Business Support Specialist

Overview

Are you ready to embrace an exhilarating new challenge and make a significant impact? Join us at Buckinghamshire Council and become an integral part of a team that makes a real difference!

We are recruiting dedicated and driven individuals to join our Corporate Business Support team. These roles sit within a busy service that delivers administrative and transactional support across the authority. You will help ensure that customer needs are met by providing an efficient, high‑quality and customer‑focused service to a diverse range of residents, clients and internal teams.

As Business Support Specialists, you play a crucial role in the council's success, providing exceptional support to our services. Don't miss this opportunity to take your career to the next level and make a real impact!

The role is to provide a range of administrative support duties to the Partnerships & Communities team, working alongside and in partnerships with the Community Board and Opportunity Bucks officers.

The role is for a 12 month fixed-term/ secondment part-time officer, working 22.5 hours a week (4.5 hours a day, Monday-Friday) and the salary advertised will be pro-rata.

About us

At Buckinghamshire Council, we are committed to providing top-notch front-line services through efficient and cost-effective business process administration and project support. Our team is resilient, adaptable, and always ready to embrace change. We have a deep understanding of the council's processes, policies, and values, and we take pride in our ability to deliver exceptional service. We are highly experienced, knowledgeable, and have a proven track record of success.

We value hard work and success, and we're proud to offer our employees a range of benefits. We promote a healthy work-life balance and flexible working arrangements. Our employees enjoy discounts at various cafes, restaurants, and shops, as well as auto-enrolment in our generous pension scheme. We also offer membership to Costco, discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva, and much more.

About the role

Business Support Specialists provide high‑quality administrative and business support, offering clear and accurate information to internal and external customers to help deliver the most appropriate solutions. These roles require a proactive approach, strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a varied workload.

Key responsibilities

• Plan, organise and deliver your workload to ensure information and business support is completed on time and to required standards.
• Provide specialist administrative advice and support to customers, ensuring needs are understood and responded to appropriately.
• Collate, organise and process information and documentation to support service delivery.
• Produce documents, reports and correspondence accurately and to required timescales.
• Arrange and coordinate meetings, manage diaries, support events and take minutes where needed.
• Support financial processes, including raising and processing purchase orders, invoices and other transactions.
• Liaise with colleagues, managers and external contacts to resolve queries and maintain smooth workflow.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes and contribute to efficient, high‑quality service delivery.

About you

We are seeking a self-motivated, flexible and enthusiastic candidate who has strong interpersonal skills to support the building and maintaining of relationships both internally and externally.

Ideal candidates will possess the following skills and attributes:

• Efficient and highly organised.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills as well as excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent IT skills.
• To establish good working relationships.
• To interact with internal colleagues including senior management and external partners to build effective relationships.
• To deal with people at all levels confidently, sensitively and diplomatically.
• To be discrete and handle confidential information appropriately.
• To research and assemble information and prepare draft briefing papers / correspondence.
• To collate and organise data / information efficiently.

Other information

For further information on this role please see the attached job summary.

This is a part time 22.5-hour role with working pattern 4.5 hours per day across Monday - Friday with Tuesdays and Thursdays in Gateway Offices with the Partnerships & Communities team.  These are the fixed office days for the team.  One other day is to be in Wycombe office, with the remaining 2x days flexible. The role is 12x month duration from commencement date.

Closing date: Tuesday 12^th May

Interview date: w/e 15^th May

Interview-type / process: MS TEAMS

If you would like to have an informal conversation with the recruiting manager, please contact: [email protected]

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Resources cover a wide range of specialisms, including Human Resources, Finance, ICT and Business Operations. Our main focus is supporting the other directorates to provide the best possible service to our residents. To do that, we have to make sure we have the right people in the right roles across the organisation. From our finance teams, working strategically to ensure the best value from public money; to HR keeping our employees healthy and happy, each service is vital in making sure Buckinghamshire Council has what it needs to run effectively and efficiently.

As well as providing high quality services to other areas of the Council, you could also be helping us build on the revenue which comes from our external clients. If you are ambitious, customer-focussed and bursting with new ideas, we want to hear from you.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/