Business Support Officer

Portsmouth; Sunderland; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

Portsmouth City Council is seeking a Business Support Officer to provide comprehensive administrative support to Portsmouth Homes in the Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services directorate. The role involves supporting tenants and leaseholders, data management, and coordinating the housing management team's activities.

You will be methodical, organised, and able to manage competing priorities with strong communication skills and high attention to detail.

Qualifications

• Hold a Level 3 qualification in Business Administration or demonstrate equivalent knowledge and skills gained through relevant experience.
• Knowledge of housing services within Portsmouth Homes and the Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services directorate.
• Proficient in IT systems including M365 applications including Word and PowerPoint.
• Able to create and use Excel spreadsheets to extract and analyse data.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills with ability to meet tight deadlines and reprioritise workloads.
• Confident diary management using Outlook and arranging meetings.
• Excellent communication and people skills, both written and verbal, with a good telephone manner.
• Understanding of Data Protection and confidentiality when handling sensitive information.
• Understand Portsmouth City Council's structure and responsibilities.
• Flexible in working hours to meet demands of the role.
• Self-motivated with initiative and autonomy in problem solving.
• Experience in a busy office environment performing administration duties.

Responsibilities

• Provide a comprehensive business support service to Portsmouth Homes and the housing management team.
• Support housing services for tenants and leaseholders and respond to residents’ needs.
• Drive service improvement within the Housing, Neighbourhood & Building Services directorate.
• Report to the Assistant Director Sally Scattergood and manage calendars/diaries using Outlook.

Skills

MS Office

Excel

Diary management

Communication

Time management

Data protection

Initiative

Education

Level 3 Business Admin

Tools

M365

Word

PowerPoint

Job description

This is a great opportunity to join our Housing, Neighbourhood & Buildings directorate as a Business Support Officer! The role is 37 hours per week, a Fixed Term Contract/Secondment for 12 months and is at the salary of £29,170 - £33,119 p.a.

The Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services Directorate is delivering a range of front-facing services, including building and housing services. It is one of the largest directorates in the city council with a wide and varied mix of functions but all with a core purpose to provide good quality service to our customers, a culture of driving service improvement and generating income.

This role will support housing services within Portsmouth Homes, helping teams deliver good-quality services for tenants and leaseholders, respond to residents’ needs and drive service improvement. You will report to Sally Scattergood and provide a comprehensive business support service to her and the housing management team within Portsmouth Homes.

This is an exciting opportunity with a wide-ranging remit and suited to individuals with experience keen to grow and develop. As a service we take pride in our work by valuing others, focusing on what's important so that we make a real and positive difference.

We are looking for someone who is ready for a challenge, keen to learn and interested in supporting high-quality housing services for tenants and leaseholders. You will be methodical, organised and committed to getting things right first time, with excellent communication skills and significant administrative experience to provide effective support to Assistant Director and the housing management team.

For full details of what the role will involve please see the job profile attached at the bottom of this page!

Who is the person?

• Hold a Level 3 qualification in Business Administration or demonstrate equivalent knowledge and skills gained through relevant experience.
• Have knowledge and understanding of housing services and Portsmouth Homes within the Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services directorate, including key priorities, landlord responsibilities and the importance of listening to tenants and leaseholders.
• Be proficient in the use of IT systems including M365 applications including Word, PowerPoint
• Have a good understanding of the importance of measures and data and the ability to confidently create and use Excel spreadsheets to extract and analyse data.
• Have excellent organisational and time management skills with the ability to work to tight deadlines, adapting quickly to reprioritise workloads at short notice.
• Have the ability to confidently manage multiple diaries, arranging meetings using Outlook while being considerate of conflicting priorities.
• Have excellent communication and people skills, both written and verbal with a confident telephone manner and good literacy and numeracy skills
• Demonstrate a good understanding of Data Protection and the importance of confidentiality when dealing with sensitive information.
• Show an understanding of Portsmouth City Council's structure and responsibilities.
• Be flexible in the timing of working hours to support the demands of the work.
• Possess a high level of self-motivation, ability to self-manage and use you own initiative to solve problems.
• Have demonstrable experience of working within a busy office environment, performing administration duties to a high standard with a large degree of autonomy.

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

If you have any questions, or would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Lois Lanning via email - [e-mail]

Interviews: w/c 7th December 2026

Our recruitment process Full information about our recruitment process can be found on our support for applicants' page: Support for applicants - Careers portal

You must demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. If you apply without a detailed personal statement, it is unlikely that you will be successful.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we have a large number of applications.

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard.

More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal

If applying as a secondment you will need permission from your current line manager releasing you for this secondment. Please state you have this on your personal statement on the application.

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

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact [e-mail] or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616 800.

If you need additional support looking for roles, you may be eligible for help under our Connect to Work programme, for more information please visit Connect to Work - Portsmouth City Council