Partnership Business Support Officer

The Opportunity

FTE Salary: NJC Grade 6 £27,254 to £28,598 per annum

Actual Salary: Pro rata £22,097 to £23,187 per annum

Contract Type: Fixed Term / Secondment until 31 July 2027

• Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. Please can you discuss and agree this with your manager before applying.

Working Pattern: 30 hours per week, part-time

Location: County Hall, Chichester with hybrid working. Please note that some meetings will need to be attended in-person to locations across West Sussex

Are you passionate about supporting children through a coordinated approach?

Do you have experience in executive administration and handling of confidential information?

We are looking for a Partnership Business Support Officer to join the West Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSSCP) Business Team.

This is an administrative role, where you will be supporting the business team and the wider partnership members to deliver the statutory safeguarding functions of the WSSCP as described in Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Respond to Internal and External Enquiries - Manage and respond promptly and professionally to enquiries and escalation requests received via email, telephone, and other communication channels.
• Inbox Management - Oversee and maintain the public-facing WSSCP inbox, ensuring timely and accurate responses and appropriate escalation where necessary.
• Meeting Administration - Provide comprehensive administrative support for statutory partnership meetings, including agenda preparation, minute-taking, use of technology/ virtal meeting platforms (MS Teams) attendee coordination, and follow-up actions.
• Information and Data Management - Collate, maintain, and share information and data relevant to statutory safeguarding partnership work, ensuring accuracy and compliance with data protection requirements.
• Event and Diary Coordination - Support the organisation of large statutory partnership meetings and events, and manage the WSSCP diary to ensure effective scheduling and prioritisation.
• Workload Management- Demonstrate the ability to manage conflicting deadlines, using your own initiative to problem solve and prioritise own workload effectively to meet business needs.
• Excellent Communication and Organisational Skills - Maintain high standards of communication and organisation, exercising initiative and flexibility to adapt to changing priorities.

Please note:

You will need to have high levels of personal resilience as the role will require you to read sensitive and confidential material relating to children and their families.

The role of Business Support Officer requires prolonged periods of concentration in order to take minutes, process documents, prepare reports, and prepare other complex documents for distribution.

The role may also require travel across West Sussex locations and occasionally beyond, for which your travel expenses will be paid.

For more information on the Key Skills, Qualifications and/or Experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

About You

Key Skills (These will be used as the shortlisting criteria):

• Ability to interpret complex information to produce high-quality meeting minutes and documentation with minimal guidance. Good literacy and numeracy skills in order to understand complex written instructions describing tasks, and to be able to check financial invoices and work on spreadsheets, including financial data.

• Ability to support the planning of partnership meetings, presenting information clearly, concisely and accurately. Ability to organise and prioritise work, coordinate a range of activities, and manage short deadlines and conflicting priorities.

• Ability to provide clear and concise instructions and guidance to a range of contacts, including at senior management level.

• Excellent IT skills for word processing, data processing, updating websites, creating and developing workflows and electronic presentations, and the ability to investigate and troubleshoot system-related problems and provide solutions.

• Ability to work independently and use your initiative, whilst working closely with your manager to obtain guidance and support.

• Ability to act with discretion, when working with confidential and sensitive information.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• Administrative experience using appropriate office systems and practices.
• Experience of working on own initiative, prioritising own workload, working to strict deadlines and co-ordinating a variety of activities.
• Experience of organising and minuting complex meetings involving a range of partners and agencies discussing sensitive information.
• Experience of dealing with a wide range of professionals at a senior level.

Please refer to the key skills in your application (CV and Cover Letter) as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.

About Us

Our vision for the West Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership is to develop "an assured Safeguarding Partnership, which collectively engages with children and their families, enabling them to thrive."

Working across West Sussex we have the opportunity to shape our multi-agency safeguarding arrangements to continue to improve our services and outcomes for children, young people and their families. It is clear from recent local developments that a strong and purposeful multi-agency approach to child protection is essential to drive swift and sustainable improvements to practice in key areas.

For more information on our service, please visit About Us on the West Sussex SCP Safeguarding Children Partnership website

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:

Employer Pension Contribution: 18.70% (this alters per annum on the 1 April each year).

Annual leave: 25 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 33 days (pro rata)

How to Apply

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06077.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Libby Pearce at

To apply, please follow the links below to upload a Cover Letter and your completed Application form.

In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to a DBS check, three years referencing, and an occupational health check.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application helppage.

Job Reference: CAFHE06077