Business Support Officer (BSO)

Polaris Children's Services is part of the Polaris Community of companies and delivers statutory and non-statutory social care services in the UK and to military communities overseas. Since 2014, we have provided social work services to the Ministry of Defence in Germany, and in November 2019 expanded our overseas work with the British military, associated civilian personnel and their families across Europe, Canada, Kenya, Belize, the United States of America and Saudi Arabia. From 1st July 2020, we expanded our services to include the British Forces Social Work Service in Cyprus and the South Atlantic Islands. On 1st April 2021, we included Singapore, British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) and Gibraltar. From 1st May 2022, we further expanded our services to include Brunei and Nepal.

We are looking for a Business Support Officer to provide business support to our comprehensive and flexible social work service working in Brunei Garrison, with additional responsibilities to the rest of the team located elsewhere as required.

• Reception and general front-of-house duties in the BFSWS office
• Administrative tasks, including receiving and responding to post, email and telephone enquiries
• Assist in organising parenting and safeguarding courses
• Assist in the collation and presentation of data in monthly, quarterly and annual reports as required
• Arrange facilities as required by BFSWS for meetings or presentations, including booking venues and minute-taking
• Liaise with the BSO Manager, ensuring information is forwarded or dealt with appropriately
• Fully comply with all Military Standing Orders and familiarise yourself with those applicable within Brunei Garrison
• Provide business support to the social work Rest of World team as required
• Ensure systems are in place to capture social work workflow and generate required weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports as directed by the line manager
• Ensure annual leave, sickness and other HR records are maintained and recorded on a database; monitor and process staff sickness absence as necessary
• Arrange and maintain records of movements and travel arrangements for social work staff
• Oversee expenses prior to authorisation, as directed by the line manager
• Maintain efficient office management systems, ensuring that standard operating procedures and policy guidelines are adhered to
• Prepare reports and correspondence as necessary
• Minute-taking at meetings as required
• Arrange repairs to existing equipment and order new equipment as required
• Demonstrate flexibility and undertake any other related duties within the post holder's skills and abilities as reasonably instructed

• GCSE Grade C (or equivalent) in English and Maths
• Awareness and understanding of the Case Management System and other IT systems
• Proven administrative experience with excellent IT skills, including Microsoft Office
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people, both internally and externally, with a high standard of verbal and written communication
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and manage your own workload and produce documents to a high standard
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and understanding of the Data Protection Act and GDPR
• Flexibility to travel, including overnight stays as required

Polaris Children's Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to complete an enhanced DBS check, the cost of which will be met by Polaris Children's Services. Polaris Children's Services is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates.