Location
Foss House, York
About The Job
Job summary
Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. We inspect and regulate services that care for children and young people, and services providing education and skills for learners of all ages. Every week, we carry out hundreds of inspections and regulatory visits throughout England and publish the results online. We also report on standards across the country and are accountable directly to Parliament. Ofsted’s inspections are independent and impartial.
The Inspection and Improvement Directorate is responsible for delivering timely and high quality inspections in all institutions that Ofsted regulates and inspects, and ensuring there are consistent standards across remits. It is also responsible for developing high quality inspectors, ensuring they are used to best effect on inspections, and supporting and promoting improvement in those services inspected and regulated.
This role sits in the Regional Support Team, which is part of the Inspection and Improvement Directorate. The team is responsible for providing high quality support to the regions to ensure the smooth running of the inspection programme; optimising quality and value for money from the contracted services of Ofsted Inspectors; and ensuring continuous improvement in regional ways of working.
The key responsibilities of the role are outlined below. However, this is an overview of the role and is not exhaustive. Ofsted reserves the right to assign other duties commensurate with the
B3/EO grade as required.
- To actively contribute to the work of the wider team, providing absence cover for team colleagues as required.
- To manage and coordinate diaries to ensure the most effective use of time, ensuring the associated travel arrangements, hotel bookings and conference arrangements are made well in advance.
- To monitor and manage emails during periods of absence and as required; prioritising, ensuring urgent emails are dealt with by an appropriate person and logging of actions taken.
- To act as an initial point of contact, liaising and dealing effectively with senior external and internal stakeholders, to accurately and appropriately screen, log and prioritise queries through the efficient management of high-level incoming/outgoing correspondence, calls and emails.
- To perform secretariat duties efficiently for meetings involving setting up suitable dates, room bookings, drafting outline agenda, coordinating and circulating papers, minute taking, following up actions and keeping updated action logs, as required.
Person specification
Please refer to the job specification for further information.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
- Making Effective Decisions
Technical Skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Ability to consistently meet deadlines while maintaining excellent attention to detail in a fast paced environment.
- Experience of diary management, travel planning and meeting preparation, meeting deadlines and objectives within well-defined policies and frameworks.
- Experience of supporting senior level staff with proven ability to plan ahead on the basis of known/anticipated workloads, regularly reviewing and revising plans in response to changes in priority.
Benefits
Ofsted is committed to maintaining employee health and wellbeing, whether it is physically, emotionally, financially or socially, and offers a range of benefits to support employees in this. Such benefits include the option to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme, professional and personal development opportunities, 32.5 annual leave days per annum (plus eight days public holiday) and access to counselling and advisory services.
Ofsted operates a hybrid working approach, allowing colleagues to benefit from time in the office, with the flexibility also to work from home. Our expectation is that you will spend at least 60% of your time working in your office, or at external meetings or events. The exact balance will depend on the nature of your role and the suitability of your home environment, and will be discussed and agreed with your line manager.
Any move to Ofsted from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility here .
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Application and Shortlisting:
As part of the process you will be asked to provide a complete online application form, providing evidence in the technical skills section on how you meet the essential criteria's in section 2 of the job description. This should outline how your skills and experience provide evidence for your suitability for the role.
Use the STAR model (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to present your evidence.
You will also be asked to provide information within the “Employer/Activity History” section of the application form. This information is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV setting out your career history (this may be used in the sifting process).
Interview:
At the interview stage you will be assessed against the essential criteria and the Civil Service Behaviours detailed in section 2 of the job specification.
The most suitable candidates will be invited to attend an assessment and interview at
Foss House, York. Please ensure you are available to attend during the
week commencing Monday 17 July 2023.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a 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:
- Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- 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
- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- UK nationals
- 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)
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
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) .
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window) .
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
Further information
The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles, which can be found at:
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/02a_RECRUITMENT-PRINCIPLES-April-2018-FINAL-.pdf
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email Ofsted recruitment at
[email protected] in the first instance.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at:
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/
