Assistant Private Secretary to Director General
| Posting date: | 30 June 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £38,138 to £39,994 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 15 July 2025 |
| Location: | London |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 413263/1 |
Summary
The Group’s vision is to invigorate secure and resilient economic growth by working with businesses, international partners, and across Government. We do this through defending UK business and trade against economic shocks and statecraft, securing critical imports and supply chains, and protecting against unfair competition and trading rules. We also create growth by resolving market access barriers and implementing the UK’s FTA commitments.
The Director General’s Private Office is a dynamic and fast-paced environment at the heart of this important work. As Assistant Private Secretary, you will play a key role in supporting the DG’s priorities and ensuring the smooth operation of the office, contributing to the delivery of a high-profile and impactful portfolio.
What will the successful candidate be doing?
As Assistant Private Secretary to the Director General (DG) for Economic Security and Trade Relations, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth and effective running of the DG’s office. Working closely with the Head of Office, you will manage a dynamic and high-profile portfolio, demonstrating sound judgement, discretion, and a proactive approach.
You will be responsible for maintaining oversight of the DG’s diary, priorities, and key engagements—ensuring they are fully prepared for meetings through timely commissioning and coordination of briefings. You will manage the DG’s inbox and clearance processes, ensuring that correspondence is prioritised, quality assured, and actioned efficiently.
This role requires excellent communication and relationship-building skills, as you will act as a key liaison between the DG and a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including senior officials, policy teams, and other government departments. You will also support the DG’s internal communications, helping to maintain strong connections across the group and wider department.
Key Responsibilities
- Communication and Influence: Confidently communicate DG priorities and steers to directorate teams, using your judgement to ensure clarity and alignment with wider departmental goals.
- Effective prioritisation: Actively monitoring and managing diary and engagement requests to ensure any urgent and important emails are identified and flagged to the DG and Private Office team, and these emails are resolved.
- Commissioning and Coordination: Lead on business-as-usual commissioning for departmental requests, ensuring timely responses and effective coordination across teams.
- Building Relationships: Build and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues across the DG’s group, Ministerial Private Offices, and other government departments to support the DG’s priorities.
- Information and Process Management: Support the smooth running of private office systems, including document handling, information storage, and clearance processes—refining and improving these as needed.
- Team Support and Culture: Contribute to a collaborative, calm, and high-performing team culture, supporting colleagues and adapting flexibly to changing demands.
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