Ministerial Private Secretary

We are looking for an outstanding candidate to join Ministerial private offices in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This is an exciting and stretching role with a high level of responsibility and profile across the department and wider government. We are looking for enthusiastic, driven, organised, and committed candidates who want to deliver on the wide-ranging priorities of the department and the wider government agenda. The successful candidate will have responsibility for a policy portfolio, operate at a senior level across government with credibility not often matched at this grade, and be a visible leader across the division and wider department. While no experience of Private Office is required, but we are looking for self-starters with excellent judgements who are able to operate autonomously, working with a range of stakeholders., The role of a Private Secretary is varied, challenging and stimulating. You can expect an exciting and fast-paced experience, where no two days are the same. The role is critical to ensuring Ministers can work effectively with the department, the wider Government, key external stakeholders, and Parliament. You will work with a small, close-knit team and have a significant amount of autonomy.

Working with Ministers - you will develop a strong and trusted relationship with Ministers, acting as a first point of contact on policy priorities, in meetings, in Parliament and on visits. This will include providing clear written and verbal advice to the Minister, often on complex policy issues, and ensuring the department responds appropriately to the Minister's steers.

Collaborating across the department and beyond - you will build strong relationships with colleagues across policy, communications and beyond to successfully deliver the Minister's priorities, and representing the Minister in discussions and negotiations across government - including with No.10 and external stakeholders.

Ensuring delivery across your portfolio - you will work flexibly to respond to multiple emerging issues across your portfolio, while continuing to ensure the Minister's strategic vision and priorities are delivered.

Leading visibly - you will play an important role in the division to help set direction and ground it as a place where everyone is provided with both support and challenge needed to get the best out of themselves. The post-holders will be responsible for shaping a culture that promotes equality, diversity and inclusion and empowers people to succeed in private office., This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

As part of our pre-employment checking process we will be using your CV to confirm your job history. Please note that by providing us with your CV you are consenting to us using the information enclosed as part of the checking process.

Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system - this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).

At application stage you will be asked to upload a CV document. Unless stated otherwise in the advert, your CV will not form part of the assessment but will be used for information purposes and only shared with the panel at interview stage.

Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions, for example all candidates' responses to 'Seeing the Big Picture' rather than seeing a candidate's full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

When writing your application, remember:

• The assessor won't be reading your answers sequentially.



• Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.



• If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!)


At sift, we will be assessing

Behaviour 1 (lead behaviour) - Delivering at Pace

Behaviour 2 - Seeing The Big Picture

Behaviour 3 - Making Effective Decisions

Experience - Please explain in 250 words how your skills and experience meet the essential criteria for this role.

There is a 250 word limit per question.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.,
• 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
  
  The successful candidate will be a self-starter and have:


The ability to work on multiple complex issues at pace and simultaneously, using careful judgement and strong organisational skills to prioritise;

Personal resilience, including the ability to adapt quickly to new demands and work flexibly in order to deliver quality outcomes for Ministers under pressure.

Very strong written and verbal communication skills, and the confidence to effectively and sensitively review the work of other, often senior colleagues;

Excellent judgment and policy analysis that can be deployed flexibly across a wide range of issues, as well as the mental agility to understand a range of political priorities and assess their impact on departmental policy;

The ability to manage a range of competing views and drive progress in the department and across government through exceptional relationship-building, communication and negotiation skills; and

The drive and enthusiasm to work autonomously, communicating regularly within a small team.,
• Seeing the Big Picture


• Making Effective Decisions


• Delivering at Pace, Any move to DLUHC from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
  
  £32,178

£35,400 (London) or £32,178 (National). For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable.
A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%, Alongside your salary of £32,178, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £8,688 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role


• An environment with flexible working options


• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity


• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%


Things you need to know, Strength

The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.

In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements:

Behaviours: (Delivering at Pace, Seeing The Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions)

Experience: (Yes)

Strengths: (Yes)

We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox - you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.

HEO salary

• The salary for this role is £35,400 (London) or £32,178 (National).



• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.


• A private office allowance is available for this role, which is 15% of basic salary.