK Visas and Immigration rules (opens in a new window)

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

The Civil Service pay structure and progression is different from NHS Agenda for Change (AfC), most local authority pay grades and other systems that have annual pay increments. For further details, please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment.

For AfC or Medical/Dental posts, you must have the correct professional registration to be appointed. The pay will follow the AfC or Medical & Dental terms & conditions. You may be asked to provide evidence of previous service whilst we are conducting pre-employment checks to determine your starting salary.

For Temporary Appointments, if you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment.  If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan which you will need your department to agree. You can not take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA’s Pay policy. 

Given the nature of the work of the UKHSA, as a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, you may be required in an emergency, if deemed a necessity, to redeploy to another role at short notice. You may also be required to work at any other location, within reasonable travelling distance of your permanent home address, in line with the provisions set out in your contract of employment.

Late Applications will unfortunately not be considered.

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 equality of opportunity. The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via  email:  [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website here.

Reserve List - If more than the required number of suitable candidates pass the interview criteria, you may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months subject to your agreement. You may be contacted, in merit-order, if similar roles with closely matching essential criteria become available and the department choose to appoint from a reserve list.

Interview expenses will not be reimbursed.

UKHSA is required to check employment and/or education history covering three consecutive years. Please ensure you give details of at least two different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.

If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

Any move to UKHSA 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/.

 Benefits of working at UKHSA include:

Generous annual leave:
-26 days for the first 5 years of continuous service
-28 days after 5 years of continuous service
-32 days after 10 years of continuous service
-Plus public holidays and one privilege day for the King’s birthday
Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions.
Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving.
Access to a retail discounts and cashback site.
We also promote flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours). UKHSA views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including working from home, compressed hours and job sharing.
We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package.

Hybrid Working

UKHSA operates 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 usually spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted hours (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (approximately 3 days a week pro rata) and the rest of your time working from home.

Disability Confident Scheme

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria at sift to ensure these candidates are invited to interview.   If you wish to be included in this scheme please tick the box on your application form.

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone.

To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any reasonable adjustments that could help you.

An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work.

This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme.

If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should:

Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

International Police Check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and could be time accrued over that period.