Background
On 11th September 2024, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that he would establish an independent statutory inquiry into the murder of Mr Patrick Finucane on 12th February 1989. The Inquiry is being established under the Inquiries Act 2005 to enable the Government to discharge its obligations under Article 2 of the ECHR in line with the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal judgment in July 2024. The inquiry will build upon the previous reviews and investigations which have already been conducted into this case, take specific account of the materials and information provided to and generated by them, and avoid unnecessary duplication of investigation.
The Chair of the Inquiry is supported by a small secretariat, providing administrative and policy support to the Chair and other office holders.
The Inquiry is at the early stages, and this role offers an opportunity to make a real impact on the future direction of the Inquiry. As a member of a small team, you will have a varied role on a high-profile topic, working with a diverse group of stakeholders. It’s an exciting time to be part of a growing and energetic team with lots of potential for development and growth within this role.
Please note that the role is based at the Inquiry’s hearing venue in Bradford Court, Belfast BT8 6RB, with occasional travel to London.
About The Role:
Duties And Responsibilities:
The role-holder will need to work flexibly across the secretariat team, providing support to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary and working as part of a wider team, often fulfilling tasks and roles outside his or her key responsibilities.
The key responsibilities of the role are flexible, and expected to include:
- Leading on a wide range of operational workstreams, including support for hearings and witness liaison.
- Working with the Head of Hearings & Estates as part of a team to deliver a programme of hearings open to the public, including event management skills and liaison with members of the public and those involved directly or indirectly with the Inquiry.
- Setting up and managing systems to provide business support to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary and growing team, including logistics and travel bookings, IT requests, recruitment, accommodation, events and hearings management.
Acting as Personal Assistant to the two Assessors to the Inquiry, Baroness O’Loan and Francesca Del Mese, ensuring that all administrative requirements are met to support their activities, working - ly with all members of the Inquiry team.
- Supporting the Finance Manager with operational running of administrative requirements and finance keeping, including raising POs, processing invoices and receipting for services.
- Supporting the Information Management team with assistance to ensure appropriate records management across Inquiry systems.
- Acting as administrative support for key internal meetings. This will mean overseeing and leading on commissions, the collation of papers, and the setting up and minuting of these meetings, with some diary and travel management.
- Preparing and organising meeting papers for the Secretariat, providing some diary management support and overall support.
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of responsibilities. Precise objectives will be drawn up with the post-holder to ensure team resilience and delivery of key priorities as the Inquiry develops.
Essential Criteria:
The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview:
- Ability to build and maintain strong and credible relationships with senior stakeholders in pressurised situations
- Strong prioritisation, communication and influencing skills.
- Proven event management experience.
- Experience managing the administrative needs of a principal and/or organisation.
- Ability to assess and solve problems quickly and effectively.
- Strong attention to detail and excellent written communication.
- Willingness to obtain Security Check (SC) clearance if not already held.
Desirable Criteria:
- Holding Security Check (SC) clearance would be beneficial.
Behaviours:
We will assess you against the following Success Profiles behaviours at the SEO level during the application sift and interview process:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
Experience:
Please provide a CV outlining your work history along with a statement of suitability no longer than 750 words outlining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria. Both will be used in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.
Your statement of suitability needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role.
If you don’t have work-based examples then give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.
You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your education, professional qualifications, previous skills and full employment history. 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 .
Please note that in the event of a large number of applications being received we may run the initial sift on the lead Behaviour Leadership.
Interview:
At the interview stage, you will be assessed against the same behaviours 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?
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.
Further Information:
Further information about the post may be obtained from Catriona Clarke 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 UKor 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]
