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Private Secretary to the Secretary of State / Head of Ministerial Office

Posting date:	04 April 2025
Salary:	£59,686 per year
Additional salary information:	(an additional 20% Private Office allowance is also payable)
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	20 April 2025
Location:	London
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	398398/1

Summary

We recognise the challenges that people with protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Are you excited by the possibility to work at the heart of Government decision-making with a real opportunity to shape policy, strategy and delivery?

Do you want to work directly with the Department’s political team on the most important and challenging issues of the day?

Are you someone who enjoys working collaboratively across teams, directorates and departments?

Do you thrive in situations that are fast moving, but with real opportunities to drive change?

If so, then this is the perfect role for you!

We will be hosting an open event, where prospective applicants can find out more about the roles and hear from those currently in these roles. The event will be held virtually on Monday 14 April from 14:30-15:30. Please join us using the meeting link or contact oliver.johnson@dft.gov.uk or san.puri-starr@dft.gov.uk to be added to the event invite.

Please note – at time of publication of this advert there are currently no vacant positions. Due to the changing and evolving nature of Private Office, vacancies can open up on a regular basis. Therefore, this campaign will create an active working merit list in order to fulfil demand as it arises.

A Minister’s Private Office is the first point of contact between the Department and the Minister on a range of issues. Each of our Ministers will rely on you personally to act as a trusted adviser and to commission, review and quality assure advice from the Department and across Whitehall.
As Private Secretary to the Secretary of State or Head of Office to a junior Minister, you will be responsible for a portfolio of policy areas, acting as the primary link between your principal and the Department on those issues. As a Head of Office, you will lead a team of Assistant Private Secretaries and a Diary Manager to support your principal across the range of their responsibilities; and as a Private Secretary to the Secretary of State you will lead one assistant private secretary to do the same.

You will be required to work on a range of complex and challenging topics from travel disruption preparedness and crisis response; to delivery of some of the largest infrastructure projects in the country, as well as the day-to-day running of the transport network. You will be required to constantly manage a range of competing priorities, while remaining resilient under pressure and consistently delivering on priorities.
This is a unique opportunity to support the Department’s political team on some of the most sensitive issues for which they are responsible, and to hone your influencing skills and strategic awareness. You will work closely with the Secretary of State’s office, other Ministerial offices, and with senior officials, as well as needing to engage extensively with other government departments.

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Working directly with Ministers and Special Advisers on a daily basis to support them in the delivery of their priorities and acting as a trusted adviser and driving forward their priorities with other Ministerial offices, across the Department and around Whitehall.
• Owning a portfolio of policy areas across the Department and leading on providing a high-quality private office service to Ministers and Special Advisers across those areas.
• Establishing strong working relationships across the Department to ensure that you are able to effectively support Ministers in their decision making,
• Supporting Ministers across their range of their responsibilities: whether that is engaging with complex policy issues, supporting them on Departmental communications or attending official visits.
• Line management of Assistant Private Secretaries / Diary Managers; developing a collaborative, supportive and resilient team culture.
• Managing core private office responsibilities in collaboration with other Ministerial offices, including correspondence and Parliamentary Questions, to ensure deadlines and Departmental targets are hit.

For more information, please see the attached Role Profile.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

About Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.