Location

Multi-location from one of our FSA Offices (Belfast, Cardiff, Birmingham, London or York), or home based in the UK. Quarterly travel will be required to the London or York office. Irregular UK travel may be required as necessary. Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas.

About the job Summary

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1300 people, with a big vision – to drive change in the food system so that it delivers “food we can trust”. Our primary goal is to continue to protect public health and consumers’ wider interest in food. As we have now exited the EU the FSA faces a significant period of change and activity.

Job description

Our ability to succeed at this moment in our history will come down to the effectiveness of our organisation. We need to ensure we run our operations as smoothly and efficiently as possible. The FSA is always looking for ways to improve how we do things, and the administrative movements of the Agency have continuously proven to be a vital part of ensuring we remain a successful and productive organisation.

The PA Manager role seeks to enable this culture of smooth operations and continuous improvement. Sitting at the very heart of this important government department, the post holder will oversee the line management of the Agency’s eight Personal Assistants, ensuring that our directors and SCS staff have access to the highest level of professional support.

Working closely with the Head of the PA Services Team, the post holder’s aim will be to help the Personal Assistants deliver on their roles whilst enabling their professional development and actively seeking to improve the way the team operates in order to allow them to deliver at the highest level.

From strong managerial skills to unparalleled organisational ability, the successful candidate will need to demonstrate a range of abilities that will enable them to best meet the challenging requirements of the role. Working in a fast moving and exciting environment, their good judgement and finely honed skills will determine not only their success, but that of a team that plays an integral role to the Agency’s machinations.

Candidates should be able to translate an eye for the bigger picture into smart and effective decision making that will benefit the FSA as a whole, and their strong communication skills will play a vital role in fulfilling their duties and enabling our teams to better themselves and serve the public. If you are excited to take on this challenge and lead the PA team to greater successes, do not hesitate to apply for this exciting role.
 

Responsibilities

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process. We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Things you need to know Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. This will consist of shortlisting against the essential and desirable person specification criteria stated. If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to the final selection stage consisting of an experience/behaviours-based interview.

In the event of receiving a large number of applications an initial sift may take place on just the identified lead criteria indicated below:
• Proven ability of effective line management of staff

The FSA is committed to being an inclusive employer with a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from people from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds, cultures and experiences.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached terms and conditions statement.

Any move to the Food Standards Agency 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 at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

A reserve list will be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• 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)
• 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

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

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.