Part Time Business Support Assistant

Essex County Council; Harlow; Hybrid; GBP 20,000 - 26,000; Part time

Job summary

A local government authority in Harlow is seeking a Part Time Business Support Assistant for a varied role focused on administration and minute-taking. The position offers a combination of remote and office-based work, with a strong emphasis on customer service and organizational skills. Key qualifications include strong communication skills, proficiency in Microsoft Office, and the ability to manage confidential information. Benefits include a work-life balance, learning opportunities, and generous leave.

Benefits

Healthy work-life balance

Wide range of learning opportunities

IT equipment and home-working supplies

26 days annual leave + bank holidays

Pension scheme

Health and wellbeing support

Volunteering leave

Qualifications

• Strong minute-taking skills and general administration experience.
• Ability to use computerised systems swiftly and accurately.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality Business Support services.
• Respond to customer requests in a timely manner.
• Maintain confidential records according to guidelines.

Skills

Minute taking

Customer service

Conflict management

Computer proficiency

Telephony skills

Education

5 GCSEs grade C and above (including Maths and English)

6 months office experience

Tools

Microsoft Office

ECC internal databases

Job description

Part Time Business Support Assistant

Fixed Term, Part Time

£25,081 per annum

Location: Harlow

Closing Date: Monday 13th October 2025 at 11.59pm

Please note that this is a Fixed Term Contract / Secondment opportunity till the 31st of March 2026 and is offering 30 hours per week - working pattern to be agreed with the successful candidate.

As an 'Anywhere Worker' position, the role will involve a combination of remote and office-based working. There will be an expectation for you to attend the office based at Goodman House, Station Approach, Harlow, Essex. CM20 2ET, approximately 1 day per month in addition to 'as and when' there is a business need. There may also be a requirement to attend other Essex County Council offices during the Fixed Term Contract / Secondment.

About Us:

We are seeking a candidate with strong minute-taking skills and general administration experience. As an 'anywhere' worker, you will have the flexibility to work from home when this meets business need. However, there will be occasions when you are required to work on-site at Goodman House, Harlow or other locations when required, so flexibility is essential.

This is an exciting opportunity to work as part of Essex County Council's large, dynamic, and highly valued Business Support Team who work in specialised Business Centres across Essex promoting specialised knowledge and improving service and efficiencies.

Business Support teams deliver outstanding administration and customer service to all Essex County Council (ECC) functional areas. Our multi skilled teams deliver services from Business Centre hubs; providing a wide variety of support to high volume processes and tasks such as data input and management, minute taking, finance tasks, managing high volume calls, receptions, and requests for assistance. We also support front line social care teams that require a more integrated approach to support.

We are proactive, forward-thinking and solution focused; we streamline processes and maximise digital opportunities. In doing so, we help increase the effectiveness of ECC to deliver better outcomes for the people of Essex than it could without our support.

We value our people and help them strive to deliver their potential and walk their career pathways within our organisation, giving them the tools and learning to get there.

Benefits:

• Healthy work life balance.
• Wide range of learning and development opportunities.
• IT equipment and home-working equipment supplied.
• 26 days annual leave + bank holidays + choice to buy extra.
• Generous Local Government Salary related pension scheme.
• Access to hundreds of discounts and benefits through Essex Rewards.
• Access to our health and wellbeing support platform with LifeWorks.
• Up to 4 days per year Volunteering leave.

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees.

This is a varied and challenging role, as a minute taker within our team, you will be supporting a variety of ECC meetings varying from social care meetings for Adults & Children, through to Corporate and HR meetings.

As a Business Support Assistant, you may also provide general administrative support to ECC, dealing with day-to-day work instructed from the Business Centre Manager. Great customer service skills are required as this is a customer facing role. Accurate and efficient data entry onto ECC systems is also required, to ensure that all customer service requests are met within a specified time frame and are in line with data protection policies.

About You:

You will:

• Have a good standard of basic education - 5 GCSEs grade C and above (including Maths and English) or a minimum of 6 months office experience.
• Have minute taking experience - however full training will be provided.
• Have excellent face to face customer service skills, communication, and conflict management skills.
• Have the ability to use computerised systems with a high level of speed and accuracy - including Microsoft Office applications and internal ECC databases.
• Have previous experience of managing electronic or hard copy filing systems.
• Be able to communicate in a manner which is easily understood and tailored to meet the needs of the audience.
• As part of the role, you may have access to sensitive and/or personal information, therefore you will need to understand and follow GDPR regulations.
• Have the ability to think about alternative ways of doing things and being open to new work practices and responsive to change.
• Have the ability to take ownership of work and fulfil agreed commitments, checking work for accuracy.
• Be reliable for on-site working.
• Strong telephony and IT skills are desirable.

What will you be doing?

• Provide note/minute taking support to various function across ECC.
• Provide high quality, efficient and effective Business Support services to internal and external customers within agreed timescales and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Responding to customer requests and queries in a timely and efficient way.
• Act as a professional representative of the Business Support service at a local level, dealing with customers face to face and via telephone or redirecting in line with Essex customer standards.
• Delivering the required activities of the respective business centre(s).
• Providing high quality self-directed administrative support, checking own work, and proactively looking to raise standards.
• Maintaining confidential records according to Essex County Council guidance.
• Dealing with correspondence for the team or service in a timely, consistent, and professional manner.
• Sharing knowledge and good practice with colleagues and highlighting more efficient ways of doing tasks.
• Covering Essex County Council building receptions.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.