Job Introduction
We are looking for an organised and professional Business Support Officer to provide high-quality administrative assistance across a busy service.
The Service
The Building and Supporting Your Future Teams and Child Safety and Asylum Team provide social work support to our children in long-term care placements, unaccompanied minors and support to our care leavers. Staff in these teams are responsible for ensuring that our statutory responsibilities for children we care for and care leavers are properly met.
The Role
As Business Support Officer you will communicate regularly with professionals and service users by telephone and email, respond to and signpost enquiries, and ensure that accurate and professional records are maintained. This is a varied and challenging role that would suit someone who enjoys working collaboratively, can manage competing priorities and wants to make a positive contribution to services supporting children and young people.
Responsibilities will include managing correspondence, processing incoming and outgoing post, uploading documents and recording information on caseload systems. You will book appointments, arrange meetings and produce accurate minutes for complex and sensitive meetings, including Safeguarding Strategy meetings, within the required timescales. You will also maintain files and documentation and undertake word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation work.
You will support the administration process for unaccompanied minors, update systems relating to government returns and coordinate interpreters for the teams. The role will also involve processing purchase orders and invoices, collecting statutory data, preparing service performance information and providing specialist administrative support to service managers.
The ideal candidate
You will have previous experience in an administrative role, ideally within Children’s or Young People’s Services. You must be able to take accurate and detailed minutes during complex meetings that may include sensitive or confidential information. You will also need a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel and Outlook, together with strong literacy, numeracy and organisational skills
You will be customer-focused and committed to delivering consistently high standards of service to both internal and external customers. Excellent attention to detail, the ability to gather and organise information, and confidence in prioritising your own workload and coordinating the diaries of others will be essential. You will also be flexible and willing to support managers and practitioners in delivering effective services to children and families.
As you may communicate with parents, carers, professionals and service users who are anxious or distressed, you will need to respond calmly, sensitively and professionally. You must understand the importance of data protection and safeguarding and demonstrate the resilience required to work with explicit or emotionally challenging information relating to child maltreatment and abuse
Please ensure that you read the full job profile attached for the details and expectations of this role, paying particular attention the section 'Who is the person' as you will need to refer to this when completing your Personal statement.
Working Arrangements: This role is initially officed based initially until competent to work in a hybrid way after 5 months probationary period
Interviews will be held on 12th November 2026
About Portsmouth City Council
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.
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.
Our Recruitment process
We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.
We strongly encourage candidates to add all Career and Education History to their application, as CVs are not reviewed as part of the shortlisting process.
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. If you apply without a detailed personal statement, it is unlikely that you will be successful.
You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it
We are a disability confident employer and have an Armed Forces Covenant. We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under one of our commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however, for roles that receive a large number of applications, this is not always possible, and we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal
Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council
Safeguarding
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. Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.
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. Please read the relevant DBS privacy notice before submitting any information.
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.
