Senior Business Support Officer

The post of Senior Business Support Officer will be based in the Joint Research and Development (R&D) Office of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH). The Joint R&D Office is part of the Directorate of Research and Innovation and is responsible for R&D governance, research management and administration, holding comprehensive data on all clinical and non-clinical research taking place across both organisations. The Joint R&D Office provides several services including the provision of advice and support on research governance, ethical approval, data protection, a comprehensive grants advice service, advising on commercially sponsored research, and the management of intellectual property., The post holder will be a key member of the R&I team, providing secretarial and administrative and organisational support for all its members. You will work under the supervision of the Head of R&D and Deputy Director of Research and Innovation (R&I) and Performance. As part of the role, you will be given the opportunity to develop knowledge of clinical research management, including research project archiving and contracts and agreements management.

Duties will include administrative, office-based work and will also be expected to ensure that day to day everything within the R&D Office runs efficiently, and that there is a positive working environment amongst the overall team. You will be expected to adhere to confidentiality and professionalism.

Further enquiries can be directed to Dr Vanshree Patel, Head of R&D email [email protected]

Working for our organisation

GOSH is committed to recruiting the best person for the job, based solely on their ability and individual merit as measured against the criteria for the role; through a process that is fair, open, consistent and free from bias and discrimination.

We are committed to being a diverse and inclusive employer and foster a culture where all staff are valued, respected and acknowledged. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, disability status or length of time spent unemployed.

We particularly welcome applications from BAME communities, people with disabilities and/or long-term health conditions and LGBT+ community members.

We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all applicants and employees are treated fairly and consistently. We are proud to be accredited as a Disability Confident Employer, a member of Business Disability Forum and a Stonewall Diversity Champion.

We have active and Executive supported BAME, LGBT+ and Allies, Disability and Long-Term Health Conditions and Women’s staff networks. Staff networks are employee-led groups formed around interests, issues and a common bond or background. Staff network members create a positive and inclusive work environment at Great Ormond Street Hospital by actively contributing to the Trust’s mission, values and efforts specific to inclusion. All of our staff networks are open to any employee.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

General Business Support Activities

· To provide comprehensive Business support to the Head of R&D and Deputy Director of Research and Innovation and Performance, utilising personal judgement to plan ahead, proactively managing and co-ordinating internal and external commitments to ensure the best balance and utilisation of time.

· To be aware of the confidential nature of the managerial and professional information that the post-holder has access to and utilise appropriate personal judgement regarding who to contact and what action to take.

· To deliver a professional and welcoming meet and greet service for visitors to the Directorate and the Senior Team.

· To manage diaries and emails on request responding to enquiries, bringing forward appropriate information in advance of deadlines and meetings, arranging meetings as required.

· To resolve and respond proactively to queries on behalf of the Head of R&D, Deputy Director of Research and Innovation and Performance, including conveying messages accurately and quickly, preparing responses for correspondence and initiating follow-up action as necessary.

· To manage the distribution and dispatch of external post, manage the office function and undertake general office duties.

· To organise internal and external meetings and events, booking venues, arranging travel, accommodation, equipment and catering as required.

· To organise the effective collation and distribution of correspondence and papers to ensure that items are both received and dispatched as appropriate.

· To provide a secretariat service for meetings; preparing and circulating agendas and papers; drafting minutes and following up actions. To be able to use various methods of transcription.

· To type documentation for the Senior Management Team (sometimes using audio typing).

· To assist in the management of files, stationery and equipment as required

Systems & Processes

· To be responsible for the development and maintenance of comprehensive administration and management information systems (paper & electronic) and procedures designed to support the effective operation of the service.

· To devise and maintain high quality and effective office procedures for the R&I Directorate and in particular the Senior Management Team, including data management, archiving, communications and the standardisation of systems and processes.

· To develop and maintain appropriate office systems including filing, archiving, stationary and general ordering.

· To assist in the disposal and archive process for confidential and non-confidential documents.

· To assist in the recording of Contracts and Agreements, obtaining signatures and circulation of finalised documents and upload to database.

Business Support Activities

· To provide a range of information, research and reports as required; this may include processing financial or statistical information and the use of specific IT systems and databases.

· To monitor performance indicators and provide information for service plans, reports and audits. To work with internal and external auditors providing evidence of compliance and ability to address areas of weakness.

· To undertake project work, events and special activities as required for the Senior Management Team as required.

· To maintain the R&I Directorate and CRF’s webpages, ensuring they are kept up to date and proactively liaising with subject matter experts to ensure high quality relevant and timely content.

· To administer financial transactions, including raising and processing invoices using the Trust’s systems. Initiate and administer procurement processing and maintain timely records for these activities. To use eProcurement regularly and ensure accurate record keeping on any spends within the service.

Office Management

· To manage IT, telephone and environmental faults and issues. Be responsible for the reporting and resolution of all technical and AV failures to the ICT Service Desk and external suppliers with a support and maintenance contract.

· To be responsible for monitoring office, travel and catering expenditure, ensuring it is maintained within budget. Compile spreadsheets and reports of these accounts in a logical and comprehensive manner to present to the Senior Management Team and support the raising of invoices as appropriate.

· To record and monitor sickness/absence, utilising the Trust’s Health Roster system.

· To ensure Health & Safety obligations are fulfilled within the Directorate, maintaining records and the risk register.

To manage the room and desk booking systems and onboarding of staff and teams to this system

Communications

· To manage a demanding and substantive workload in a proactive way to meet the Senior Management Team’s objectives.

· Act as the first point of contact for the Senior Management Team for all internal and external contacts ensuring where possible contacts are resolved and where this is not possible, they are directed/passed to the appropriate Senior Manager within the team.

· Administer e-mail accounts on behalf of the Senior Management Team, drafting responses and following up as necessary.

· To receive telephone calls on behalf of Senior Managers and deal effectively with those calls.

· To open, sort, deliver and where appropriate respond to all members of the Senior Management Team’s mail.

· To liaise with the Trusts Communications Team as required on internal and external messaging.

· Maintain absolute confidentiality regarding staff and patient information.

· To provide a telephone answer service when covering for the other executive Assistant’s/Office Members as necessary, taking comprehensive messages.

· To liaise with UCL ICH Administrative team as necessary on matters of honorary contracts, training, fire safety, IT issues etc.

Other

· To work collaboratively with the staff in the R&I Directorate to ensure the department always delivers high quality and professional service.

· Working with the other members of the business support function to ensure that the function is always covered.

· To work collaboratively with Personal Assistants’, other Business Support Officers across the Trust and UCL GOS Institute of Child Health to ensure the effective working of the Trust’s Senior Leadership Team, including providing cover when required.

· To cross cover the other members of the Business Support function or PA and Office Manager in R&I.

This job description is intended as an outline of the areas of activity and can be amended in the light of the changing needs of the service and will be reviewed as necessary in conjunction with the post-holder.

The role is for an experienced, enthusiastic communicator and team player with excellent organisational and administrative skills. This is a full-time post. The post holder will be required to provide high-quality administrative support to the Senior Management team in Directorate of Research & Innovation and will need to be confident and have experience of dealing with senior management. This is a demanding and busy role, and candidates should have excellent verbal and written communication skills, have an eye for detail, have a meticulous and flexible approach to work and be able to demonstrate the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and processes.

The recruitment process for all admin and clerical roles at Bands 2-4 will be a two stage recruitment process whereby shortlisted candidates will undertake an online literacy, numeracy, ICT and typing test. Only those candidates who pass the competency test will proceed to a formal interview.

The closing date given is a guide only. There may be some occasions where we have to close a vacancy once sufficient applications have been received. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification criteria for this post will be shortlisted. Please note that where high volumes of applicants have been received, additional criteria may on occasion be used to determine the final shortlist.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer.