Team Assistant - Research and Evidence, Policy and Public Affairs

Context and Background

The NSPCC's mission is to prevent cruelty to children in the UK. We're leading the fight against child abuse in the UK and Channel Islands. We believe that every childhood is worth fighting for. 

The Strategy and Knowledge directorate (S&K) is responsible for organisational strategy, developing and influencing public policy, championing an evidence-based approach in all our work, developing innovative services and managing our knowledge and information. It sits at the heart of all that we do and is responsible for ensuring we have a consistent, authoritative, evidenced voice across all the activities that will advance our strategy; policy influencing, service, products and campaigns. 

The Team Assistant will work across two teams, in the directorate: Research & Evidence and Policy & Public Affairs. 

The Research & Evidence team carries out, commissions and facilitates high quality research, evaluation and evidence-gathering to advance NSPCC's understanding, and improve the evidence base, about the prevention of child abuse and neglect, and how to support children who have experienced it. Our research helps us to understand the impact we have in our work with children, families and communities, how we can improve that work, and enables us to understand the needs, wants and experiences of children and families we seek to support. 

The Policy and Public-Affairs team works to ensure that national laws, policies and guidance across the UK are fit-for-purpose in preventing cruelty to children. We develop and maintain the NSPCC's positions on key public policy issues, drawing on research and policy analysis and feed in organisational insight and expertise gained through our services We use our evidence-based positions to shape and influence national policy discussions on issues affecting child protection and manage the NSPCC's political relations and work with governments, legislatures and stakeholders across the UK. 

Job purpose

·       To provide an effective and efficient administrative support service to the Research & Evidence and Policy & Public Affairs teams.

·       To work with the Research & Evidence Assistant and the Policy & Public Affairs assistants, to ensure the smooth running of internal and external meetings and events

·       To provide administrative support for individual research and/or policy projects, as the need arises from time to time.

Key relationships - Internal

·       Report to the heads of Research & Evidence and Policy & Public Affairs, and works closely with staff across both teams.

·       Build and maintains working relationships with other executive assistants (Particularly the Research & Evidence Assistant and the Policy & Public Affairs Assistant), administrative and support staff and colleagues across the directorate, to enable the provision of high quality administrative support and information.

·       Liaise with colleagues in NSPCC People, Procurement, Legal and Finance teams to ensure smooth running of recruitment and purchasing processes

·       Responding to queries from colleagues across the NSPCC that come into the "research advice" inbox

·       Part of a group of assistants in the directorate that provide support and cover for one another.

Key relationships - External

·       Provide a customer service for NSPCC stakeholders externally, such as members of the NSPCC Research Ethics Committee.

·       Maintain and builds relationships with suppliers and other service providers, such as Dod's Parliamentary Services.

Main duties and responsibilities

·       Provide support to senior management of the Research & Evidence and Policy & Public Affairs teams, including supporting recruitment and induction, procurement

 

processes, financial processing and reporting, in line with NSPCC policies and procedures.

·       Plan and organise meetings and events, both internally and externally, including drafting agendas, taking minutes and ensuring meeting rooms, venues and refreshments etc. are booked.

·       Provide a professional and helpful service by handling and triaging calls, emails and messages from staff across NSPCC for: the Research Review Clinic, the Research

Ethics Committee, the Policy and Public Affairs inquiry email and external supporter queries

·       Represent the teams at relevant internal forums and working groups (e.g. facilities and using our buildings, health & safety).

·       Manage the Research & Evidence and Policy & Public Affairs team pages on The Green, alongside members of the teams and the Associate Heads of both teams

·       Manage the Policy and Public Affairs team pages on The Green, alongside members

·       Undertake ad hoe tasks, including projects and reporting, as requested by the Senior Management Teams of the Research & Evidence and Policy & Public Affairs teams, which may involve gathering and analysing information.

·       Deal with confidential and sensitive information in an appropriate manner.

 

Responsibilities for all Staff within Strategy and Knowledge

·       A commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

·       Application of NSPCC values and behaviours to all aspects of work

·       At all times to carry out the responsibilities of the post in a manner consistent with promoting equalities and diversity, and which demonstrates respect for children's rights.

·       To actively participate in regular team meetings and training, contributing at an appropriate level to strategy, discussions and decisions.

·       To maintain an awareness of own and others' health and safety and comply with local

·       Health and Safety policy and procedures.

Person specification

The right candidate for this role will have:

1.                   Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to organise and plan own work and help others to organise theirs.

2.                  Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to deal appropriately with internal and external stakeholders and colleagues.

 

3.                   Ability to work with others as part of a team, providing support as required, and building and maintaining effective working relationships.

4.                   Excellent written communication skills and the ability to understand, interpret and present information in a clear and accurate way for a range of audiences.

5.                   Sufficient numeracy skills, attention to detail and accuracy of information to enter and record financial and other data, as well as carrying out calculations and reporting on them.

6.                   Ability to deal with confidential information sensitively and appropriately.

7.                  Experience of running meetings, including arranging, facilitating, and taking accurate minutes and notes.

8.                   Experience of developing, maintaining and reviewing administrative systems and information systems.

9.                   Experience in using Windows-based software packages including Word, Outlook, Tearns and Excel.

 

Safer Recruitment

As an organisation, we are committed to creating and fostering a culture that promotes safeguarding and the welfare of all children and adults at risk.

 

Our safer recruitment practices support this by ensuring that there is a consistent and thorough process of obtaining, collating, analysing and evaluating information from and about candidates to ensure that all persons appointed are suitable to work with our children and adults.

 

The recruitment and selection of our people will be conducted in a professional, timely and responsive manner and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance.

 

Our principles:

 

 

·       Always seek to recruit the best candidate for the role based on merit including their skills, experience, motivation and competencies. Our robust recruitment and

 

selection process should ensure the identification of the person best suited to the role and the organisation.

 

·       Committed to diversity and equality of opportunity and will interview all applicants (internal and external) who self-declare at application as having a disability and who

meet the minimum requirements in the person specification of the vacancy they are applying for.

 

·       We will make reasonable adjustments at all stages of the recruitment process in order to enable successful candidates who declare disabilities to start working or

volunteering their time with us.

 

 

·       Any current member of staff or volunteer who wishes to apply for vacancies and is

suitably qualified will be considered and addressed fairly and objectively based on their merit.

 

·       As an organisation committed to safeguarding, we will ensure all under 18's joining the organisation will have ongoing risk assessments to ensure their role and

activities are safe and appropriate.

 

 

·       All documentation relating to candidates will be treated confidentially in accordance with the GDPR legislation.