Administrator / Business Assistant
Job Description
Location: This role is based at the BGS headquarters in Keyworth in Nottingham
Salary: salary range is £20,129 to £21,879 (depending on qualifications and experience)
Grade: UKRI – Band B
Hours: Full-time – 37 hours a week (some flexible working options may be available)
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: 26th March 2023
About the role
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is looking for a highly motivated and professional Administrator / Business Assistant to join the Environmental Change, Adaptation and Resilience (ECAR) science Challenge Area at our headquarters in Keyworth, Nottingham.
The Administrator / Business Assistant will be working with and supporting a group of friendly and very welcoming scientists, and they will also provide comprehensive administrative support to the ECAR Chief Scientist and Challenge Programme Manager, enabling them both to carry out their roles as effectively as possible.
This exciting role involves undertaking a wide variety of tasks, including the use of a range of software packages and IT systems, working flexibly to facilitate the projects, events, meetings, and other priorities of the ECAR challenge area.
Working independently on day-to-day tasks, you will also support and be supported by a small team of other Administrators / Business Assistants covering the other BGS business/science areas and this is coordinated by a Business Assistant Group Facilitator. The key duties and responsibilities for this role will include:
- Diary Management – using Microsoft Outlook effectively, including booking/cancelling/re-arranging appointments as necessary
- Arranging travel and accommodation (both in the UK and internationally) and providing itinerary packs and supporting travel and subsistence expenses claims as required
- Supporting internal and external events/meetings, including booking venues and catering, producing agendas, prompting follow up on actions, providing reception duties and collecting visitors where necessary
- Taking minutes and action points at meetings when required
- E-mail management and monitoring
- Production and formatting of documents (e.g. letters, project reports, spreadsheets).
- Ordering goods e.g. stationery, equipment, PPE stock, and printer supplies
- Arranging for items/goods to be couriered
- Raising of purchase orders and general finance management, in line with procurement rules/limits – also, monitoring and payment of invoices using the Oracle e-Business Suite
- Other general administrative duties e.g. supporting/covering for other Business Assistants and various record keeping activities.
About you
Are you educated to at least GCSE (or equivalent) standard and/or have relevant comparable work experience, providing high-quality support in an administrative or secretarial role? A qualification in customer service and/or business administration (e.g. NVQ level 2 or 3 in business administration) would be highly desirable.
You will have excellent verbal and written communication skills and be able to connect with people at all levels clearly and concisely. We are looking for highly organised candidates who also have knowledge of and experience of using a variety of Microsoft Office and other IT applications, in particular Outlook, Word, and Excel, plus a willingness to develop these skills further.
Please also refer to the specific essential and desirable skills criteria for this post.
About us
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is an applied geoscience research centre that belongs to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and is affiliated to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). It is a world leading geological survey whose core mission is to advise government of science related to the subsurface and to undertake applied research to solve earth and environmental issues, both in the UK and globally. It is funded directly by UKRI, as well as through research grants and private sector contracts.
BGS has an annual budget of approximately £60 million and employs 650 people. It has two main sites: a head office in Keyworth near Nottingham, and the Lyell Centre, which is a collaboration with Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. BGS also has offices within the headquarters of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, where the position advertised here is based. BGS works with more than 150 private sector organisations, has close links with 40 universities, and sponsors approximately 100 PhD students each year.
