Business Support Administrator

JOHN LEWIS; Darwen; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 34,000; Part time

Job summary

Herbert Parkinson, a proud part of the John Lewis Partnership, is seeking a capable administrator to provide essential support to the Business Support Officer. The role entails maintaining business continuity, ensuring compliance, and strengthening partner engagement at our Darwen office.

The position is part-time (20 hours per week, Mon–Fri, likely mornings) and based in Darwen, Lancashire. It offers meaningful, practical work supporting operational efficiency and workplace wellbeing within a

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in an administrative role.
• Excellent time management and ability to multi-task to meet deadlines.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication with cross-functional stakeholders.
• High attention to detail with a zero tolerance for errors.

Responsibilities

• Manage sickness absence line and communicate with Partners.
• Update production timesheets in Workday.
• Coordinate branch visits and agendas with facilities and refreshments.
• Book site-wide business travel when required.
• Support site and team activities for wellbeing and engagement.
• Assist with careers events and school/college involvement.
• Provide administrative support for accreditation frameworks (ISO/SMETA/CHAS/Constructionline).

Skills

Administrative experience

Time management

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Tools

Google Workspace

MS Office

Job description

About the role

At Herbert Parkinson, a proud and historic part of the John Lewis Partnership, we are embarking on an exciting transformation journey to secure our long-term success. By investing in state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, streamlining our operations, and creating broader, more fulfilling roles for our Partners, we are building a more sustainable and agile future. Join us as we continue to deliver exceptional quality and service for our customers while empowering our partners to thrive.

In this role, you will provide essential, high-quality administrative support to the Business Support Officer. You will perform a range of administrative tasks to maintain business continuity, support compliance, and strengthen our Partner and community engagement.

• Salary - £27,200 - £33,800 (prorated down as the vacancy is part time)
• Contract type - This position is a Permanent role.
• Location - This role is based at our Herbert Parkinson Office in Darwen, Lancashire.
• Hours - This role is for 20 hours per week working hours Monday - Friday 4 hours per day. Likely to be mornings to ensure sufficient coverage for absence line, 7-11 for example

Key responsibilities

• Manage the sickness absence line, ensuring processes are adhered to and swift communication through to relevant Partners
• Update production timesheets in Workday in a timely manner
• Support the coordination of branch visits & agendas; ensuring the appropriate information, facilities, access and refreshments are available
• Book site wide business travel when required
• Work with a cross section of Partners to support the planning and coordination of site & team activities to support Partner wellbeing & engagement levels
• Provide support for careers events and involvement with schools and colleges.
• Provide administrative support for relevant accreditation frameworks - ISO, SMETA, CHAS, Constructionline for example

Essential skills/experience you'll need

• Demonstrable experience in an administrative role
• Excellent time management & ability to multi-task; prioritising high-volume workloads, managing competing priorities, and meeting strict deadlines
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to build strong cross-functional relationships, engaging with a variety of stakeholders
• High attention to detail with a zero tolerance approach to errors

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• Strong technical proficiency across Google Workspace & MS Office applications

20

The partnership

We're the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We're not just employees, we're Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there's never been a more exciting time to join us.

We're ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we're free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note

It's important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you'll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third‑party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.