General Secretary Band 3

Job details

• Branch: Trustwide (SEHSCT)
• Location: LPCCC
• Salary: Band 3 (£24,937 - £26,598)
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Opening Date: 28/05/26
• Closes: Thu, 11 June 2026 @ 5:30 PM
• Interview Dates: To be confirmed

Notes

Important Information If you are submitting a manual application, please post it to: Recruitment Shared Services, Rosewood Villa, Longstone Hospital Site, 73 Loughgall Road, Armagh, BT61 7PR. Applications received after the advertised closing date/time cannot be considered, so please allow enough time for postage. “A waiting list may be created for similar posts that may arise while the waiting list is live, this may include temporary or part-time posts. This will be managed in line with the updated HSC waiting list principles effective from 1 April 2026. Where a part-time waiting list is required, one part-time waiting list will be created- regardless of any specific hours advertised, this waiting list will cover all future vacancies where part-time posts arise. A part-time post is defined as any post that has less than 37.5 hours per week.” Please remember to save or print a copy of the job description before submitting your application, as it will not be accessible afterwards. Flexible Working We welcome flexible working requests from day one. All HSC organisations offer a range of flexible working options. The options available for this post will depend on the requirements of the role. Find out more about flexible working options on our website.

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE

General Secretary

BAND

DIRECTORATE

INITIAL LOCATION

Band 3

Primary Care & Older People Services

LPCCC

REPORTS TO

Assistant Manager for Speech and Language Therapy

ACCOUNTABLE TO

Lead professional Speech and Language Therapist

.

JOB SUMMARY

The Trust provides a wide range of services and employs Secretaries in a wide variety of settings. Secretaries provide a secretarial / administrative service / support within a department / section.

The post holder will be expected to carry out a wide range of secretarial /administrative tasks including the use of word processing/audio typing, minute taking and use of other computer packages/programmes. The post holder will also be expected to deal with non-routine activities such as answering queries, progress chasing and task related problem solving using their own initiative.

KEY DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

Word processing/audio typing letters/producing reports.

Sorting and responding to mail as appropriate.

Dealing with general enquiries.

Maintaining diaries.

Minute taking.

Arranging meetings.

Sorting and processing information.

Preparation of statistical information.

Dealing with requests for information.

Making appointments.

Filing.

Dealing with telephone calls.

Photocopying/scanning.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The post holder will promote and support effective team working, fostering a culture of openness and transparency. The post holder will ensure that they take all concerns raised with them seriously and act in accordance with the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust’s Raising Concerns Policy and their professional code of conduct, where applicable.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The post holder will be required to

Ensure the Trust’s policy on equality of opportunity is promoted through his/her own actions and those of any staff for whom he/she has responsibility.

Co-operate fully with the implementation of the Trust's Health and Safety arrangements, reporting any accidents/incidents/equipment defects to his/her manager, and maintaining a clean, uncluttered and safe environment for patients/clients, members of the public and staff.

Adhere at all times to all Trust policies/codes of conduct, including for example

Smoke Free policy

IT Security Policy and Code of Conduct

standards of attendance, appearance and behaviour

Contribute to ensuring the highest standards of environmental cleanliness within your designated area of work.

Co-operate fully with regard to Trust policies and procedures relating to infection prevention and control.

All employees of the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust are legally responsible for all records held, created or used as part of their business within the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust including patients/clients, corporate and administrative records whether paper-based or electronic and also including emails. All such records are public records and are accessible to the general public, with limited exceptions, under the Freedom of Information act 2000 the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Employees are required to be conversant with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust policy and procedures on records management and to seek advice if in doubt.

Take responsibility for his/her own ongoing learning and development, in order to maximise his/her potential and continue to meet the demands of the post.

Represent the Trust’s commitment to providing the highest possible standard of service to patients/clients and members of the public, by treating all those with whom he/she comes into contact in the course of work, in a pleasant, courteous and respectful manner.

This Job Description will be subject to review in the light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.

It is a standard condition that all Trust staff may be required to serve at any location within the Trust's area, as needs of the service demand.

eHealth

The South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust has invested in eHealth to deliver better, faster, safer care to our community and is committed to supporting staff to utilise associated information systems that directly and indirectly inform care. Trust staff are therefore required to commit sufficient time to ensure that they acquire and/or retain the core technology skills required to support their role.

Personal and Public Involvement (PPI)

Staff members are expected to involve patients, clients, carers and the wider community were relevant, in developing, planning and delivering our services in a meaningful and effective way, as part of the Trust’s ongoing commitment to Personal and Public Involvement (PPI).

Please use the link below to access the PPI standards leaflet for further information. PPI_leaflet.pdf (hscni.net)

PERSONNEL SPECIFICATION

JOB TITLE AND BAND: General Secretary Band 3

DEPARTMENT /DIRECTORATE Primary Care & Older People Services

SALARY Band 3

HOURS 37.5 hours

Ref No: 55691306

Notes to applicants

You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria.

Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form. Please note the Trust reserves the right to use any desirable criteria outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet the desirable criteria.

Proof of qualifications and/or professional registration will be required if an offer of employment is made – if you are unable to provide this, the offer may be withdrawn.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

SECTION 1: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will initially be measured at shortlisting stage although may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form whether or not you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is stated below.

Factor

Criteria

Method of Assessment

Experience

Qualifications/ Registration

4 GCSE’s Grades A-C to include

English Language (or equivalent

Qualification) plus 1year’s

Secretarial /admin /clerical experience.

OR

NVQ Level 2 in Administration (or equivalent qualification) plus 1 year’s secretarial /admin /clerical experience.

OR

2 year’s secretarial /admin /clerical experience.

RSA/OCR Stage II Text Processing Part I and Part II (or equivalent/ above qualification).

OR

1 year’s word processing experience, to include typing and formatting of reports and letters.

Experience in using Microsoft packages to include WORD, EXCEL, and OUTLOOK.

For posts involving audio-typing

Audio Typing Qualification or 6 months audio working experience

Please note for the purposes of this block recruitment exercise some posts will not involve audio-typing. Therefore, the criterion above should not prevent a candidate from being shortlisted.

Shortlisting by Application Form

Shortlisting by Application Form, if required.

Other

For posts requiring a driving licence:-

Please note for the purposes of this block recruitment exercise some posts will not require candidates to hold a driving licence at the closing date of this advertisement. Therefore, the criterion below should not prevent a candidate from being shortlisted.

Hold a current full driving licence which is valid for use in the UK and have access to a car on appointment. This criteria will be waived in the case of applicants whose disability prohibits driving but who have access to a form of transport approved by the Trust which will permit them to carry out the duties of the post.

Shortlisting by Application Form, if required.

SECTION 2: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will be measured during the interview/ selection stage:

Skills / Abilities

Ability to work as part of a team.

Ability to use own initiative.

Excellent organisational skills with an ability to prioritise own workload.

Effective communications skills to meet the needs of the post in full.

The ability to work in a challenging and changing environment.

The ability to ensure accuracy in own work.

The ability to effectively use office admin systems such as diary management and filing systems.

Interview / Test

Knowledge

Knowledge of the Data Protection Act.

Interview / Test

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

SECTION 3: these will ONLY be used where it is necessary to introduce additional job related criteria to ensure files are manageable. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted

Factor

Criteria

Method of Assessment

Experience

Qualifications

Experience of using a computerised database.

Experience in the effective use of office admin systems such as diary management and filing systems.

Shortlisting by Application Form

As part of the Recruitment & Selection process it may be necessary for the Trust to carry out an Enhanced Disclosure Check through Access NI before any appointment to this post can be confirmed.

To access a copy of the Access NI Code of Practice, please Click here

The South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust has guidance on the Recruitment of People with Criminal Convictions. To access a copy of this guidance, please Click Here

Protecting and using your information

To access a copy of the Trust’s Data Protection Policy Statement,

Click Here

THE TRUST IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER

Successful applicants

may be required to attend for a Health Assessment

can expect to be placed at the minimum point of the pay scale, although a higher starting salary, within the range of the pay band may be available if the person appointed has experience relevant & equivalent to the post. Request for recognition of previous service with non-direct NHS/HSC organisations towards starting salary and incremental credit must be made via the Retained Recruitment team within 3 months from commencement of employment. Requests made after 3 months will not be considered. If the successful candidate is an existing HSC employee moving to a higher band, AfC Pay on Promotion will apply.

are able to request Flexible Working from the 1st day of their employment. A number of flexible working provisions are offered by all HSC Organisations including Full-time working, Fixed working patterns, Part-time working, Flexi-time, Compressed/elongated hours, Average hours working patterns, Term-time working, Job-share or Homeworking for some or all of the working pattern, depending on the role being undertaken. Successful applicants are encouraged to discuss with their manager what Flexible Working provisions may be available in the role they are taking up, prior to commencing employment, to help them achieve a positive Work/Life Balance

All staff are expected to display the HSC Values at all times