About OPSS

Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!

We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade (Previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.

Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, most recently with the addition of construction products regulation planned.

Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence.

Further information can be found on our website here.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We are Inclusive

We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible and recognise how important inclusivity is to achieve the best outcomes. We hope to attract applications from all underrepresented groups.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation if required to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

We are looking to recruit a Diary Manager to work alongside the Deputy Chief Executive (DCEO) in the Policy Impact Area within the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). You will be part of the Policy Coordination Team and will also work alongside the wider PA group within OPSS.

Although there are core responsibilities for the role, it will be fast paced and varied, with a value on building strong relationships with a wide range of colleagues. The post will support the DCEO, whilst working closely with the Policy Impact Area Coordinator and the wider directorate to ensure cross-OPSS issues are well managed. This will involve building strong relationships with senior staff and require good judgement on the management of time, meticulous organisation and attention to detail. You will engage with various policy teams and will lead on work that spans the breadth of the Policy Impact Area. This will be an opportunity for the successful applicant to gain experience in working at the heart of OPSS policy and closely with senior decision makers.
 
We develop and formulate policy, delivering evidence-based solutions and robust advice for Ministers, whilst supporting business to meet their obligations and ultimately protecting consumers and ensuring they have confidence in the products they buy. We are outward facing, seeking to raise our profile and share our technical expertise and knowledge, utilising this expertise to lead and influence on both the domestic and global stage. 

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to undertake a Business Administrator Apprenticeship (Level 3).

The Business Administrator apprenticeship is a minimum of 12 months and should typically be completed within 18 months. The apprenticeship provides a highly transferable set of knowledge, skills and behaviours, which can be gained working across an organisation and its processes. The apprenticeship is a firm grounding in organisational operations and functional processes, as well as the wider working environment. 

The apprenticeship will typically take between 12 and 18 months to complete. If you have not already achieved Level 2 English and Maths, you must do so before taking the end-point assessment.

Key Responsibilities

Provide PA support to the DCEO in the Policy Impact Area

• Building strong, open, collaborative relationships with Senior Leadership to understand their preferences, areas of responsibility and priorities, developing and maintaining positive relationships with their key internal and external partners, as well as their wider team.  
• Diary management. Prioritising the most significant meetings, using judgement and knowledge of the DCEOs key partners, and resolving diary clashes. Ensure rooms are booked with all appropriate equipment (e.g. video conference facilities) and, where relevant, making arrangements for external visitors to access the building.    
• Supporting in the running of their day, ensuring they receive meeting papers in advance and setting aside reading time if necessary.  
• Submitting their expense claims and making travel bookings.   

Providing support to the wider group 

• Maintain positive relationships with the DCEO key internal and external partners, as well as their wider team.  
• Assisting to build a positive team identity working with the senior leader (s) and rest of the team, via ways of working etiquette, team meetings, away days, workshops, social events.
• Support wider Group business management including maintaining mailing lists, assisting with the administration of recruitment campaigns, and internal bonus rounds.  
• Provide absence cover for other PAs in across OPSS by monitoring the inboxes and diaries of the Directors/Deputy Directors they support when needed. 
• Supporting the team with preparing documentation for sign-off by senior leader (s) (for example programme papers, submissions to Ministers, promissory notes).

Please note that this role is open to candidates working in either our Birmingham, London or Teddington office. When you are required to give a preference, Twickenham will appear rather than Teddington, so please be aware that you should choose this option if you wish to be based in Teddington. 

Skills and Experience

Essential Criteria

An excellent communicator, able to adapt your communication skills to suit both the situation and individual.

You are: 

• Organised and a good multi-tasker, with the ability to work independently, keep calm under pressure and to handle more than one set of diary arrangements. 
• Flexible and adaptable to an evolving work environment. Able to prioritise and keep daily tasks flowing while quickly adjusting plans. Effective at working at pace and handling a reactive workload.
• Personable and able to build positive relationships with colleagues.
• An effective written and verbal communicator.
• Able to collaborate effectively and in a positive manner with colleagues. 

Personal Attributes and Skills 

• Confident at handling sensitive information with discretion.
• Able to provide a high level of service, flagging any concerns and making sure that relevant colleagues are updated on plans and any changes.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Teams (with additional training available to further knowledge of these programmes).

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities

Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.

Job contact :

• Name : Erin Kehoe
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]