Job title: Administrative Officer (full-time, 40 hours)
Working for: Damian Hinds MP (East Hampshire)
Location: London
Salary: in line with the IPSA ‘Administrative 1’ pay scale
Job Details:
Damian is seeking a junior member of staff to cover administrative matters.
The successful candidate will work on the Parliamentary estate in Westminster, joining a team of two other members of staff (both of whom are primarily based in the constituency). Once established in the role, there will be scope (particularly when Parliament is in recess) for the successful candidate to work from home by prior agreement.
Damian will be happy to consider flexible working arrangements.
Key responsibilities:
- opening the post on a daily basis and distributing it to other team members/Damian, as appropriate;
- diary management;
- answering the phone and passing on details to other team members/Damian, as appropriate;
- submitting expenses claims to IPSA;
- handling administrative arrangements for meetings both in Parliament and the constituency (including constituency advice surgeries);
- photocopying, scanning and filing (for themself and for other team members/Damian and in both hard and soft copy, as required);
- dealing with standard queries from members of the public;
- typing and sending correspondence drafted by other team members/Damian;
- sending communications by use of mail merge and case management software (training in the use of our case management software will be given to the successful candidate);
- formatting written material produced by other team members/Damian;
- ordering stationery and liaising with other external suppliers;
- assisting with arrangements for events (non-political);
- booking visits to Parliament and Prime Minister’s Questions for constituents;
- booking visits to Parliament for schools in East Hampshire (which may include meeting groups when they are in Westminster);
- resolving IT issues (for themself and for other team members/Damian, with the help of Parliament’s Digital Support team);
- management of data/archiving on the team’s shared drive;
- managing a database of constituency contacts (schools, businesses, charities, etc.) and details of Damian’s visits to them.
The following characteristics/skills are essential:
- integrity;
- a strong public service ethos;
- an appreciation of the importance of attention to detail, discretion and confidentiality;
- empathy (constituents will sometimes contact their MP when they are distressed or angry);
- excellent recall (at any one time, there are a large number of constituent enquiries, invitations and meeting arrangements to handle and the successful candidate will need to be nimble-minded and have a good memory for detail);
- a high degree of proficiency in the use of MS Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint (the successful candidate will be expected to support other members of the team with occasional queries related to use of these applications).
This role may suit a candidate with a Level 4/5 NVQ or Higher Apprenticeship qualification in Business Administration but a qualification of this nature is not essential.
If you have lived or worked in East Hampshire, please mention this in your application because knowledge of East Hampshire is helpful, particularly when dealing with the diary management aspects of this job.
Any offer of employment will be conditional upon provision of two satisfactory references and successful completion of security and verification vetting (see http://www.w4mp.org/jobs-listings-events/jobs/members-staff-security-verification-questionnaire/ for further information).
Closing date: 14 February 2018
Interview/Start Dates:
First interviews will be held on Wednesday 21 February 2018.
Second interviews will be held on Monday 26 February 2018.
The aim is to have the appointed candidate in post as soon as possible.
Application details:
To apply, please send a CV and covering letter to [email protected] with ‘Application for the Position of Administrative Officer’ in the subject line.
Alternatively, please send a CV and covering letter by post to Ann Lewin, office of Damian Hinds MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA