Defence Business Services (DBS) - Administrative Officer United Kingdom
Job description
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About the job
Benefits
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Location
About the job
Job summary
Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?
Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?
Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.
- Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
- Our Mission – Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.
DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society. We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.
Come and join the DBS community today!
Applicants should note that DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and will consolidate all activities in Blackpool. This means that DBS staff will move from both Walker House (Liverpool) and Cheadle Hulme in the late Summer of 2023 and initially relocate to Tomlinson House (Norcross). A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2026.
As a result, all vacant DBS posts in the North West will be advertised at Tomlinson House (Norcross). There is, however, an expectation that all DBS staff, irrespective of their agreed duty station, will travel to other DBS and/or MOD site(s), as required, to complete all necessary training and to participate in team or additional collaborative activities – detached duty terms may apply. Terms of transfer have been negotiated for DBS posts relocating in the North West. DBS also supports Flexible Working, which can be discussed in more detail at interview.
This post does not offer any assistance with relocation allowances.
Job description
This is a joint bulk recruitment campaign for Administrative Officer positions within Defence Business Services (DBS) Financial, Procurement & Civilian People Services (FPCP) Operational Teams, and DBS Armed Forces & Veterans Services (AF&V) Operational and Welfare Teams. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce with a diverse group of backgrounds.
DBS currently have various exciting opportunities within our organisation. Our teams are highly committed to employee engagement and customer service. We will fully up-skill you in the service you are on-boarded into with opportunities to develop yourself professionally.
FPCP administration officer roles vary, they include but are not limited to Recruitment and On-boarding, Pay, Performance & Recognition, Finance Invoices and Revenues, Business Change, Working Patterns and Leave or Exit Services. This position offers hybrid working; a combination of office:home working.
AF&V in Blackpool administers the Compensation Schemes for Serving Personnel and Veterans, provides Welfare and support to Veterans, their dependants, bereaved families and beneficiaries of the pensions and compensation Schemes and assists with transition from service to civilian life. An ongoing multi-million-pound Transformation Programme will transform the way Veterans Services are delivered and how customers will access our services.
AF&V roles will vary and include working within one of our operational or welfare and transition teams in the following areas: Operational Delivery, Client-Facing Welfare Services & Transition Services, Complaint Resolution, Assurance, Policy. This role is office based however, DBS are working hard to improve our access to, and use of, digital technology, empowering our people to work remotely.
To enable the delivery of these services we use a flexible resourcing model to respond to changes in demand to ensure continuity of business-critical services to MOD.
We have full-time, part-time, job-share and flexible working positions available. We will work with you and be as accommodating as possible when agreeing your working hours however the final decision will be based on business needs.
Person specification
As an administrative officer, you will be expected to:
- Adopt a ‘Customer First’ ethos responding to customer enquiries to provide advice on policy and process. Keeping customers regularly updated on progress and seeking to remove any barriers to progress so that appropriate timescales are maintained.
- Provide quality customer service to ensure ‘right first time’ customer service is delivered at all times, taking ownership for issues and customer enquiries reducing hand-offs, response times and improving the quality of advice whilst managing expectations. Work with enthusiasm, attention to detail and good interpersonal skills.
- Deliver general administrative tasks such as record creation, case monitoring, customer notification, general casework, and appropriate record handling in line with Data Protection and basic IT skills.
- Handle queries from customers, providing advice on policy, processes and services relating to FPCP or AF&V services.
- Undertake classroom based or desk training in support of up-skilling and the delivery of flexible resourcing across FPCP or AF&V to accommodate demand in peaks and troughs in line with the Workforce Plan.
- Follow DPA and MOD Security protocols when dealing with documents and data.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
- Leadership
- Managing a Quality Service
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Working Together
Benefits
- An environment with flexible working options Monday-Friday
- 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years' service (pro rata). In addition to 8 public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for the King's birthday
- A Civil Service pension with generous employer pension contributions of approx. 27% depending on your salary
- Hybrid working, where role permits
- Family friendly policies including- enhanced parental leave and adoption leave
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- Minimum of 15 days special leave in a rolling 12 month period for volunteer reserve commitments
- Special paid leave to volunteer up to 6 days per year
This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
For AO specific details please see page 1-2 of the Success Profile: Civil Service Behaviours (green) following the above link.
Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.
Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign.
Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.
Applications will be sifted on all Success Profile elements, but in the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted on the lead behaviour- working together. In this instance the remaining elements will be tested at interview.
At application stage you will be assessed against the following:
Behaviours-
Working together
Please provide 250 word statement on the following-
Tell me a time when you worked well as part of a team
Experience:
Please provide a 250 word personal statement based on-
- Experience and understanding of basic IT skills
- Is positive and helpful; listens, involves, respects and learns from the contribution of others
- Ability to manage and prioritise own workload
Completing your application
Behaviour examples requires more than just information about what you did, it requires you to explain. There are many different approaches you could take to writing behaviours, such as the STAR, or the CAR method. As to which one you chose to use, it’s all down to your personal style of writing. Within the Civil Service, the most common approach is: The STAR method
Using the STAR method, allows you to set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome. The job holder (and later the interviewer) will use this method to gather all the relevant information about a specific capability that the job requires.
Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.
- Where are you?
- Who was there with you?
- What had happened?
Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.
- What was the task that you had to complete and why?
- What did you have to achieve?
Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information of what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit of something that you did not do.
Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures easily understandable.
- What results did the actions produce?
- What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
- Was it a successful outcome? If not what did you learn from the experience?
Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.
Remember- if you are a school leaver or out of employment, and feel that you don’t have the experience to apply for this role then do this-
- Make a list of your skills, strength and experience
- Focus on your education/day-to-day life/extra-curricular activities such as team sports
- Highlight anything that would help you perform in the job that you are applying for
For more information on applying for Civil Service jobs and completing your application please visit-
The STAR method , National Careers Service
Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Working for the Civil Service - Civil Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
If you would like to find out more about this role and an overview of the application process, please join us at our Candidate Information Session on Wednesday 22nd February 2023 12:30 - 13:30. To reserve your place, please follow the link below:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/candidate-information-session-ao-recruitment-campaign-ms-teams-tickets-541288688037
At interview you will be assessed against the following behaviours:
- Communicating and influencing
- Managing a quality service
- Leadership
We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isn’t always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months.
Disability Confident Scheme
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: [email protected]
As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.
The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.
MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.
In the rare case where individuals have exact matching scores, the order of merit will be determined based on the behaviour scores at interview in the following order:
- Communicating and influencing
- Managing a quality service
- Leadership
If candidates scores are still exact, the merit order will then be determined on the application score in the order below:
- Working together
- Personal Statement
Sift/Interviews will take place in February and March 2023.
Interviews are currently taking place via MS Teams. A minimum of 2 working days' notice will be provided for interviews.
To assist with your application please find attached below:
1. DBS Candidate Information Guide
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
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