Senior Executive Officer, School Governance (Locality East) in Belfast

RESPONSIBLE FOR: May have supervisory responsibilities for SDS administration team staff or may organise and manage a specialised area of work. This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time. Locality postholders must be based in an office within the designated locality area, or a specific office within the locality as required.

JOB PURPOSE: To organise and manage a small team of staff providing high quality, efficient and effective administrative support within a designated team, or manage a specialist area of work within the School Development Service. The postholder may have supervisory responsibilities for members of staff organised in groups or teams as necessary and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of functional activities within a discrete operational area. Some specific knowledge of the functional area or specialist area will be required to provide advice and guidance to EA staff, school staff and Governors, and other third parties as appropriate. The post holder will be required to exercise judgement or discretion within a framework of rule, practice and precedent and will be required to identify and select the most appropriate course of action from a range of options. Work may involve undertaking research and investigation, analysis of results and drawing up recommendations. The post will involve review of existing practices and identification and implementation of new solutions to operational problems.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Staff Management and Service Delivery: Responsible for delivering an efficient and effective aspect of the administration service for the School Development Service. This may involve managing the work of staff across a number of offices. Where required the post-holder will manage a dedicated support team by assigning work, co-ordinating activities, and dealing with recruitment and resourcing issues. Where required the post-holder will undertake line management responsibilities (including approving annual leave requests, dealing with any attendance management/disciplinary issues) for a number of staff; across different offices as required. Where required the post-holder will review the performance of reporting staff, identifying individual/team training requirements and initiating further training for professional and personal development.
• Specialist Advice & Support: Assist with the review and revision of policies, procedures, guidelines and work processes as required in consultation with senior staff to impact positively on service delivery. Contribute to the delivery of projects and continuous improvement of the service. Contribute to the Business Plan setting, reviewing, and/or identifying performance measures and targets for the effective and efficient delivery of service. Provide accurate and timely management reporting information as required, undertake research and contribute to policy formation. In conjunction with line management, ensure that business risks are identified, documented, controlled and mitigated. Contribute to developing effective Management Information Systems for use across the School Development Service to inform practice. Ensure effective communication within own team, with the other administrative teams within SDS, and across localities. Use ICT resources such as Capita One/EMS, C2k, the EA Portal, MS Teams and SharePoint to provide an efficient and effective administration service.
• Team specific duties and responsibilities (Locality): Postholder will work within the following team and will have the specified duties and responsibilities: School Governance. Provide administrative support for the School Governance locality team in relation to all aspects of the governor administration process, including implementation of arrangements for governor reconstitution and governor membership. Provide advice and guidance on relevant policies, schemes and frameworks for school governance to schools, governors and staff within the locality. Deliver the aspects of administration relevant to School Governance in the locality: for example; Leadership PRSD, School Calendars, Expulsions for controlled schools, Membership and Teaching Appointments.
• Other Responsibilities: Comply with the Authority’s policy on General Data Protection Regulations (in particular processing sensitive personal information). Undertake other related duties within the grade and competence of the post-holder, to support the efficient delivery of the School Development Service as required. This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time. In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

NOTES TO JOB APPLICANTS:

1. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.
2. You must demonstrate how you meet the criteria by the closing date for applications, unless the criteria state otherwise.
3. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.
4. Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form.
5. Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role.
6. In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed. It is important therefore that you also clearly demonstrate on your application form on how you meet any desirable criteria.

Section 1 - Essential Criteria:

• Hold a HNC/HND or above examination qualification or above and have three years’ demonstrable experience of working within an administrative role; OR have five years’ demonstrable experience of working within an administrative role.
• Demonstrable experience in the use of Microsoft applications.

Knowledge:

• Demonstrable knowledge of a range of School Development Service policies, procedures, practices, systems and operations.
• Demonstrable knowledge of effective approaches to service delivery and service improvement.
• Demonstrable knowledge of general Data Protection Regulations and Freedom of Information issues.

Other:

• Willingness to occasionally work outside of normal working hours.
• The successful candidate will be required to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion; OR be able to provide sufficient information on the application form that will satisfy the employer that he/she has access to an appropriate alternative form of transport that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion.

Section 2 - Essential Criteria:

• Good organisational skills and ability to organise a busy workload to deliver effective results on time.
• Flexibility to meet the changing demands as required and to prioritise and delegate as required.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with others as part of a team.
• Ability to use own initiative and judgement to solve problems and respond to others.
• Ability to take a responsive and customer focussed approach to work.
• Ability to manage and direct a team or provide specialist advice and guidance where required.
• Ability to review, implement processes and procedures leading to service delivery improvement.

Values Orientation: Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect EA’s ethos and values. You will find information about our Values here.

DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND: The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’. In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that you WILL be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate. Details of how to make payment will be sent to you at the pre-employment stage. Further information can be accessed at NI Direct or the Department of Justice.

APPLICANT GUIDANCE NOTES: To view the applicant guidance notes, please click here. To learn about the many great benefits of joining the Education Authority, click here. The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.