Administrator jobs in Watford, hertfordshire

Business Support Administrator

£30,000 per annum | Permanent | Full Time
Blackfriars, London | Office Based (5 Days Per Week)

Wandle Housing Association is looking for a proactive, organised and customer-focused Business Support Administrator to join our Health, Safety & Facilities team.

As the first point of contact for visitors, you'll play a key role in creating a professional first impression while providing vital administrative and facilities support to colleagues across the organisation.

This role would suit someone with reception, front of house, concierge or customer service experience who enjoys working in a busy office environment.

What You'll Be Doing

• Providing a professional front of house and reception service.
• Welcoming visitors, issuing security passes and managing meeting rooms.
• Delivering excellent customer service to internal and external stakeholders.
• Supporting the business with a variety of administrative tasks, including occasional minute taking.
• Managing post, office supplies and stock levels.
• Supporting Health & Safety and Facilities activities, including office inspections and liaising with contractors.
• Acting as a First Aider and Fire Warden (training provided if required).

What We're Looking For

Essential:

• Front of house, reception or concierge experience (office experience preferred, but other customer-facing sectors welcome).
• Excellent customer service skills and a professional, approachable manner.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• 5 GCSEs (or equivalent), including English.
• First Aid at Work qualification or willingness to complete the training.

Housing sector experience would be an advantage but is not essential. We're happy to consider candidates with around 6 months to 2 years' experience.

What's On Offer?

• £30,000 per annum
• Excellent benefits package
• Permanent, full-time opportunity
• Office-based in Blackfriars, Monday to Friday

Recruitment Process

Shortlisted candidates will complete an online TestGorilla assessment covering communication style, phone support and customer service skills (to be completed within 48 hours using a webcam).

In person interviews are planned for Monday 10th August and Wednesday 12th August. We're ideally looking for someone who can start mid to late August, so applicants with a maximum two-week notice period are encouraged to apply.

If you are interested in the role, please ensure as much of the essential experience is clearly highlighted (where possible) in your CV in bullet points under your previously worked at organisations and send it to  before Thursday 6th of August.

Job Purpose

Sequence ME & Long Covid is one of the most ambitious whole-genome sequencing studies ever undertaken into ME and Long Covid, co-led by Action for ME. Building on the success of DecodeME, this proposed £20 million study will use large-scale, long-read whole-genome sequencing to analyse the entire genetic code of 9,000 people with ME and 9,000 people with Long Covid - making it the world's largest 'long-read' whole-genome sequencing study of any disease.

Current funding supports project mobilisation, partnership development, and the development of the Long Covid arm of the study, including agreeing case definitions and gathering expressions of interest from people with Long Covid. Phase 2 has recently been confirmed, backed by £4.75m from the UK government and a further £174,414 from the WE&ME Foundation, and will focus on sequencing 6,000 ME/CFS samples previously collected through DecodeME using Oxford Nanopore's long-read sequencing technology, running alongside Phase 1.

You will play a pivotal role supporting the Sequence ME & Long Covid project in several different ways. Working closely with the project's management team and other team members, you will help ensure the smooth day-to-day running of this landmark study, providing administrative support to the various people and partners involved in delivering it.

As a self-starter, you will manage a range of tasks including meeting scheduling, taking meeting minutes, preparing governance documents, event administration, and broader project support - no two days will be the same.

You will need to maintain a high level of confidentiality at all times, particularly when supporting governance meetings and handling sensitive project documentation.

As a team player, you will provide comprehensive, confidential and organised administrative support, developing a deep understanding of the project and building strong, effective working relationships with colleagues, researchers and external partners.

Remote working at home can be challenging for some and works incredibly well for others. You will need to be able to work independently, use your own initiative, and remain proactive in maintaining good levels of communication with colleagues.

Key Duties

• Help monitor inboxes and respond to routine project enquiries in a timely and sensitive manner, escalating more complex matters as appropriate
• Assist the project's management team and other team members with meeting scheduling and diary coordination
• Take accurate minutes at project, management and other project-related meetings, and follow up and track resulting actions to completion
• Prepare, format and proof-read governance documents and papers
• Maintain and update project databases including the Teams channel, ensuring documents are saved correctly, other management information/recording systems to ensure accurate and timely record-keeping. Help with the tracking of expressions of interest from potential study participants.
• Provide administrative support for project events - from planning and logistics through to on-the-day support
• Help prepare presentations, slide decks and briefing materials for internal meetings, funders, partners and participant-facing communications
• Support the drafting, formatting and coordination of project communications, such as updates for partners, funders or the wider ME and Long Covid community
• Support coordination between internal teams and external partners, including research and funding partners
• Maintain project files and documentation in line with agreed communication operating procedures with internal and external partners ensuring information is well organised, up to date and easy for the team to access
• Maintain confidentiality at all times and in line with relevant policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with GDPR and that all data consent processes have been followed in relation to data protection
• Positively promote the work of the Sequence ME & Long Covid project and Action for ME at all times
• Undertake any other reasonable activity in line with the responsibilities of the post, as requested by the CEO, Business Development & Partnerships Manager, Senior Research Manager or the project's Management Team

Person Specification

Essential skills and experience

• Organisational skills - Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple tasks across a fast-moving research project, with attention to detail and accuracy maintained under pressure
• Communication - Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to interact effectively with diverse audiences including researchers, funders and people affected by ME and Long Covid
• IT literacy - Proficient with common office software, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint), and able to quickly learn relevant project management, database or communications systems as needed
• Problem-solving - A creative and solution-focused mindset to address challenges and find innovative ways to improve processes
• Adaptability - Capable of managing changing priorities, working flexibly, and adapting to the needs of a fast-paced, ambitious research programme
• Initiative - A proactive approach, with the ability to work independently and take initiative, while also following clear instructions when given
• Teamwork - A collaborative team player with a proven ability to work effectively as part of a team, including a remote-working team spanning multiple partners and stakeholders
• Interest in the sector - A genuine interest in health research, the Third Sector, and a desire to take action to improve the lives of people with ME and Long Covid
• Experience - Demonstrable ability to be an effective administrator, ideally within a charity, research, or project environment. Experience supporting governance processes, events, or communications would be an advantage but is not essential

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience providing administrative support for scientific or research-related projects
• Experience writing and communicating with non-specialist or general audiences

Please note, the salary of £24,642.09 FTE per year pro rata is based on a 35-hour week.

Office & Administration Assistant – Key Responsibilities 

Office management and administration 

• Maintain a welcoming, safe and efficient office environment that enables staff, volunteers and visitors to work effectively, in line with the ‘Groundswellian Way’, our coproduced principles for a safe, positive work culture.

• Manage the day-to-day running of the office, including , refreshments, office supplies, IT equipment, room bookings and reception duties.

• Coordinate incoming and outgoing post, telephone calls and enquiries through the central inbox, ensuring messages and requests are directed promptly to the appropriate member of staff. 

• Build positive working relationships with Workspace, office contractors and suppliers, including cleaners, maintenance providers and other building services. 

• Support Groundswell's commitment to environmental sustainability by promoting recycling, reducing waste and encouraging environmentally responsible office practices. 

• Ensure office administration is appropriately covered during periods of annual leave and support the wider administration team to provide consistent organisational support. 

• Recruit, support, supervise and train office volunteers where appropriate. 

Facilities, health and safety 

• Act as the day-to-day office lead for health and safety administration, supporting compliance with Groundswell's Health & Safety Policy. 

• Ensure all staff and volunteers receive relevant health and safety information during induction, including access to the health & Safety training video, awareness of fire procedures, emergency evacuation routes and workplace safety responsibilities. 

• Coordinate annual fire risk assessments, workplace risk assessments and PAT testing, ensuring appropriate records are maintained and actions completed. 

• Support the development and maintenance of Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) where required. 

• Liaise with Workspace to ensure landlord responsibilities relating to health and safety are fulfilled, including fire safety systems, signage and equipment maintenance. 

• Maintain records of accidents, incidents and near misses, ensuring statutory reporting requirements are met where appropriate. 

• Coordinate the maintenance and servicing of Groundswell's office equipment, facilities and assets, ensuring they remain safe, functional and fit for purpose. 

• Work closely with the Director of Finance & Fundraising and our external systems and finance support on matters around onsite assets and finances.

IT and Systems

• Oversee the day-to-day management of organisational assets, ensuring equipment is maintained, used appropriately and complies with organisational policies and cyber security requirements. 

• Complete IT trouble shooting on behalf of staff and volunteers, with external support. 

• Order IT equipment as needed with external support. 

• Complete basic set – up tasks on staff and volunteer devices with external support.

• Support staff and volunteers to upskill and improve their technological skills through the digital inclusion group. 

Organisational administration 

• Provide administrative support for organisational meetings, events and activities, including venue bookings, catering, logistics and preparation of materials. 

• Support the Chief Executive in implementing GDPR and data management processes, ensuring good administrative practice and compliance across the organisation. 

• Provide governance administration, including scheduling Board and Committee meetings, preparing meeting logistics, taking accurate minutes and maintaining action logs. 

• Provide administrative support to the Chief Executive, Trustees and Senior Leadership Team, including diary coordination, meeting arrangements and room bookings. 

• Support the recruitment and induction of Trustees as required by the Nominations Working Group.

• Support the People Manager with the onboarding and off-boarding of staff. 

General 

• Maintain accurate administrative systems, records and filing, ensuring information is organised, confidential and GDPR compliant. 

• Identify opportunities to improve office systems, administrative processes and ways of working to increase efficiency and effectiveness. 

• Work with the People Manager and Director of Fundraising & Finance to ensure policies and processes are accessible, in plain English and simple to follow; using step by step guides and images where appropriate.

• Build positive relationships across the organisation, providing responsive, friendly and professional support to colleagues, volunteers and external stakeholders. 

• Undertake any other reasonable duties consistent with the nature and level of the role. 

Groundswell responsibilities and the Groundswellian Way 

Act in line with our Code of Conduct and the Groundswellian Way in all interactions with colleagues, volunteers, partners and visitors. 

We want to: 

• create a safe, friendly and respectful working environment 

• encourage transparent communication so everyone knows what is expected of themselves and the organisation 

• ensure everyone feels valued and celebrates individual strengths 

• promote diversity, equity and fairness in everything we do 

• encourage collaboration and working together. 

Person Specification

Essential 

• Experience working in a busy office or administrative role. 

• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail. 

• Strong IT skills, including Microsoft 365.

• Ability to follow instructions and coordinate with consultants to complete IT set up and troubleshooting.

• Experience coordinating meetings and maintaining administrative systems. 

• Excellent communication and customer service skills. 

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work independently. 

• Understanding of confidentiality and GDPR. 

• Commitment to Groundswell's values and trauma-informed ways of working. 

Desirable 

• Experience supporting charity governance or trustee meetings. 

• Experience coordinating health and safety administration. 

• Experience supervising volunteers. 

• Knowledge of facilities management. 

• Lived experience of homelessness or social exclusion. 

Why join Groundswell? 

Key Benefits 

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time roles) 

• 5% employer pension 

• Flexible working options, including hybrid and part-time arrangements 

• Reflective practice or Clinical Supervision with a trained therapist for all team members 

Culture 

• Support - Regular guidance, support and the opportunity to reflect on your work through regular one to ones with your Line Manager 

• Teamwork - Regular opportunities to contribute to and learn from the wider Groundswell team 

• Strategic input - Opportunities to input into Groundswell’s strategic direction 

• Voice – The ability to input into working practices that impact you, and to know where to turn if any problems arise.

Application and Interview Process

Please let us know if you would like to request any accommodations or adjustments throughout the application and interview process. We will be very happy to support these wherever possible to give all applicants the best opportunity to showcase their skills and experience.

We encourage our candidates to draw from their personal and professional experiences, skills, knowledge and passion for our work in their applications, as we believe this will be the best representation of why you are the right fit for the role. While we acknowledge that Generative AI can be a useful tool when used selectively, we do not believe it can replace the authenticity that each individual can bring to their application. Therefore, we ask you to consider carefully any use of Generative AI throughout the application process.  

Application 

To apply please follow this link: 

Please submit your CV along with a cover letter stating: 

• How you meet each of the areas outlined in the person specification above  

• Why you are interested in doing this job at Groundswell.

You can find a guide to writing your cover letter here, which includes some tips and general guidance. 

The deadline for applications is 10am on Monday 17th August.

Interviews 

Interviews will be held in person on either Wednesday 2nd or Thursday 3rd September. 

We are a small charity with limited resources and are unable to give individualised feedback on unsuccessful applications before the interview stage.

Pre-employment checks 

The job offer for the successful candidate will be subject to a reference check.

Many thanks for taking the time to look into this role – it is an exciting opportunity, and we hope you will consider applying.