Business Administration Apprenticeship (Level 3)

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

We have a new and exciting apprenticeship opportunity within our Chief Executive's Office. In this role you will be responsible for delivering an efficient, responsive and professional administration service to our customers, which includes staff at all levels and our external stakeholders. You will work as part of an Executive Support Team, supporting the Chief Executive and the Wider Leadership Team.

This entry level role is a crucial one that sits at the heart of our business. If you are enthusiastic, inquisitive, and curious, with a passion to make a positive difference, this opportunity will help you do that.This role provides a unique opportunity to work in our Chief Executive's office, working with the Head of Chief Executives Office, in providing high level support to the CEO of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and supporting the Wider Leadership Team in the organisation. In this role you will be dealing with and supporting management of the day to day activities in support of the CEO, from diary management, collation of meeting papers and support, to being the first point of contact to visitors to the Chief Executive’s Office. You will develop business support and organisational skills. You will need to be able to work as part of a team, be confident, highly perceptive, discreet and focused. This role will report directly to the Head of Chief Executives Office.

In order to successfully deliver the responsibilities of the role, you will need to:

• Have excellent organisational skills with a high standard of attention to detail and accuracy
• Positive, flexible, self motivated and quick to learn
• Be a team player
• Able to manage time and competing demands and prioritise effectively
• Present a positive and professional image 
• Ability to handle personal and sensitive information confidentially and discreetly 
• Be able to communicate clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing
• Be able to build good working relationships with colleagues across the organisation and to work collaboratively 
• Demonstrate a commitment to organisational values 
• Demonstrate a commitment to own personal development.

Please note, in order to qualify for apprenticeship funding you must meet the following criteria:

• Hold a GCSE level C/equivalent in Maths and English and be able to present original qualification certificates - if you do not hold these qualifications/certificates you must be committed to complete these via functional skills assessments as part of the apprenticeship.
• Only apply for an apprenticeship unrelated to any qualifications they hold at the same or higher level than the apprenticeship they wish to apply for. The apprenticeship being applied for must be unrelated in subject and content from the qualification already held.
• Not be enrolled on another funded apprenticeship or another funded further education or higher education programme at the time you start your new apprenticeship.
• Have the right to work and study in England and be one of the following:

1. A citizen of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA) or have the right to abode in the UK and have been resident in the EEA for at least the previous three years on the first day of your apprenticeship.
2. A non-EEA citizen with permission from the UK government to live in the UK, (not for educational purposes) and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years before the start of learning.

Our apprenticeships are offered on a minimum contract duration of 12 months (some are longer depending on the level of apprenticeship you undertake), offer 23 days paid annual leave, access to our online staff benefits portal (including discounts at local and national shops, restaurants and attractions), the opportunity to undertake 3 volunteering days per year in Kingston, and a minimum starting salary of £22,432 per annum. We operate hybrid working, a flexible working model which allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. It enables staff to achieve a work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

In addition there are further discounts available to apprentices and more information can be found at the Apprentice Extra website and Apprenticeship Connect website.

We’re extremely proud of our apprenticeship scheme and the achievements of our apprentices, many of whom have secured permanent employment with the Council and continue to excel in their careers.

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role and for our apprenticeship scheme. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) so all personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc is completely anonymised during the shortlisting process. Our hiring managers review applications based on the knowledge, skills and experience demonstrated in your application, and how well these match the job profile. Our HR Shared Service with Sutton Council was recently recognised nationally for having the ‘Best Inclusion and Diversity Programme’ at the PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2023, something that we’re incredibly proud of.

Hiring managers are encouraged to ensure that their interview panel is diverse, and representative of a range of protected characteristics, to help remove unconscious bias and ensure candidates are treated fairly during the selection process. Some characteristics may not be obvious, but our panels are diverse wherever possible. We have a number of measures in place to inform and support our approach, including mandatory EDI and unconscious bias training for all staff, safer recruitment training for diverse panel members, engaging with our staff networks and encouraging allyship. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

More information about apprenticeships can be found on the National Apprenticeship website.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough. Our aim is to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and staff feel a sense of belonging. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.