Suffolk County Council • Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3YU

Senior Administrator

About this role

  • Suffolk County Council

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Address

West Suffolk House, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3YU

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Salary

£28,598 per annum (pro rata for part time)

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Hours

37 hours per week

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Contract

Permanent

We’re focused on making a meaningful difference to communities across Suffolk. How? By listening to our people learning from what they say and creating a culture of mutual respect, where everyone works together to achieve great things. As a Business Support Co-ordinator in the Safeguarding and Reviewing Officer Service, you’ll be as keen to collaborate and build a bright future as we are. So, to make a positive impact, connect with us and connect with a fantastic career.

Reimagine the possibilities.

Your role and responsibilities

We are looking for an experienced and highly skilled Administrator with strong minute‑taking and typing skills who is proactive, effective and positive, and will provide essential support to our Safeguarding Teams. This is an excellent opportunity to work in a challenging yet rewarding area within Children and Young People’s Services.

Although this post is advertised as Senior Administrator, the successful candidate will be appointed as Business Support Co‑ordinator.

As part of the Safeguarding and Reviewing Officer business support team, you will be responsible for

  • Providing exceptional administrative and minute-taking support to the Safeguarding Service countywide, which incorporates Children in Care, Child Protection, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Service, and Family Group Conferencing.
  • Establishing and maintaining necessary administrative systems to efficiently support the Safeguarding Service, including processes linked to Family Group Conferencing coordination and documentation.
  • Day-to-day management of extremely busy mailboxes and calendars, ensuring timely support for Family Group Conferences and related safeguarding activities.

This role provides a vital support service to the Safeguarding Managers, Independent Reviewing Officers, Child Protection Chairs and Family Group Conference Coordinators across the County.

You will need

  • Our ideal candidate will be able to take minutes to a high standard
  • To deal with sensitive issues on a daily basis and respect confidentiality
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Deal with conflicting demands in an extremely busy environment.

You can view a full list of requirements in the Job and Person Profile (docx). If you believe you can succeed in this role, apply. Even if you don't meet all requirements, still apply. We would appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

The team

  • Provides outstanding business support to a team of Independent Reviewing Officers/Conference Chairs, Safeguarding Managers, LADO's and the Family Group Conferencing Service
  • Fast paced job with ever changing priorities
  • Great opportunities for in house training and development across all areas of the service
  • Working a minimum of 40% (2 days) a week from the office in line with Corporate Leadership direction. Additionally, we practice hybrid working.

Shaping Careers and Learning

We want to champion talent and seek to continuously develop everyone’s professional knowledge, potential and job satisfaction. Through accessible learning opportunities and clear career pathways we aim to identify individual strengths, diversify skill sets and enable people, from all walks of life, to build influential and impactful careers.

Empowering Everyone

We’re big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We’re always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

Positive Action

We’re big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We’re always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from male applicants. These groups are currently underrepresented in this role and service.

For more information

Please contact Julie Webb (she/her) for a casual conversation. You can reach them by calling 01284 758813 or emailing Julie.Webb@suffolk.gov.uk.

How to apply

Step 1 - Read the Job and Person Profile (Word).

Step 2 - Click ‘Apply Now’ to start your online application.

Step 3 - Upload a supporting statement answering the following questions below (no more than 400 words per question). You should use the Supporting Statement template.

1. Provide an example of a time when you had to handle sensitive or confidential information. How did you ensure it was protected?

2. How do you manage and organise multiple busy mailboxes and calendars efficiently? Provide an example

3. Describe your proficiency in using Microsoft packages such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Can you provide an example of a project where you utilised these tools effectively?

4. Describe your experience of minuting meetings using a laptop. How do you prepare, capture key information accurately during the meeting, and produce and share the minutes on time?

Step 4 - Upload a CV (without name and personal details).

For guidance on completing your application, please see our How to Apply page.

We value authentic applications that showcase your genuine skills and experiences. Applications suspected of being generated by AI may be rejected. We ask you to present your own work and ideas throughout the application process.

Please note

Without a supporting statement and CV, your interest will not be progressed. If you require any reasonable adjustments to the application process before the next selection stage, please contact our Recruitment Team by emailing recruitment@suffolk.gov.uk or calling 03456 014412. If you are invited to the next stage of selection, you will have another opportunity to request adjustments for the next stages of the process.

Closing date

11.30pm, 7 June 2026

Interview date

16 June 2026

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts. #LI-Hybrid

As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We’re driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.

In return, you’ll enjoy

up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days

membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)

travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits

performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase

training and encouragement to expand your knowledge

a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation

diverse and active staff networks

flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day

Plus lots more!

If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk).

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Disability Confident

About Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.