Business Support Assistant - (Early Years and Childcare)

Portsmouth City Council; Ringford; Hybrid; GBP 15,000 - 18,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

Portsmouth City Council is seeking an organised Business Support Assistant to join the Early Years Funding Team on a part-time basis. The role supports the funding team, providers and families with queries about entitlements, processes and claims, and handles data entry in Synergy and other systems.

You will import, validate and maintain records, assist with funding allocations and claims, and respond to phone, email and face-to-face enquiries with professionalism and discretion.

Qualifications

• Experience in administrative role
• Understanding of early education funding entitlements
• Strong data management and numeracy
• Excellent written and verbal communication

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative and business support to the Early Education Funding team.
• Assist with funding enquiries from providers, parents, carers and professionals.
• Import, validate and maintain data in Synergy and other systems.
• Process provider applications and referrals and maintain records.
• Handle enquiries by phone, email and in person with confidentiality.
• Support audits and validate funding allocations and claims.
• Suggest improvements to systems and processes.

Skills

Organised

Customer-focused

Administrative experience

Data management

Attention to detail

Tools

Synergy

Microsoft Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Outlook

Teams

Job description

We are looking for an organised and customer-focused Business Support Assistant to join our Early Years Funding Team.

This role is part time working 25.25 hours per week.

The Role

Reporting to the Early Education Funding Officer, you will provide efficient administrative and business support to the Early Education Funding team and the wider Early Years service. This is a varied role in which you will help early years providers, parents, carers and professionals with enquiries about funding entitlements, processes and claims.

You will import, validate and maintain data using specialist systems, including Synergy, ensuring that records remain accurate and complete. You will also help providers understand funding requirements, submit accurate claims within the required timescales and resolve funding or system-related queries.

Working collaboratively with colleagues and external partners, you will assist with auditing and validating funding allocations and claims, process provider applications and referrals, and maintain accurate electronic records and documentation. You will handle telephone, email and face-to-face enquiries professionally, managing sensitive and confidential information in accordance with data protection and information governance requirements.

You will also contribute ideas for improving systems, processes and procedures, helping the service operate effectively and deliver a consistently high standard of support.

The Ideal candidate

You will have experience of working in an administrative role and an understanding of early education funding entitlements. You will be confident using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, with the ability to learn and use complex systems and databases quickly.

Strong data management skills are essential, including experience of importing, validating and maintaining information accurately. You will also need excellent written and verbal communication skills, good literacy and numeracy, a strong customer focus and close attention to detail.

You should be able to organise and prioritise your workload, research and collate information, work flexibly to support the wider service and communicate effectively with a range of partners. An awareness of safeguarding and data protection requirements is also required

About Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.

We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours .

Additional Information

Hybrid Working: We offer hybrid working with the expectation to attend the office a minimum of 2 days a week.

Interviews are likely to be held Week Commencing 16th November 2026

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal

We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under our corporate commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however, for roles that receive a large number of applications, we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

Safeguarding

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at Basic/Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Please read the relevant DBS privacy notice before submitting any information.