Administrative Officer (ID3225 & ID3716)

Posting date:	29 May 2025
Salary:	£25,070 per year
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	16 June 2025
Location:	Penrith
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	407259/1

Summary

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.

APHA is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, because it helps us be more innovative and make better decisions.

We are dedicated to being an inclusive employer, offering equitable opportunities for all individuals. Our goal is to build a diverse workforce, and we hope to attract applications from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups.

To provide support within a busy Regional Veterinary Investigation Centre, acting as key point of contact and local source of knowledge for support issues within the Centre.

To provide general administrative support within the Veterinary Investigation Centre and across the wider Surveillance and Laboratory Services Department.

To carry out any duties, but not limited to, the following:

Administrative support

• Providing various office administrative duties to the immediate and when required wider team, including, but not limited to, the production of purchase orders, completion of zoonoses paperwork, booking in of submissions and preparing reports
• Answering telephone queries and following up enquires that cannot be immediately resolved
• Greeting customers at Reception and assisting with enquiries
• Ensuring accurate records are kept and updated accordingly
• Inputting data and information onto APHA data systems
• Ordering stationery, laboratory, and PM room consumables for local use and, when required, for the procurement team
• Take ownership for a set of defined admin procedures, as determined by line management
• Ensure actions are carried out in accordance with the procedures and within the necessary timescales
• Providing support and guidance to others (internally and externally)
• To be responsible for the receipt of samples into the centre, including opening of post and booking in samples with assistance from administrative staff as required

Quality

• Work to quality standards (ISO 17025) within the Centre
• Participate in audits and to support the Local Quality Manger
• To assist with local auditing and clearing of actions arising from audits, in liaison with the Local Quality Manager
• To assist with collation of quality information, such as complaints, audits, non-conforming work, proficiency testing results etc., for the Local Quality Manager

Safety, Health and Wellbeing
• To comply with APHA Health, Safety and Welfare policies and procedures

Outbreak Response
• Is flexible to adapt to changing situations within the office and prepared to support other parts of APHA in the event of an outbreak

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

About Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.