Trac proudly powers the recruitment for
UK Health Security Agency
About
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) prevents, prepares for and responds to infectious diseases, and environmental hazards, to keep all our communities safe, save lives and protect livelihoods.
We provide scientific and operational leadership, working with local, national and international partners to protect the public’s health and build the nation’s health security capability.
UKHSA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Contact
- Address
- 10 South Colonnade
- London
- E14 4PU
Estates, Engineering and Facilities Administrator
Accepting applications until: 21-Sep-2026 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 21-Sep-2026 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- Scientific Campus
- Town
- Porton
- Postcode
- SP4 0JG
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Job share
- Flexible working
Salary
- Salary
- £28,547 - £33,196 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (Civil Service: Executive Officer (EO))
Specialty
- Main area
- Estates, Engineering and Facilities Administrator
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) prevents, prepares for and responds to infectious diseases, and environmental hazards, to keep all our communities safe, save lives and protect livelihoods.
We provide scientific and operational leadership, working with local, national and international partners to protect the public’s health and build the nation’s health security capability.
UKHSA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Job overview
Reporting to the Business Support Officer, the Estates, Engineering and Facilities (EEF) Administrator will provide an accurate and effective administrative service. The post holder will provide day-to-day administrative and/or dedicated PA support to the EEF senior management team. They will maintain effective working relationships with a variety of stakeholders both internal and external to the organisation. The post holder will work with minimal supervision and be expected to work flexibly as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing a wide range of specific administrative duties. The post holder may work with colleagues who are based across the country at different sites and/or who work remotely.
Advert
Key responsibilities:
- Coordinate and deliver a comprehensive business support function for the EEF team.
- Maintain governance processes, records, action trackers and management information.
- Coordinate purchasing activities and maintain financial records.
- Produce reports, presentations and briefing materials for senior managers.
- Provide high-quality executive support to the EEF Senior Management Team.
- Act as a central point of contact for business support activities and enquiries.
- Provide high-quality executive support to the EEF Senior Management Team.
- Build and maintain effective stakeholder relationships.
- Review processes and implement improvements to enhance efficiency and service delivery
Please note, the above list is not exhaustive.
Working for our organisation
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all. Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Specific duties will vary depending on current focuses, but examples of these will include:
- Provide comprehensive administrative and business support to the EEF team, ensuring the efficient day-to-day running of the function.
- Deliver high-quality PA support to senior members of the EEF team, as required. This will include proactive diary management, monitoring and responding to correspondence, arranging meetings and travel, and drafting routine correspondence.
- Provide effective administrative support to Senior and Middle Managers within the department, supporting delivery of team and organisational objectives.
- Act as a central point of contact for a range of business administration activities, taking delegated responsibility for specific departmental processes. This will include coordinating permanent and temporary pass requests and managing enquiries received via the EEF Admin inbox.
- Communicate clearly and professionally with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, responding to enquiries promptly and courteously by email, telephone, letter, or in person, and escalating or referring issues where appropriate.
- Organise and support meetings and events, including the preparation and distribution of papers, taking and circulating minutes, maintaining action logs, and following up on actions as required.
- Maintain accurate and timely records and management information, producing reports and documentation in agreed formats. This will include developing, updating and maintaining databases using a range of systems and applications, in line with legislation, policies and procedures.
- Raise and receipt departmental purchase orders in accordance with Standing Financial Instructions and support effective financial control.
- Organise and maintain comprehensive electronic and/or paper filing systems to ensure information is accessible, secure and compliant with records management requirements.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of administrative systems and procedures, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, quality and cost-effectiveness across the business support function.
- Provide additional administrative resource to support the Dispatch Service when required, contributing to business resilience.
- Manage and prioritise own workload effectively, working with minimal supervision to meet deadlines and deliver a high-quality service.
- Provide cover for colleagues and undertake additional duties as directed by the line manager, in line with business needs.
The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You shall carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by your line manager.
Essential Criteria:
- Educated to A Level standard (or equivalent qualification) in English, Languages, or Humanities or able to demonstrate equivalent administrative experience in managing administrative processes, records, communication and business support systems.
- Experience providing administrative support in a busy office environment, including organising meetings, preparing documentation and taking accurate minutes.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear and professional correspondence and documentation independently.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, demonstrating a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Proven ability to work independently, or collaboratively, organising and prioritising workloads, manage competing deadlines and adapt to changing priorities.
- Strong attention to detail, maintaining accurate records and handling information appropriately and confidentially.
Desirable Criteria:
- Previous experience working within a construction or engineering environment.
- Experience of providing Personal Assistant (PA) support, including diary management, inbox management and travel arrangements.
- Demonstrates initiative and a proactive approach to identifying issues, improving processes and systems, and implementing effective solutions to enhance service delivery and efficiency.
- Experience of administering financial processes, including raising purchase orders, invoice processing, budget monitoring or similar activities.
- Experience of maintaining databases, electronic records management systems or shared team mailboxes
- Experience of supporting meetings and events involving multiple stakeholders.
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours, Technical Skills and Experience.
Stage 1: Application & Sift
You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 7 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:
-
Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
-
750 word supporting statement.
This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.
You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V –please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.
Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 750 words. We will not consider any words over 750 words.
Longlisting:
In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:
- Meets all essential criteria
- Meets some essential criteria
- Meets no essential criteria
If used, the pile(s) ‘Meets all essential criteria’ will proceed to shortlisting.
Shortlisting:
In the event of a large number of applications we may conduct an initial sift, on the lead criteria of:
- Experience providing administrative support in a busy office environment, including organising meetings, preparing documentation and taking accurate minutes.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear and professional correspondence and documentation independently.
Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications or large amount of successful candidates.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.
Stage 2: Interview
You will be invited to a single face to face interview at Porton.
If face to face interviews are planned, in exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.
Behaviours, Technical Skills and Experience will be tested at interview.
Technical Skills will be assessed through a 20 minute minuting assessment.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:
- Communicating and Influencing (Lead behaviour)
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
Experience will be assessed through experience based questions.
Interview dates are to be confirmed.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Location
This role is being offered as office based at our Scientific Campus in Porton.
Based at our scientific campus, you will be required to have a Counter Terrorism Check security vetting check as a minimum. For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years as the role requires Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) clearance. In exceptional circumstances UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.
This role is based at Porton. Please note hybrid working is not available for this role.
Security Clearance Level Requirement
Successful candidates must pass a basic disclosure and barring security check before they can be appointed.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Counter-Terrorist Check .
Eligibility Criteria
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including internal applicants).
Salary Information
If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ
If you experience technical difficulties when using Trac, please contact Support via https://apps.trac.jobs/support and provide screenshots/details of the issue encountered. If Trac cannot resolve your issue, you should notify the UKHSA Recruitment Team at [email protected] as soon as possible.
Please note that where no technical issue has been recorded by Trac, and no supporting evidence has been provided before the closing deadline, we will be unable to accept late applications. We therefore recommend submitting applications well in advance of the closing date and taking screenshots of any issues encountered.
Qualifications and Registrations
For roles where specific qualifications or registrations are required, successful applicants will be asked to provide appropriate evidence. Employment cannot commence until satisfactory documentation has been received and verified.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Link below:
Artificial intelligence and recruitment | Civil Service Careers
This is a Non-Reserved post under the Civil Service Nationality Rules. To be eligible for employment in the UK Civil Service applicants must meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) which operate independently of and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks.
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
For more information on job nationality requirements and the right to work in the UK, see the Civil Service Nationality rules (opens in a new window) and the UK Visas and Immigration rules (opens in a new window)
For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.
The Civil Service pay structure and progression is different from NHS Agenda for Change (AfC), most local authority pay grades and other systems that have annual pay increments. For further details, please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment.
For AfC or Medical/Dental posts, you must have the correct professional registration to be appointed. The pay will follow the AfC or Medical & Dental terms & conditions. You may be asked to provide evidence of previous service whilst we are conducting pre-employment checks to determine your starting salary.
For Temporary Appointments, if you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment. You may be able to take this role up as a Secondment. If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan which you will need your department to agree. You cannot take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA’s Pay policy.
From time to time, the role holder may be required to support UKHSA’s incident response activity by contributing their appropriate expertise within an Incident Cell; during such periods, supported by the line manager, this work will take priority over normal day‑to‑day responsibilities, commensurate with their grade, skills and experience.
Late Applications will unfortunately not be considered.
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website here.
Reserve List - If more than the required number of suitable candidates pass the interview criteria, you may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months subject to your agreement. You may be contacted, in merit-order, if similar roles with closely matching essential criteria become available and the department choose to appoint from a reserve list.
The panel will assess if candidates meet the requirement of the role first, using a specific benchmark system. If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.
Interview expenses will not be reimbursed.
UKHSA is required to check employment and/or education history covering three consecutive years. Please ensure you give details of at least two different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.
If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.
Any move to UKHSA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
Benefits of working at UKHSA include:
- Generous annual leave:
-26 days for the first 5 years of continuous service
-28 days after 5 years of continuous service
-32 days after 10 years of continuous service
-Plus public holidays and one privilege day for the King’s birthday - Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions.
- Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving.
- Access to a retail discounts and cashback site.
- We also promote flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours). UKHSA views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including working from home, compressed hours and job sharing.
- We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package.
Hybrid Working
UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce.
As a hybrid worker, you will usually spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted hours (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (approximately 3 days a week pro rata) and the rest of your time working from home.
Disability Confident Scheme
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria at sift to ensure these candidates are invited to interview. If you wish to be included in this scheme please tick the box on your application form.
Reasonable Adjustments
The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone.
To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any reasonable adjustments that could help you.
An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work.
This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme.
If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should:
Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.
You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/
International Police Check
If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and could be time accrued over that period.
Internal Fraud check
If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.
Security Vetting
Please check the Security Clearance needed for the role and follow the link for more information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels
Future location
UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK.
The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.
Agenda for Change roles -NHS Pension
For roles offered under Agenda for Change (AFC) Terms and Conditions (and if you are eligible)
• If you are already on AFC T&Cs or accept the role on a fixed-term contract, you will be enrolled in the NHS Pension Scheme or keep your current AFC Pension.
• If you take the role on a loan or temporary promotion, you will retain your existing, substantive T&Cs.
• If the role is available under either AFC or Civil Service T&Cs depending on your registration, your pension scheme will align accordingly.
Person specification
Application and supporting statement
Essential criteria
- Application and supporting statement
Behaviours
Essential criteria
- Communicating and Influencing
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
Assessment
Essential criteria
- Technical Skills
Documents
- Job Advert (PDF, 375.5KB)
- Civil Service Recruitment Principles (PDF, 2.6MB)
- Civil Service Nationality Rules (PDF, 195.3KB)
- Application Form Guidance Notes (PDF, 77.3KB)
- Information Sheet - Starting salaries and benefits (PDF, 129.4KB)
- Information Sheet - Selection Process (PDF, 110.1KB)
- Working at UKHSA and your benefits (PDF, 219.2KB)
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Charlene Gwekwerere
- Job title
- Resourcing Support Officer
- Email address
- [email protected]
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