Working for the Richmond/ Wandsworth Shared Staffing Arrangement

Job Profile

Provisional Job Title:
Personal Assistant / Grade:
Indicative Grade: Scale 6
Section:
Business Resources / Directorate:
Education & Social Services
Responsible to:
Team Support Manager / Responsible for:
Post Number/s:
TBA / Date:
March 2016

Working for the Richmond/ Wandsworth Shared Staffing Arrangement

This role is employed under the Shared Staffing Arrangement between Richmond and Wandsworth Borough Councils. The overall purpose of the Shared Staffing Arrangement is to provide the highest quality of service at the lowest attainable cost.

Staff are expected to deliver high quality and responsive services wherever they are based, as well as having the ability to adapt to sometimes differing processes and expectations.

The Shared Staffing Arrangement aims to be at the forefront innovation in local government and the organisation will invest in your development and ensure the opportunities for progression that only a large organisation can provide.

Job Purpose:

To provide comprehensive PA and administrative support to Heads of Service, working flexibly within a small team to support a number of Directorate managers. Primarily responsible for providing administrative support to the Heads of Service in the Adults Service directorate (Early Intervention, Prevention and Professional Standards, Specialist Community Services and Business Resources).

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

1. To work as part of a team providing a flexible and full PA support service to Heads of Service in the Early Intervention, Prevention and Professional Standards, Specialist Community Services and Business Resources divisions. Develops effective admin systems to support the work.

2. To alert the Heads of Service to priorities in workload and weekly key actions to ensure deadlines are met, bearing in mind the key strategic priorities. Monitors items generated by the Heads of Service and initiates appropriate follow-up action to ensure deadlines and targets are met.

3. To provide full administrative support for the weekly Resource Allocation Panels (RAP).

4. To make recommendations to senior managers and implement systems to improve the efficiency of the administration of the RAP process to ensure fit for purpose.

5. To assist the Heads of Service in responding to complaints, enquiries from MPs and Council Members and Freedom of Information requests by monitoring progress and pro actively chasing relevant officers to ensure timescales are met.

6. To plan and arrange meetings, attending as required to take minutes. Ensures that appropriate follow-up action is taken as a result of meetings.

7. To retrieve information as required and provide summary information from physical files/case files and the client record system (e.g. Frameworki).

8. To ensure that the services for both Councils are dealt with on an equitable basis to deliver the standards required for each, as agreed annually by the Executives of both Councils.

9. To advise and support managers on relevant matters affecting the service.

10. To contribute as required to performance reviews and improvement measures on an ongoing basis, helping to ensure that a customer focus is embedded within the function and innovative and creative solutions are evaluated to secure the highest quality and value for money function.

11. To contribute as required to change programmes within the service.

12. To work as required in ways that develop good working relations and collaborative arrangements with internal and external stakeholders.

Generic Duties and Responsibilities

· To contribute to the continuous improvement of the Borough’s of Wandsworth and Richmond services.

· To comply with relevant Codes of Practice, including the Code of Conduct, and policies concerning data protection and health and safety.

· To promote equality, diversity, and inclusion, maintaining an awareness of the equality and diversity protocol/policy and work to create and maintain a safe, supportive and welcoming environment where all people are treated with dignity and their identity and culture are valued and respected.

· To understand the both Council’s duties and responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults as they apply to your role within the council.

· The Shared Staffing Arrangement will keep its structures under continual review and as a result the post holder should expect to carry out any other reasonable duties within the overall function, commensurate with the level of the post.

Current team structure

*Teams Covered:

Access; Review; Wandsworth Hospital Team; Teddington and Twickenham; Richmond and Barnes;

Wandsworth East; Wandsworth West; Learning Disability; Mental Health

Our Values and Behaviours[1]

The values and behaviours we seek from our staff draw on the high standards of the two boroughs, and we prize these qualities in particular –

· taking responsibility and being accountable for achieving the best possible outcomes – a ‘can do’ attitude to work

· continuously seeking better value for money and improved outcomes at lower cost

· focussing on residents and service users, and ensuring they receive the highest standards of service provision.

· taking a team approach that values collaboration and partnership working

Requirements / Assessed by A & I/ T/ C
Knowledge
Knowledge of the Care Act 2014, the Data Protection Act 1998, and the Information Security standard ISO27001. / A/I/T
Recognised level of expertise in relation to duties described in the job description. / A/I
Experience
Experience of working as a Personal Assistant or in an administrative capacity, including diary management. / A/I
Experience of planning, arranging and service meetings. / A/I
Experience of dealing with confidential information. / A/I
Skills
A good knowledge of and ability to use standard IT packages (Microsoft Office and Outlook) and to learn new packages. / A/I/T
Ability to use a client record system for locating records and use of case notes. / A/I
A good level of written and oral communication skills to provide clear and concise messages. / A/I/T
Ability to successfully organise and prioritise own workload, to work under pressure and meet deadlines. / A/I
Ability to work flexibly within a team environment and respond to changing priorities. / A/I
Qualifications
Educated to GCSE level with a minimum Grade C in English. Evidence of a secretarial qualification, eg., OCR/RSA level 2 or equivalent or by experience. / A/I/C

[1] These values and behaviours will be developed further as the SSA becomes established.