Business Support Officer - Childrens Social Care

Solihull Children's Services have a fantastic opportunity to recruit a number of enthusiastic and motivated Business Support Officers to join our friendly Business Support Team located in our modern offices at the Bluebell Centre and Chelmunds Place, Chelmsley Wood. We have opportunities for full time and part time positions within our Safeguarding and Corporate Parenting business support teams. Working with a busy team of Business Support Officers, you will contribute to making a difference to the children, young people and families of Solihull. You will be responsible for providing a comprehensive administrative and information support service that will allow our Social Work Teams to function effectively. Your duties will also include:

• To arrange, co-ordinate and attend a range of meetings.
• To efficiently take and distribute the minutes for complex multi-agency meetings.
• To act as a key contact for enquiries, building relationships with colleagues and other professionals to handle queries effectively and with sensitivity and discretion.
• Maintaining information systems, both computerised and manual, ensuring records are accurately kept.
• Collating and providing statistical information as and when required.
  
  To be successful in this role you will need either 4 GCSEs at Grade A-C (or equivalent) including Maths and English, or the ability to demonstrate equivalent numeracy and literacy skills, or an NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration.
You will also have significant experience of office administration and taking minutes at meetings. You will use your initiative to prioritise your workload to meet deadlines in a highly demanding environment and will have experience of dealing with challenging situations. An excellent communicator, you will have the confidence and ability to deal with a variety of multi-disciplinary professionals on a range of matters and the ability to handle highly sensitive and confidential information. You will enjoy working as part of an effective team but also work independently to a high standard whilst working remotely., In return, we offer the opportunity to develop your experience and skills within a friendly, professional working environment. And at Solihull we also offer employees a competitive salary, together with a range of flexible working options, attractive staff benefits and access to the Local Government Pension Scheme. Working on a hybrid basis; this role will involve a predominately office-based period of induction, followed by a combination of home and office working, to meet business needs. If you are someone with a passion for helping and supporting children in need we would love to hear from you., This post is covered by the Fluency Duty, as outlined in the Code of Practice on the English language requirements for public sector workers.

We've implemented a new system from Monday 4th March which will improve your candidate experience! To access your candidate portal for our new system, head to https://solihull.wm-jobs.co.uk/members/ About Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council Solihull is regarded as a popular and vibrant place to live in the UK. As one of the most prosperous towns in the Midlands, almost two thirds of our borough is designated as green belt. We have over 1,500 acres of parks across the borough, with 16 Green Flag Awards. Solihull is very well connected, with great transport links such as the M40, M42 and M6 all close by, and an excellent rail network, plus, of course, an international airport. We are home to the award-winning Touchwood Shopping Centre, National Exhibition Centre, Resorts World Birmingham, and the Resorts World Arena. It is an exciting time for Solihull, although we are a relatively small local authority (c. 6000 employees), we still have ambitious plans including the development of UK Central and HS2. Here at Solihull Council, we want to ensure that all our citizens have an equal chance to share in Solihull's success. We do this by putting our customers at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our employees are the key factor in achieving our vision and as such, we are always on the lookout for talented individuals, who want to make a real positive difference to people's lives and can help us to continue building on our success. The transition to Smarter Working has presented us with the opportunity to re-think how and where we work. With the option to access portable technology, dependent upon the requirements of the role, a lot of our people are not bound to a single workplace or traditional ways of working, with many choosing to spend a good proportion of their week working from home. Our people told us that they value flexibility, and that choice enables them to have a better work-life balance, manage family responsibilities, enhance their personal wellbeing, and continue to deliver excellent outcomes for the residents of Solihull. Our people are our number one asset, and our aim is to have a healthy, happy engaged and thriving workforce. Wellbeing is at the heart of our employee offer and we are a bronze accredited West Midlands Combined Authority Thrive at Work employer. This recognises our commitment and action in support of employee wellbeing. Unpaid carers carry out a key role within our community and know that this can be challenging when combined with employment. Our Carer's Policy, Employee Carers Network and the ongoing support we give to our employees has resulted in us winning Employer of the Year 2022 at the Carer Friendly Awards.


• Competitive salaries including, for those at the top of their scale, the opportunity to receive a non-consolidated lump sum;
• A range of flexible working options;
• Annual leave starting at 25 days and rising to 30 days after 5 years' service in addition to public holidays with an opportunity to purchase up to 10 additional days' holiday per year;
• A generous flexitime scheme (available for most roles);
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme;
• A wide range of learning and development opportunities;
• A range of family friendly policies;
• Employee benefits including subsidised travel passes, Cycle 2 Work Scheme, confidential Employee Assistance Programme and staff discounts.
Solihull Council is proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees - a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. As users of the Disability Confident Scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who demonstrate they meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy. Solihull Council has a responsibility for, and is committed to, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk, and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. For roles eligible for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check this will be indicated in the advert and supporting recruitment documents. Where the post involves working with children, other vulnerable groups or in a position of trust it is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Further guidance is available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945449/rehabilitation-of-offenders-guidance.pdf Please note, where sufficient numbers of applications are received, we reserve the right to close a vacancy before the advertised closing date. We therefore advise that you submit your application as soon as possible.