Business Area
Private Office
Role Title
Assistant Private Secretary and Diary Secretary to the Secretary of State
Terms of Appointment
Permanent
Grade
HEO
Location
1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ
Occasional travel between Belfast and London will be required.
Vacancy Manager
Joseph Sloyan
Applications Invited From
Existing Civil Servants on Level transfer or promotion
New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join on the minimum of the pay range.
Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.
The national starting salary is £. The London starting salary is £. Your salary will be dependent on your base location
BACKGROUND
The Northern Ireland Office supports the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in promoting the best interests of Northern Ireland. We make sure that Northern Ireland interests are represented within the UK Government and that UK government responsibilities are fully and effectively represented in Northern Ireland. We are the centre of expertise on Northern Ireland issues across Government.
The Northern Ireland Office employs around 170 staff, with offices in Belfast and London. As a small Department, we adopt a flexible project-based approach to ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place to support the delivery of our key objectives.
Due to our structure and size, we are able to offer extensive exposure to Ministers and the opportunity to work on a far wider portfolio of policy and responsibilities than might be the case in a larger department. This creates an interesting and stimulating work environment.
Our key priorities are set out in our Operational Delivery plan and include:
- Supporting greater inclusion, tolerance and openness in Northern Ireland
- Contributing to a safer Northern Ireland, w terrorist and paramilitary groups are less able to cause harm to communities
- Ensuring that governance in Northern Ireland is responsive, transparent and able to deliver effective public service.
- Addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland
For more information about what we do:
Visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/northern-ireland-office https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice .
ABOUT THE ROLE:
This is an exciting, varied role at the very heart of the Northern Ireland Office. You will join a friendly, high achieving Private Office team, w no two days are the same. We are looking for someone who is positive, hard-working, and enthusiastic about working in a fast-paced, demanding environment. This is a stretching role and will give you a direct exposure to senior decisionmakers and the inner workings of a ministerial Private Office.
As Assistant Private Secretary and Diary Secretary to the Secretary of State, you will have overall responsibility for their diary management. You will work with the Department’s senior leadership and across Whitehall to coordinate the Secretary of State’s diary, manage invitations, and organise all logistics for visits. You will also take on leadership for a key Private Office function, such as write rounds, and the potential for ownership of a policy portfolio.
This is a role w expectations and stakes are uniquely high for this job grade, and is tfore suited to someone organised, communicative, and attentive to detail. Things can change at the last minute so you should be adaptable and patient. The team can be very busy so you will also need to be able to make informed decisions independently and with confidence. That said, you will be supported by the -knit Private Office team and wider colleagues, all of whom are working together to deliver the best possible service to Ministers and the Department.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The main responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to:
- Managing the Secretary of State’s diary, with overall responsibility for all logistics and invites.
- Driving forward the Secretary of State’s policy agenda, ensuring that their steers are actioned in a clear and timely way.
- Ensuring compliance with transparency obligations.
- Office and estates management.
- Leading on a key Private Office function, such as write rounds.
ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:
The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview:
- Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to work effectively across a range of tasks.
- The ability to manage competing demands and priorities, remaining calm under pressure. An excellent work ethic and positivity, with a can-do, problem-solving mentality;
- The ability to build strong relationships with a range of stakeholders internal and external to Government, including Senior Civil Servants and colleagues in other departments;
- Confidence working with senior stakeholders, including delivering difficult and complex messages.
DESIRABLE CRITERIA:
- An understanding of the Northern Ireland political system and the work of the Northern Ireland Executive would be advantageous, but is not essential;
- Previous experience in Private Office and/or diary management.
BEHAVIOURS:
We will assess you against the following Success Profiles behaviours at the HEO level during the application sift and interview process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
EXPERIENCE:
Please provide a CV and statement of suitability no longer than 500 words outlining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria.
Your statement of suitability needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above.
Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Your CV will be used to add context to your personal statement.
More information on behaviours and success profiles can be found .
INTERVIEW:
You will be assessed against the same behaviours at the interview stage and will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated the behaviours.
It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:
- WHO-What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or
- STAR- What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Candidates who are successful at interview may be invited to a ‘fireside chat’ with the Secretary of State ahead of a final appointment being made.
Strengths
It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.
All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit.
OFFER
Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. Offers will be made in strict merit order to the highest scoring candidate first.
The successful candidate will be notified of a start date following successful security checks.
Additional information received after the closing date will not be considered. Failure to provide sufficient information in support of an application prior to the closing date will not be considered as grounds for an appeal if an applicant is not shortlisted for interview.
SECURITY CLEARANCE:
This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role. You can find more information by reviewing the information held in the following links:
United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The vetting charter - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In addition, t is a minimum UK residency requirement set by the Cabinet Office which is dependent on the security level required for the role.
This role requires SC and to be eligible to apply for this role you should have been present in the UK continuously for the past 5 years
Neither Detached Duty terms nor relocation costs will apply to this post.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. W plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Further Information:
Further information about the post may be obtained from Joseph Sloyan via email to [email protected] .
All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit.
This job description should not be taken as constituting conditions of employment.
Please note that due to the high interest in NIO opportunities, feedback cannot be given if you are unsuccessful at the sift stage. Feedback is available on request if unsuccessful following the interview.
COMPLAINTS:
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles.
Please contact SSCL ([email protected]) in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages:
http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/code/
RESERVE LISTS:
In the event that the advertised post following interview, identifies more appointable applicants than available posts, we may hold applicant details on a merit/reserve list for a period of 12 months from which further future appointments can be made. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact
[email protected] to be removed from the reserve list.
Additional Information
Working Arrangements & Further Information
The NIO offers Hybrid Working arrangements w business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different NIO sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.
Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.
Flexible working hours
The NIO offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. NIO welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, w they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the NIO’s Flexible Working policy.
Benefits:
- Access to learning and development
- A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
- A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension
- 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after five years service.
- Public Holidays
- Season Ticket Advance
Networks
The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. T are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.
Support
- A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
- Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
- For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ .
- Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
- Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order
- To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected] );
- To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team ([email protected] );
- To the Civil Service Commission
As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. We are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.
For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please see our Disability Confident Scheme Frequently Asked Questions webpage.
You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity & Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wver it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Interview dates
Date(s) TBC
Contact information
If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected]
