Secretary - Lewes, HQ

This role is within a unit where Surrey Police and Sussex Police work in collaboration, whilst remaining two separate legal entities/employers with different terms and conditions. Both Surrey Police staff and Sussex Police staff are employed in this unit on their own force terms and conditions. Successful candidates may be appointed on the terms and conditions of employment of either Surrey Police or Sussex Police, depending on organisational requirements. A discussion will be held with the successful candidate to confirm the details of location, salary, allowances and hours.

Division / Department - Estates and Facilities Management
Grade - Grade 7
Status - Full Time
Contract Type - Permanent
Salary Grade Range - £26,703 - £28,914
Working Hours - 37.0 Hours per Week
Shift Allowance - No
Politically Restricted - No
Location - Sussex Police Headquarters, Lewes

The starting salary for this role will usually be at the bottom of the salary range and will be pro-rata if the working hours are less than full time.

An exciting and sought-after opportunity has arisen for a Secretary to work as part of the team supporting a range of stakeholders across the Commercial and Financial Services which include Estates and Facilities, Financial & Regional Services and Joint Transport Service. This role is key to the smooth running of the department, providing support to the Service Directors and the wider department. You will have defined stakeholders across the entire force and with partner agencies and will work as an integral part of a dynamic team. You will be providing effective, efficient, proactive, professional secretarial and administrative duties.

You will have excellent team working skills and a practical, flexible and pro-active approach, with a willingness to support and deputise for colleagues. Self-motivated and able to work with initiative and minimum supervision, you will need to have proven experience of delivering high quality work, prioritising and working to often tight deadlines. It is expected that you will have proven experience of managing competing priorities and planning and prioritising your work effectively. In addition to providing core secretarial support, dealing effectively with telephone calls, diary management and emails. You will attend meetings and be responsible for the dissemination of relevant papers, as well as ensuring accurate minutes are captured electronically, and subsequent actions are recorded and distributed.

Operating in a customer focused role you will have regular interaction with senior management teams and police officers and staff from all levels across the force. This may mean travelling to different force locations to support your stakeholder in meetings. You will be able to demonstrate evidence of good interpersonal and verbal and written communication skills, including GCSE English Grade C or above (or equivalent). Excellent customer services skills and a “can do” attitude are a must.

Supporting the team and senior members of the department, the role will involve diary and email management, drafting responses to emails and correspondence; producing, collating and circulating meeting papers; attending and minuting meetings; providing an effective note taking service booking of events, travel arrangements and accommodation; meeting visitors and taking telephone calls, ensuring a high level of service.

Essential Skills:

• Good Microsoft Office skills, including knowledge of MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel
• Ability to take minutes and accurate typing to 60 words a minute
• Good general IT literacy
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• GCSE English Grade C or above (or equivalent)
• Outlook diary management experience
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities
• Ability to produce good results with limited supervision and limited direct instructions
• Ability to produce high quality work to tight deadlines
• Excellent customer service and rapport building skills
• Ability to appropriately handle sensitive information within GDPR legal requirements
• Proven track record of secretarial and office experience
• Good interpersonal skills facilitating daily interaction with a wide variety of contacts at all levels, both within the immediate team, Sussex Police and externally.
• Problem solving skills
• Full UK manual driving licence

Desirable Skills:

• Previous minute taking experience
• Experience of booking travel and accommodation for stakeholders
• Previous experience of supporting one or more senior staff members in a secretarial capacity

Policing is an exciting 24/7 business and we all have commitments outside work. We’re invested in supporting people to balance their life with work and we encourage flexible working. We are open to conversations about job shares and part time working. We encourage agile working, giving you the opportunity to manage your own diary and work wherever you give the best service to the public. This may include flexi-time and home working. We take pride in looking after our people and offer a variety of benefits;

• career progression
• contributory pension scheme (LGPS)
• generous annual leave allowance
• discounts for everyday spend
• on-site gyms and a range of sports clubs
• generous and supportive parental leave
• financial and mental wellbeing guidance and support
• discounted contributory healthcare scheme

This role is based at Sussex Police HQ, Lewes. Hybrid-working from home / other locations is authorised approximately 2-3 times a week, following initial training. There is a requirement to travel (with notice) to attend meetings where necessary, at Force locations across Surrey & Sussex.

We are only as good as our people. It’s important that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we know that as an organisation we’ll grow from the variety of thinking, approach, and the skills that diversity brings; all of which help us to deliver a better policing service. We strive to ensure how we deliver our services, provide information and how we recruit is open and accessible to all. We have multiple staff support groups who help to improve our understanding of minority issues and ensure they are reflected in our work. We are proud members of Disability Confident, hold Race Equality Matters Trailblazer status, are a signatory of the Race at Work Charter and are aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement. We are committed to being an anti-racist police service. We promise to challenge injustice, ensure fairness and to uphold anti-racist principles in both our organisation and our communities. We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities. Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status, or religious belief, we would love to hear from you.