Records Assistant

Are you a Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) or Records Management professional looking to further your career?

We're looking for someone experienced, organised and motivated to join our KIM team and support strategic delivery of KIM services to ensure that record management in the ONS and UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) meets legislative and regulatory requirements, meets the needs of internal users and supports the business in collecting, analysing and disseminating statistics about the UK's economy, society and population.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social, and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration.

This role is within the KIM team which forms part of the Security and Information Management (SAIM) directorate. Our aim is to ensure that information and records management in the ONS meets legislative and regulatory requirements, meets the needs of internal users, and supports ONS’ mission to deliver trustworthy, independent, high-quality statistics that underpin the UK’s most critical economic and societal decisions and inform the public.

You will be responsible for the delivery of records management services across all repositories for records created in any medium held by ONS and UKSA.

Records Managers are responsible for the governance, safeguarding and delivery of records held by ONS/UKSA. Records managers work within an information legislation culture in support of The Public Records Act, UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018 and The Freedom of Information Act 2000. Records Managers support internal stakeholders, as well as manage the relationship with ONS/UKSA and The National Archives (TNA).

Responsibilities:

• Monitoring of the KIM Team shared mailbox.
• Manage records through their lifecycle, applying review, appraisal, selection and sensitivity methodologies to recommend records for permanent preservation at TNA, retention or destruction.
• Catalogue records for transfer to The National Archives, to include the secure transfer of selected records where appropriate.
• Ongoing cataloguing and review of a large collection of publications held in store.
• Update and maintain records management systems and trackers to support and record loans, retention, disposal and transfer decisions.
• Respond to requests for access to information, such as historic records, legacy outputs, books and pamphlets listed on ONS internal systems, the UK Government Web Archive, the ONS Library Catalogue and the ONS website.
• Development and delivery of training and guidance on records management services and resources according to business need.
• Stakeholder engagement to ensure services are understood and promoted across business areas.
• Collation and provision of metrics and other management information to support compliance with the Public Records Act and related legislation and for internal reporting purposes.
• Utilisation of the Microsoft Purview Compliance portal to apply retention labels and policies to relevant Microsoft applications.
• Provide support for TNA retention and closure applications.
• Participation in a rota to monitor SharePoint related Service desk calls and resolving user queries.
• Role may include management of ONS library/publication collection to include liaising with external bodies concerning copyright and subscriptions.
• Line management of two Administrative Officer Records Assistants

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Security Clearance

For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.

At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services records

Please note: We will reach out to you once the advert has closed to confirm eligibility for this role, this will be via an e-mail. Please check you e-mails.

Visa Sponsorship

ONS are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants are expected to hold a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are applying on a time-limited visa, this will need to be valid for at least 18 months at point of application.

To work at the ONS, candidates must meet both UK right to work and security clearance requirements (where applicable).

If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please refer to the guidance on Gov.uk or contact the recruitment email provided in the advert before applying. Failure to meet these requirements will result in your application being rejected and employment offers being withdrawn.

Application Process

Number of Stages: 2

Stage 1: Application

Stage 2: Interview

Stage 1 – Application

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, CV, skills, experience, and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum word count allowed is 1,250 words, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

In instances where a high number of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted, and candidates will be invited to interview based on merit order, i.e., those with the highest scores.

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.

Stage 2 – Interview

If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert and any required technical skills.

Interviews will be via Microsoft Teams.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

Important Dates

• Eligibility checks: 16/09/2026 - 22/09/2026. Please be aware we will be sending all candidates an e-mail to complete a eligibility form.
• Sift will be conducted from 23/09/2026
• Interviews will be conducted from 12/10/2026

For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.

Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.