Document Services Manager (MOD)

NHS Connecting for Health; Greater London; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

A national archive institution in Kew is seeking a Document Services Manager to lead a team overseeing crucial projects for preserving national documents. Ideal candidates will have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to manage workloads effectively. The role includes a competitive salary and a range of benefits, including a Civil Service Pension and access to wellness resources.

Benefits

Civil Service Pension

Discounts at local businesses

Access to on-site gym and restaurant

Annual leave entitlement of 22 days

Qualifications

• Potential for managing and developing a demand-led customer-facing team.
• Ability to proactively manage own workload and that of others.
• Proven ability to meet deadlines in a demand-led environment.

Responsibilities

• Line management of the team; motivating staff to deliver against objectives.
• Proactively overseeing the work of the team; anticipating workloads.
• Maintaining an audit trail of document moves and liaising with stakeholders.

Skills

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

Strong influencing and negotiation skills

High level of attention to detail

Education

Experience of working in customer-facing roles

Home in the UK for at least 3 years

Tools

MS Office (particularly Excel)

Job description

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is already a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. But it’s where we go next that makes things really interesting.

In our strategic vision:Archives for Everyone,we set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.

That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you.

Job Overview

Salary: £28,337 per annum

Contract type: Permanent

Band: D / EO

Closing date: Thursday 7th August at midnight

Join Our Team as a Dynamic Document Services Manager!

Are you ready to take on an exciting challenge and lead a dedicated team? We are on the lookout for a Document Services Manager to oversee the operation of our MoD (Ministry of Defence) team and manage a group of up to eight talented individuals. If you have the potential to manage and develop teams, even if you don't have experience doing so, we want to hear from you!

What We're Looking For: As the custodian of over 1000 years of iconic national documents, you will play a crucial role in preserving our nation's history. We need someone who is highly motivated, can stay calm under pressure, and has a knack for meeting deadlines. Your excellent interpersonal skills and methodical approach will make you a perfect fit for our team.

Collaborative Environment: In this role, you will collaborate with other departments and commercial partners in a bustling environment to deliver a vital part of our project: transferring ten million Ministry of Defence service personnel records to The National Archives.

Why Join Us? If this sounds like you, join us in beautiful Kew, just a 10-minute walk from the Overground and Underground stations. Our staff enjoy a range of benefits, including a Civil Service Pension, discounts at local businesses, wellbeing resources, and access to our on-site gym, restaurant, and staff bar.

Work Schedule: This is an onsite role with a standard working pattern of Monday to Friday, plus overtime every third Saturday. You may also be required to work the late shift (10:50am-7pm) on Tuesdays and Thursdays on a rota basis and occasionally visit our offsite storage facility with an overnight stay. This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.

Ready to make a difference? Apply now and become a part of our dynamic team!

Application Process

• Interview: Interviews will be held on-site
• Personal Statement: We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement, not exceeding 1200 words
  
  

Selection for interview will be based on the ‘essential’ requirements in the job description below so please ensure that your statement demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.Please visit the civil service careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.

SC clearance/willingness to obtain SC clearance will be required for this role. This requires candidates to have been resident in the UK for at least the past three years. Please do not apply if you have been resident in the UK for less than three years as your application will be rejected

Sponsorship

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Job Description

Job Purpose

The Document Services Department (DSD) is responsible for the storage and production of The National Archives (TNA) collection and is the first point of contact for users and visitors to the archives. The collection currently exceeds 17 million documents and expands each year.

The MoD Team in DSD is a key contributor to the expansion of TNA’s collection; producing, returning and re-boxing documents to support a project which is seeing the transferral of ten million Ministry of Defence service personnel records to Kew. Working in conjunction with the Access Service Team and commercial partners who are digitising the collection, the team is required to work at pace and to deadlines.

The post holder would work closely with other managers, flexing resource to ensure that all of the work of the business area is adequately covered and remaining fully up to date on the work of other teams so that they can cover and provide direction as appropriate. The post holder should also be eager to improve and develop the team and processes; with the role offering the chance to work with colleagues across The National Archives, external stakeholders and contractors.

Role and Responsibilities

• Line management of the team; motivating staff to deliver against agreed objectives and in line with The National Archives performance management framework
• Proactively overseeing the work of the team; anticipating workloads and effectively delegating tasks. Carry out relevant training to ensure successful completion of delegated tasks
• Maintaining an audit trail of document moves; liaising with colleagues, other departments and external contractors as required.
• Organising and supervising the production and replacement of historic archival material, according to set targets; delegating tasks, providing information, and answering queries as required
• Remain flexible in approach to working practice, reacting to changing priorities and deadlines
• Liaise with external stakeholders such as the FOI and Digitisation teams or other government departments to facilitate enquiries and access to the collection
• Interrogation of various in-house information systems and databases to answer enquiries and provide relevant stats.
• Reporting to one of the senior managers, you will be responsible in your area for the daily procedural checks and monitoring of equipment. In addition, occasional checks at an off-site storage facility will be required.
  
  

Working Conditions

• Display Screen Equipment user
• Relocating and reconciling historical document moves. Individual documents may weigh up to 30kg consisting of various physical types and materials (manual handling equipment and training provided).
• May come into contact with distressing material
  
  

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• The potential for managing and developing a demand-led customer facing team
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrable experience of liaising with internal and external stakeholders, including contractors
• Strong influencing and negotiation skills with the ability to be flexible
• Proven ability to proactively manage own workload, as well as that of others, to deadline in a demand-led environment
• Strong analytical skills with experience of using routine data to make decisions under supervision
• High level of attention to detail and the ability to maintain accuracy across sustained periods
  
  

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of responsibly handling sensitive information in line with established guidance
• IT literacy, with experience of using databases and MS Office (particularly Excel, Outlook and Teams) and the ability to learn new computer systems
  
  

Other Requirements

• Full time (Mon-Fri), plus overtime on one Saturday in three. May include Tuesday/Thursday working on the 10:50-19:02 on a rota basis.
• Must be prepared to travel to other sites as required.
• Occasional overnight stays will be required.
  
  

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is

found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service

D&I Strategy.

Benefits

Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development. Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum.

Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ (opens in new window)

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact The National Archives via [e-mail] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional
  
  

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

People working with government assets must completebasic personnel security standardchecks (opens in new window)

Nationality Requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
  
  

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in new window)

Working for the Civil Service

TheCivil Service Code (opens in new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission'srecruitment principles. (opens in new window)

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

This vacancy is part of theGreat Place to Work for Veteransinitiative. (opens in new window)

Contact Point For Applicants

• Name: The National Archives Recruitment Team
• Email: [e-mail]
  
  

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact The National Archives via email: [e-mail] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/ (opens in new window)