Administrator (Business Support Assistant)

About the job

Key information

• Business Operations Assistant – Full Time 37 hrs.
• Permanent Contract Work Base – Hillside Family Centre, 60 Eastwick Road, Taunton TA2 7HD.
• Salary is £24,796 – £25,185 per annum for 37 hours/week.
• Annual leave is 25 days

We cannot offer sponsorship for this role. You must already have the right to work in the UK without needing visa sponsorship.

You don’t have to be a Social Worker to make a difference. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes to support our Family Time Team working in Children’s Social Care. That’s why we are looking for an experienced administrator to join our Business Operations Team.

The team are part of Somerset Council’s Children’s Social Care, working with vulnerable children and young people in care, their parents and carers in Somerset. Family Time is provided for children who are in the care of the local authority and enables them to spend safe supervised time with their parents and family members in a secure environment.

What will I be doing?

You will provide proactive, office‑based support in our busy Family Time Centre at Hillside Family Centre, playing a vital role in ensuring that Family Time sessions are delivered safely, securely and in line with safeguarding requirements.

You will be responsible for supporting the smooth and safe running of Family Time by ensuring sessions are booked, confirmed and accurately recorded on the team Outlook calendar, and that clear, timely schedules are sent to all families and professionals involved. You will welcome children, parents and carers on arrival, following established procedures to ensure that correct individuals are present and that children’s safety and wellbeing are prioritised at all times.

You will support safe access to Family Time by making relevant transport arrangements where required and by ensuring information is accurate so that sessions run as planned and unnecessary risk or disruption is avoided. You will provide telephone cover, taking messages sensitively, sharing information appropriately, and signposting in line with safeguarding and confidentiality guidance. You will also update and maintain our database (LCS) with accurate and timely information to support safe decision‑making across the service.

Attention to detail, the ability to think ahead, and the confidence to use your own initiative are essential in this role, particularly where safeguarding concerns or changes to arrangements arise at short notice. You will work closely with Family Time Support Workers to ensure that any safeguarding issues, incidents or concerns are acted upon promptly and in accordance with agreed procedures.

The nature of the work is sensitive and highly confidential. You will receive full training and ongoing support to undertake the role safely and effectively. This is a fast‑paced, reactive and pre‑emptive role requiring you to manage tasks simultaneously, while consistently following safeguarding procedures to protect children, families and colleagues.

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need?

It’s really important that you are passionate about improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people living in Somerset and are committed to keeping them safe. Safeguarding is central to this role, and you will be expected to work in line with policies and procedures designed to protect children, families and colleagues at all times.

As a Business Operations Assistant, you will have a warm, friendly and non‑judgemental manner to help families feel welcome and supported, while also maintaining clear professional boundaries. You will need to be calm, kind and confident when managing difficult situations or conversations, and vigilant in recognising and responding appropriately to safeguarding concerns.

Previous office or administration experience is advantageous; however, if you have an interest in administration, strong organisational and accuracy skills, the ability to multitask, a willingness to learn, and a commitment to safeguarding, we can provide full training and ongoing support for those coming from a non‑administrative background. This will include safeguarding training relevant to working within children’s services. Please tell us in your application why you feel you are the right person for this role and how you would support the safety and wellbeing of children and families.

You will be educated to GCSE Grade 4 (C) or above standard in English and Maths. You will need to be familiar with all Microsoft Office programmes.

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

What is in it for me?

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more

Supporting documents and information

Salary is is £24,796 – £25,185 per annum for 37 hours/week.

We cannot offer sponsorship for this role. You must already have the right to work in the UK without needing visa sponsorship.

The hours of work are 8.30am – 5.00pm, Monday – Thursday and 8.30am – 4.30pm on Friday. This role is based on site at Hillside Family Centre, 60 Eastwick Road, Taunton.

There are lots of opportunities for development and career progression within our Children’s Services Business Operations teams. All our current Children’s Social Care Business Operations Officers and our Business Operations Managers joined us as Administrators. We have many former Business Operations colleagues who have been inspired to take an operational career path in social care, and they have been supported by us to do this.

You can read more about the work we do in the Candidate Information Pack, but If you would like further information regarding the post please contact Kat Hughes, Katherine.Hughes@somerset.gov.uk, Tel; 01823 357813 or Clare Dowden Clare.Dowden@somerset.gov.uk . Tel: 01749 822717

Interviews will take place at the Hillside Family Centre, dates and times to be arranged with shortlisted candidates.

If you have everything you need, just hit the apply button. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Apply on the Somerset Council website

Apply now