Business Support Officer

Job summary

The Business Support team provide a support service to the district’s operations. As a key member of the team, you will play a crucial role in the Business Support function, helping it run smoothly by providing financial, administrative, logistical and operational support, using Microsoft Office applications and bespoke software to process and monitor financial information. You will liaise with colleagues, suppliers, customers and members of the public, collating and disseminating information. As part of the team, you will also provide office reception cover.

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Provide office cover at our North District office in Bellingham, answering telephone calls, greeting visitors and responding to enquiries via email.
• Provide day-to-day administrative support on tasks such as conducting research, arranging meetings, maintaining accurate records, data input.
• Provide administrative support to Recreation teams at Kielder, Hamsterley & Rothbury.
• Raising purchase order requests & processing invoices for payment.
• Fortnightly cash account reconciliation for the North District.
• Assisting in coordination of training within the district.
• Ordering of office supplies.
• Assist in preparation reports, presentations, and correspondence.
• Give support and guidance to colleagues on our systems, policies and processes.
• Be a point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, handling inquiries and requests promptly and professionally.
• Assist in organising events, conferences, and other networking activities.
• Support in preparing and distributing project documents and reports.
• You may occasionally travel within the district, potentially with overnight stays to attend meetings.

Any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Relevant experience working in an administrative role.
• Proven ability to work with high accuracy and attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills, written and spoken.
• Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including the ability to create spreadsheets, use formulas, analyse data, and produce reports.
• Experience in supporting colleagues in a team environment.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Ability to analyse data.
• Experience of raising purchase orders along with processing supplier and sales invoices.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workload effectively.

Qualifications

Essential

• A GCSE in Maths and English or functional skills equivalent.
• Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.

Desirable

• A level or level 3 equivalent qualification.
• Qualification in First Aid or be willing to be trained as a First-Aider.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,959, Forestry Commission contributes £7,810 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).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

How to apply…

We cannot accept applications via email. Please follow the steps outlined below. Any CVs and/or personal statements sent outside the system will not be considered for shortlisting.

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

You may also be assessed on Experience and Strength based questions during the interview.

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email [email removed].

If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the