Ministerial Private Office

Full job description
Details
Reference number
417139
Salary
£40,132
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
Job grade
Higher Executive Officer
Contract type
Permanent
Business area
DFE - Strategy Group - Ministerial Private Office
Type of role
Policy
Working pattern
Full-time
Number of jobs available
1
Contents
Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
City of Westminster, London (region), SW1P 3BT
About the job
Job summary
We are advertising for a rewarding and critical role working in the private office for a Minister and the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education.

Further roles may be available in the coming months that we can recruit from the reserve list. Possible roles may include Private Secretary and Diary Manager to the Secretary of State.

This is an opportunity to work in the heart of government, supporting the Ministers or the Permanent Secretary as they make decisions and drive forward the Department’s policies.

Successful applicants will be joining small and friendly teams, working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment. These positions offer a unique insight into the Department and provide a superb opportunity for people to develop skills that will support progression in the civil service.

Job description
Job Responsibilities:

Directly advising and work with Minister/Permanent Secretary to support them to deliver their priorities.
Setting direction to and work with senior civil servants and teams across the Department to ensure they provide high quality advice and briefing on policy and operational issues.
Supporting Minister/Permanent Secretary to fulfil their duties, supporting them in a wide range of meetings and events, and ensuring they are well briefed for parliamentary debates and select committees.
Setting strategic direction on how the Secretary of State / Minister spends their time.
For the diary manager role, this will include managing a complex diary which will require the post holder to know the Secretary of State’s priorities, have a strong personal relationship with them, and have strong stakeholder skills with both internal and external stakeholders.

This is an incredibly exciting time to be joining Private Office. We are looking for someone with outstanding skills and judgement; who is flexible; adaptable and proactive in the face of changing circumstances; and confident dealing with senior stakeholders. You will gain unique experience in this fantastic role working with brilliant colleagues and taking part in once-in-a-career opportunities.

Successful applicants will be hardworking and comfortable operating in high-pressure environments.

Person specification
Essential criteria:

Excellent organisational, written and oral communication skills, and be able to prioritise competing priorities effectively to resolve difficult issues, and achieve shared goals in high pressure situations.
Ability to establish and maintain relationships with a diverse range of people, including working with senior stakeholders to influence others and find consensus.
Work effectively in a team, being flexible and adaptable to support the wider team and division, and complete all work to a high standard.
Ability to process and analyse large amounts of information, draw conclusions and weigh up conflicting evidence to make clear recommendations.
Desirable criteria:

Be numerate and take particular care when sending emails or other communications, always paying attention to detail.
Have an interest in politics.
Ideally have prior experience of diary management.
Be able to work constructively with colleagues in other departments to plan engagements, ensuring that stakeholder preferences are met.
Be able to quickly compile briefing day packs, ensuring that they are of the highest quality and providing stakeholders with everything needed.
Confidently lead senior stakeholders through appointments/ schedules at regular diary meetings.
Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Benefits
Alongside your salary of £40,132, Department for Education contributes £11,626 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Working in private office can often be demanding and mean working atypical hours. Due to this, you will be eligible to claim overtime for the work you will do on top of core working hours.

Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Strengths and Experience.
Application

To apply for this role, you will be required to provide a CV and Statement of Suitability (statement max word count 1000 words). We will use your CV and statement to assess your suitability for the role against the essential criteria listed in the person specification section above.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the Statement of Suitability is 1000. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1000 words will not be taken into account.

Interview

At interview you will be asked questions to assess your experience in line with the essential criteria listed above.

Candidates will be also asked to complete a task at interview, this will be assessed against the essential criteria.

We will also ask you some strength based questions.

Interviews are planned to take place week commencing 26 August 2025 with the aim to inform candidates of the outcome in the week commencing 1 September 2025. Please note these dates are subject to change.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Other Information

Interviews may be via Microsoft teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment .

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

name/title
educational institutions
age
gender
email address
postal address
phone number
nationality/immigration status
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. Where 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.

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming 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/


Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
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)
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
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 .
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
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 and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Name : George Warren
Email : george.warren@education.gov.uk
Recruitment team
Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk
Further information
The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. 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

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