Job Introduction
Business Support Assistant (Portsmouth Youth Justice Service)
We are looking for an experienced administrative assistant to support the Youth Justice Service. Permanent contract, salary £24,420 - £25,652 pro rata, per annum, working 18.5 hours per week (Wednesday 8:30am- 12.45pm, Thursday 8.30am-5.00pm and Friday 8.30pm-4.30pm) based at Portsmouth Civic Offices.
The Service
The Youth Justice Service is situated in the Children, Families and Education Directorate of Portsmouth City Council. As a service we take pride in our work by valuing others, focusing on what's important so that we make a real and positive difference. We are a multi-disciplinary, partnership organisation that works both within Children and Families Services and the wider Youth Justice System. The YJS has one principle aim which is to prevent offending and reoffending behaviour by children and young people (10 – 17 years of age).
The Role:
You will need to have good communication skills, IT skills, and literacy levels with an ability to deliver good quality service to a range of people within and outside the team.
You will be:
Answering and filtering calls to YJS in relation to all areas of YJS work, including court work and facilitating requests for 'Appropriate Adults' for children who are in Police Custody. Processing data and documents to support YJS practitioners, including Court files, results etc.
Receiving and processing information, initial contacts, and referrals from other agencies such as Police, Probation, Health, and Social Care.
Entering information and outcomes on the YJA case management system (Core+) to ensure accurate records are made and maintained. Updating Core+ as required to ensure actions/decisions are recorded and can be communicated in a timely manner.
Other responsibilities include:
- Ordering stationery for the YJS team
- Taking minutes of YJS team meetings.
- Dealing with routine correspondence and general administration
- Providing ad-hoc Business Support tasks to the YJS Team
- Supporting the YJS Service Leader and Team Leaders with management reports, statistics, and data.
The ideal candidate
You will need to have/be
Experience of working within a customer service role, which is essential. It would be advantageous if this includes experience working Children's and/or Young People's Services.
Excellent telephone, and face to face communication skills to be able to deal with a very wide range of callers – some of whom might be very distressed or angry. A customer-focus (internal and external) and demonstrate consistently high standards of customer care and customer service. Able to respond appropriately to enquiries from parents/carers who may be anxious or emotional due to issues concerning the safeguarding and well-being of children.
A good listener as you will need to get the right information from a caller in order to put them in touch with the right people in the office. Empathy for others as you will be dealing with some difficult and upsetting situations. Able to demonstrate personal resilience and professionalism when exposed to explicit and emotionally challenging information.
Strong organisational skills and have a good attention to detail and level of accuracy and a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office and confident using IT systems (outlook/word/excel/databases) to undertake the admin tasks of the role.
Please see the Job profile for the full details of this role
Application process
We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.
As part of your application we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience.
We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal
You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.
We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616 800.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at Standard/Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children.
About Portsmouth City Council
What we can offer you:
Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.
Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our careers portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk. or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616800
