Business Support Assistant

Birmingham Forward Steps is a citywide service delivered collaboratively by Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust working alongside Barnardo's, and other voluntary organisations, operated across 10 districts for children and their parents/ carers from shortly before birth up to the age of five. The service, commissioned by is designed to provide all families of pre-school children with accessible, community-based services in their own homes, GP surgeries, children's centres and a number of other community venues such as places of worship or libraries, with extra help available to those that need it.

Barnardo's is directly managing 4 of those districts and we are seeking to recruit a part time – 22.5 hours per week – Administrator/receptionist for Northfield Family Hub/Children's Centres in Birmingham.  The working pattern for this role is Wednesday to Friday 9am to 5pm.  Please note that this is a locality-based role, and on-site presence will be required.  It will not be possible to undertake this role on a virtual/remote basis.

It is essential that the successful candidate has the following:

 Experience/Skills

• Proven office experience.
• Proven experience of using IT packages including word processing, spread sheets, databases, Windows applications.
• Experience of dealing with members of the public and other agencies.
• Well-developed numeracy and literacy skills
• Substantialexperience of IT systems including the use of word, Excel and database systems.
• Substantial experience of general office procedures.
• Substantialexperience of data inputting, maintaining records
• Able to maintain strict confidentiality and work within data protection guidelines.
• Able to work effectively as a member of a team and on own initiative.
• Able to work in a thorough and systematic way, paying attention to detail.
• Able to communicate effectively with staff, young people and visitors.
• Able to deal with constant interruptions from visitors, staff and young people.
• Able to prioritise own workload and meet tight deadlines.

Main duties & responsibilities of the role include:

• Undertaking daily, weekly and monthly health and safety checks
• Required to be a certified First Aider and Fire Marshall
• Overseeing all bookings for meeting rooms and dealing with any queries that may arise
• Dealing with incoming phone calls/voicemails/emails and responding accordingly
• Returning IT equipment
• Taking minutes at line group meetings and at other meetings as required

This role may require you to travel independently across the Northfield District therefore you must be flexible and adaptable, particularly in relation to working hours and location.

Should you require any further information regarding this role, please email Clare Cartmell, Recruiting Manager: clare.cartmell@barnardos.org.uk

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible. Applications should be submitted through the Barnardo's Job Site. We do not accept CVs.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

• Reference number:22557
• Job Title:Business Support Assistant
• Location:Birmingham
• Locality:Northfield
• Contract type:Permanent
• Hours:22.5
• Salary:£23,751 - £24,651
• Closing Date:29 March 2026
• Interview Date:tbc