Diary Manager

Posting date:	19 June 2025
Salary:	£32,220 to £33,430 per year
Additional salary information:	For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’.
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	30 June 2025
Location:	London
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	412039/1

Summary

The principal responsibility of this role is to manage a Minister’s diary. This involves close working with the Minister and their private secretaries to ensure that the Minister fulfils their parliamentary and policy portfolio obligations. You will provide support on a full range of activities: from understanding and balancing competing Ministerial priorities, to negotiating compromises with a diverse range of stakeholders. Your Ministerial contact time will give you a unique working relationship with a person whose decisions affect a large proportion of Departmental business.

You will be working in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life from the food we eat, to the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

You will form part of the Ministerial, Growth and Resilience Directorate, providing support on the Government Growth Mission as well as working on regulation and regulatory reform. It also includes Defra’s Briefing, Parliamentary, and ministerial support functions, including Defra’s Ministerial and Permanent Secretary Private Offices.

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) 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.

These roles are based in London. You will be expected work in the office from Monday to Friday.

The role of diary manager is critical to organise and support Ministers, working across the department and Private Office to ensure the smooth running of Ministerial offices. Diary managers schedule meetings, events, visits, and parliamentary obligations, whilst ensuring that the Minister’s diary aligns with political, departmental, and Parliamentary priorities.

Working in Private Office is a fulfilling experience, but you will need to be resilient to the challenges that arise, able to have difficult conversations, make tough decisions and be able to adapt quickly to changing situations. Excellent prioritisation and efficient working are essential to ensure you can maintain a healthy balance between your life and work.

You will need to build a strong relationship with the rest of the team and to be ready to help your colleagues in highly pressurised moments, just as they will support you when you need it. Those working in Private Office are expected to operate to a level of autonomy, and with a level of leadership normally expected of those more senior. Combined with the overview these positions provide of Departmental business; these are fantastic roles for those wishing to progress quickly within the Department.

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.