About Us
Polaris Children’s Services is part of the Polaris Community of companies and delivers statutory and non-statutory social care services in the UK and to military communities overseas.
Since, we have provided social work services to the Ministry of Defence in Germany, and in November expanded our overseas work with the British military, associated civilian personnel and their families across Europe, Canada, Kenya, Belize, the United States of America and Saudi Arabia.
From st July, we expanded our services to include the British Forces Social Work Service in Cyprus and the South Atlantic Islands. On st April, we included Singapore, British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) and Gibraltar. From st May, we further expanded our services to include Brunei and Nepal.
While all services are under the management of Polaris Children’s Services, we are proud to have developed our own BFSWS brand with specific identities for each community of military social work services.
We are looking for a Business Support Officer to provide business support to our comprehensive and flexible social work service working in Brunei Garrison, with additional responsibilities to the rest of the team located elsewhere as required.
Role Responsibilities
1. Reception and general front-of-house duties in the BFSWS office
2. Administrative tasks, including receiving and responding to post, email and telephone enquiries
3. Assist in organising parenting and safeguarding courses
4. Assist in the collation and presentation of data in monthly, quarterly and annual reports as required
5. Arrange facilities as required by BFSWS for meetings or presentations, including booking venues and minute-taking
6. Liaise with the BSO Manager, ensuring information is forwarded or dealt with appropriately
7. Fully comply with all Military Standing Orders and familiarise yourself with those applicable within Brunei Garrison
8. Provide business support to the social work Rest of World team as required
9. Ensure systems are in place to capture social work workflow and generate required weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports as directed by the line manager
10. Ensure annual leave, sickness and other HR records are maintained and recorded on a database; monitor and process staff sickness absence as necessary
11. Arrange and maintain records of movements and travel arrangements for social work staff
12. Oversee expenses prior to authorisation, as directed by the line manager
13. Maintain efficient office management systems, ensuring that standard operating procedures and policy guidelines are adhered to
14. Prepare reports and correspondence as necessary
15. Minute-taking at meetings as required
16. Arrange repairs to existing equipment and order new equipment as required
17. Demonstrate flexibility and undertake any other related duties within the post holder’s skills and abilities as reasonably instructed
Requirements
18. GCSE Grade C (or equivalent) in English and Maths
19. Awareness and understanding of the Case Management System and other IT systems
20. Proven administrative experience with excellent IT skills, including Microsoft Office
21. Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people, both internally and externally, with a high standard of verbal and written communication
22. Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
23. Strong organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and manage your own workload and produce documents to a high standard
24. Ability to maintain confidentiality and understanding of the Data Protection Act and GDPR
25. Flexibility to travel, including overnight stays as required
Polaris Children’s Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment.