Operational Support Officer

Job summary

Are you ready to be part of something that shapes the future of our nation? Do you thrive on variety, enjoy working with lots of teams, and want to make a real difference? If so, this could be the opportunity you've been looking for.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK's largest producer of official statistics and home to over 5,000 colleagues. We create the data that drives decisions, from measuring economic growth and tracking population changes to informing policy on everything from housing to healthcare. Our statistics don't just sit in reports; they directly influence how billions of pounds are allocated, how services are planned, and how communities are supported across the country.

Census 2031 represents our most ambitious data collection project yet – a once-in-a-decade opportunity to capture a complete picture of everyone living in England and Wales. Building on the digital success of 2021, we're pioneering new ways to reach every household and community, ensuring no one is left uncounted. This vital work will provide the foundation for policy decisions, resource allocation, and community planning for the next decade.

Your work will support delivery of this transformational project that will shape how we understand and support our nation's future. You’ll be part of a team that ensures everyone is counted—and every voice is heard. We're building a culture that values collaboration, fresh thinking, and respect for diverse expertise. Whether you're a seasoned professional or bringing new perspectives, you'll be part of a team that welcomes bold ideas, works transparently, and thrives on solving complex challenges together.

The Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest profession in the Civil Service. ODP’s 200,000+ members work in a wide range of operational delivery roles across government, providing essential services that support and protect UK citizens at home and overseas. They help to make ONS a great place to work.

As a member, ODP supports you by providing learning and development opportunities, career pathways, tools and resources to help develop your skills and progress your career. This is an exciting opportunity to join a modern, innovative and inclusive Civil Service profession that sits at the heart of public service delivery.

Job description

As an Operational Support Officer for Census 2031, you’ll become part of a team that pulls together to deliver something that touches the whole country. In this role, you’ll support field staff, solve problems, and help ensure every household is represented. You’ll meet great people, learn about different parts of the organisation, work closely with suppliers, and gain insight into how other industries operate. You’ll be part of something that genuinely makes a difference, supported by a team spirit that helps you thrive.

The Operational Support Officer will provide operational and administrative support across Census Field Services, helping ensure the effective delivery of services, projects and operational activities.

Working within Census Field Services, you will support the delivery of operational activities across the branch's key functions:

• Field Operations (Household and Technology)
• Field Operations (Communal Establishments)
• Logistics and Field Support
• Recruit, Pay and Training

The role will involve coordinating operational activity, maintaining records and management information, supporting governance processes, monitoring and resolving issues, managing shared resources, and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives.

You will work with colleagues across Census, supporting business priorities and responding flexibly to changing operational demands.

Where required, you may also support the day-to-day coordination of AO colleagues and help manage workloads, priorities and service delivery.

During operational periods may be required to work, evenings, weekends and bank holidays on a rota basis.

Responsibilities:

• Provide operational support across Census Field Services, ensuring activities, records and business processes are managed effectively.
• Maintain shared resources including mailboxes, SharePoint sites, trackers, guidance and operational documentation.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across Census Field Services to support delivery, continuous improvement and excellent customer service.
• Assist with the production and maintenance of management information, reports and operational data to support decision making and performance monitoring.
• Where required, supporting the day-to-day coordination or line management of Administrative Officer (AO) colleagues, including workload allocation, coaching and performance support.
• Supporting projects and operational preparations for census test and rehearsal and ongoing support for 2031 Census delivery.
• Support operational activities across Census Field Services, including occasional travel to Census sites and locations as required to meet business needs.

Person specification

The Role Holder will have access to ODP Membership and associated Skills Development and Connection Opportunities.

Essential Criteria:

• Communicates and builds relationships across teams to deliver excellent service, quality and performance.
• Works with others in collaboration to share information constructively.
• Plans team workload balancing support and ensuring excellent service delivery to stakeholders ensuring delivery against performance targets or procedures.
• Identifies problems and supports others to identify problems and encourages the generation of solutions from teams.
• Gathers data to inform work and handles this accurately and securely.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,138, Office for National Statistics contributes £8,151 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.

Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

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