Clerical Officer

Duties and Responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The Clerical Officer will be responsible for the day to day administrative functions of the Department under the direction of the assigned supervisor/manager. The role covers all aspects of clerical and administrative work to ensure the effective running of the Department The Clerical Officer is required to have sufficient knowledge of the relevant procedures and practices to perform the role efficiently and ensure the standards set are maintained.

General Administrative Duties:

• Day to day office duties eg. Correspondence, post, typing, Dictaphone typing, faxing, photocopying, filing etc.

• Logging all enquiries/telephone calls, complaints etc. Prioritising same, dealing with queries keeping supervisor/manager informed of progress and activities.

• Assist in the drafting and issue of letters, memos and general information to internal customers, clients and general public

• Populate, maintain and update local databases and records

• Work closely with all functions within the service to deliver planned services of your department

• Have an understanding of the Child and Family Agency and how it works

• Understand how your department impacts on the service users

• Understand how neighbouring departments and functions must combine their efforts to achieve optimum services levels

• Use knowledge of the organisation’s structures and traditions to help achieve results

• Act in a manner that is consistent with the organisation’s values and vision

• Treat all information and service users with confidentiality and discretion

Communication:

• Interpreting and providing written and oral information to staff and service users, i.e. by phone, letter, etc and contribute positively to the public image of Tusla - Child and Family Agency.

• Liaise and co-operate with other members of staff in the interest of providing the best possible service to service users.

• Understand service users by being approachable and by listening to them.

Legislative Compliance and Record Keeping:

• Have awareness of the guidelines and legislation that governs your area of work and ensure compliance when issuing advice and documentation

• Ensure compliance with Data Protection Act and Record Keeping/Retention

• Assist in the implementation of new legislation/guidelines and associated reports and tasks

Health & Safety

• Comply with and contribute to the development of policies, procedures, guidelines and safe professional practice and adhere to relevant legislation, regulations and standards.

• Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the service for example National Standards for Child Protection and Care and comply with associated Tusla – Child and Family Agency protocols for implementing and maintaining these standards as appropriate to the role.

• To support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service.

The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.

Eligibility Criteria

Qualifications and / or Experience

Applicants must by the closing date of application have the following:

• Proficient with Microsoft Office; Excel, Word and PowerPoint and Excel

And

• Have obtained at least Grade D (or a pass), in Higher or Ordinary level, in five subjects from the approved list of subjects in the Department of Education Established Leaving Certificate Examination or Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme

OR

• have passed an examination of equivalent standard

OR

• have satisfactory relevant experience which encompasses demonstrable equivalent skills.

OR

• have had at least two years previous service in an office of Grade 111, Grade 11, Grade 11 typist or Grade 1 under a local authority or health board in the State.

Health

A candidate for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

Character

Each candidate for and any person holding the office must be of good character.

Skills, competencies and/or knowledge Professional Knowledge and Skills

• Have an understanding of the Child and Family Agency and how it works

• Demonstrate competent word processing and database MS Excel skills

• Efficient use and maintenance of filing and document management systems

• An ability to generate and present documents in a professional manner

Planning and organisational Skills

• Assumes personal responsibility for and delivers on agreed objectives/goals

• Demonstrate an ability to manage day to day activities and assigned projects with capacity to plan and prioritise

• Assists in ensuring deadlines are met to ensure outputs are delivered to a high standard in an efficient manner

Effective Team Working

• Can work independently demonstrating self-sufficiency or work as a member of a team

• Demonstrates flexibility, adaptability and openness to working effectively in a changing environment

• Be co-operative and work in harmony with other teams and other disciplines

• Flexibility, adaptability and openness to working effectively in a changing environment.

• The ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary organisation in a complex and pressured environment.

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

• Demonstrates ability to communicate in a fluent, logical and clear manner verbally and in writing

• Maintains a strong focus on meeting the needs of internal and external customers

• Works effectively

Other requirements of the role

The post holder will require access to appropriate transport as the post may involve travel.

Interview

Short listing may be carried out on the basis of information supplied in your application. The criteria for short listing are based on the requirements of the post as outlined in the eligibility criteria and skills, competencies and/or knowledge section of this job specification. Therefore, it is very important that you think about your experience in light of those requirements. Failure to include information regarding these requirements may result in you not being called forward to the next stage of the selection process. Those successful at the shortlisting stage of this process (where applied) will be called forward to interview.

Tenure

The current vacancies available are permanent/temporary and whole time/part-time.

The posts are pensionable.

A panel may be created from which permanent and specified purpose vacancies of full or part time duration will be filled. The tenure of these posts will be indicated at “expression of interest” stage for each individual post. The purpose of this campaign is to fill immediate urgent vacancies and it is expected that panel placements will cease if expressions are not received within the appropriate processes. Appointment as an employee of the Child & Family Agency is governed by the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013 and the Public Service Management

(Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004.

Remuneration

01/03/2023: €27,145 - €28,861 - €29,282 - €30,140 - €31,392 -€32,646 - €33,901 - €34,813 - €35,844 - €37,041 – 37,888 - €39,074 - €40,271 - €42,516 -€44,113 LSI

The appointee shall commence on the first point of the salary scale. Incremental credit may be given on appointment for certain types of relevant experience- more information available in Appendix 5. Candidates should note that entry will be at the minimum point of the scale and will not be subject to negotiation, and the rate of remuneration may be adjusted from time to time in line with Government pay policy. Different terms and conditions may apply if the appointee is a currently serving civil or public servant.

Working Week The standard working week applying to the whole time equivalent of this post is: 35 hours

Annual Leave

The annual leave associated with the whole time equivalent of this post is 26 days per annum.

Superannuation

1. This is a pensionable position with Tusla. The successful candidate will upon appointment become a member of the appropriate pension scheme. Pension scheme membership will be notified within the contract of employment.

Probation

2. Every appointment of a person who is not already a permanent officer of the Child & Family Agency/ Health Service Executive or of a Local Authority shall be subject to a probationary period of 12 months as stipulated in the Department of Health Circular No.10/71.