Private Secretary
| Posting date: | 23 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £45,544 to £49,523 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 08 February 2026 |
| Location: | Leeds, West Yorkshire |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | HMRC |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 444884 |
Summary
The Private Secretary role offers a pivotal opportunity to support the Director of Estates & Locations, working within the Private Office to lead activity across the directorate and ensure alignment with other Private Offices across HMRC and wider government.
The role requires a highly motivated and adaptable individual who has the drive and capability to deliver high quality work to strict deadlines and manage demanding and often complex strategic priorities, collaborating with a range of senior leaders and other Private Offices across the Civil Service.
You will be required to display high levels of judgement often dealing with senior leaders on high profile and critical matters, frequently working closely with the Senior Leadership Team and their Personal Assistants to drive key deliverables and ensure alignment and consistency.
While diary management experience is valuable, this role requires broader private office capability, including inbox leadership, commissioning and briefing, action tracking, directorate planning coordination, and influencing senior stakeholders.
As the Private Secretary, you will take the lead in managing the daily activities of the Director’s private office, including the following:
Exercising full ownership of the inbox and information‑management systems, undertaking initial triage of all correspondence to determine the correct course of action (including issuing readouts, commissioning activity, or progressing actions to completion on the Director’s behalf). This includes prioritising and advancing high‑priority tasks and delegating work appropriately to Deputy Directors and their offices.
Supporting the Director by maintaining strong oversight of key and emerging issues, including the effective management and tracking of actions and objectives as required.
Attending meetings alongside the Director, capturing clear and accurate action notes, and providing timely readouts, making effective use of new technologies.
Showing a strong understanding the Director’s priorities and using initiative to maintain a broad view across the directorate - taking action on emails, resolving issues at pace, and prioritising workload appropriately.
Applying strong knowledge of the directorate and its portfolio to make informed decisions on delegation and sign‑off, ensuring products are directed to Deputy Directors appropriately and supporting them to empower their SLTs.
Directing requests to the right individuals and acting as a recognised point of escalation across the directorate.
Drafting email responses, confidently challenging assumptions where needed, and handling sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.
Oversight of the Diary Managers duties, ensuring all papers and reports are prepared, they are quality‑checking these, and have scheduled review time, and that colleagues across the office provide well‑organised briefing and documentation for meetings.
Providing direct line management to the Office Diary Manager, offering guidance, support, and clear direction.
Working closely with the Chief of Staff to maintain and strengthen processes that support consistent, sustainable ways of working across the private office and wider directorate.
Drafting clear, accurate, and timely communications on behalf of the Director.
Ensuring all performance reporting requirements are met, including providing support on recruitment activity where needed.
Deputising for the Chief of Staff as required, providing leadership and continuity across the team.
PLEASE NOTE: There will be 5pm cover, primarily picked up by the Private Secretary to maintain full ownership of the director’s busy inbox. There will also be the need for overnight travel and occasional out of hours working as the business needs dictate.
We are looking for someone who:
Thrives in a fast‑paced, high‑pressure environment with tight high- priority shifting deadlines, taking ownership for prioritising work to deliver high‑quality results where no two days are the same.
Is a confident communicator, able to engage effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leaders, on the Director’s behalf.
Demonstrates the ability to manage and influence upwards when delegating work, commissioning briefings, and following up on actions.
Has proven experience of problem‑solving at pace and ensuring deadlines are consistently met.
Can, when required, manage a portfolio of work or specific projects, as agreed with the Chief of Staff and the Director.
Understands the wider strategic context when commissioning briefings and delegating tasks.
Provides leadership across the wider directorate PA community, building strong and collaborative relationships.
Demonstrates excellent organisational skills; resourceful, resilient, and calm under pressure.
Has strong working knowledge of Office 365 and effective management of SharePoint sites.
Shows a clear willingness to learn and to support the development of others.
Makes a meaningful impact through high levels of autonomy, frequently working with senior stakeholders on high‑profile and critical matters, and collaborating closely with the Senior Leadership Team and their Private Offices to drive key work and maintain alignment.
Essential Criteria:
Experience of running a Senior Private Office function, that includes complex inbox management and action tracking, supporting senior leaders, at a director level in a large or complex team.
Proven experience of working in a fast‑paced, environment with tight deadlines and shifting priorities.
Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with Senior Directors and key stakeholders.
Confident in preparing presentations, reports, and other materials, demonstrating strong attention to detail and creativity.
The role requires a highly motivated and adaptable individual who has the drive and capability to deliver high quality work to strict deadlines and manage demanding and often complex strategic priorities, collaborating with a range of senior leaders and other Private Offices across the Civil Service.
You will be required to display high levels of judgement often dealing with senior leaders on high profile and critical matters, frequently working closely with the Senior Leadership Team and their Personal Assistants to drive key deliverables and ensure alignment and consistency.
While diary management experience is valuable, this role requires broader private office capability, including inbox leadership, commissioning and briefing, action tracking, directorate planning coordination, and influencing senior stakeholders.
As the Private Secretary, you will take the lead in managing the daily activities of the Director’s private office, including the following:
Exercising full ownership of the inbox and information‑management systems, undertaking initial triage of all correspondence to determine the correct course of action (including issuing readouts, commissioning activity, or progressing actions to completion on the Director’s behalf). This includes prioritising and advancing high‑priority tasks and delegating work appropriately to Deputy Directors and their offices.
Supporting the Director by maintaining strong oversight of key and emerging issues, including the effective management and tracking of actions and objectives as required.
Attending meetings alongside the Director, capturing clear and accurate action notes, and providing timely readouts, making effective use of new technologies.
Showing a strong understanding the Director’s priorities and using initiative to maintain a broad view across the directorate - taking action on emails, resolving issues at pace, and prioritising workload appropriately.
Applying strong knowledge of the directorate and its portfolio to make informed decisions on delegation and sign‑off, ensuring products are directed to Deputy Directors appropriately and supporting them to empower their SLTs.
Directing requests to the right individuals and acting as a recognised point of escalation across the directorate.
Drafting email responses, confidently challenging assumptions where needed, and handling sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.
Oversight of the Diary Managers duties, ensuring all papers and reports are prepared, they are quality‑checking these, and have scheduled review time, and that colleagues across the office provide well‑organised briefing and documentation for meetings.
Providing direct line management to the Office Diary Manager, offering guidance, support, and clear direction.
Working closely with the Chief of Staff to maintain and strengthen processes that support consistent, sustainable ways of working across the private office and wider directorate.
Drafting clear, accurate, and timely communications on behalf of the Director.
Ensuring all performance reporting requirements are met, including providing support on recruitment activity where needed.
Deputising for the Chief of Staff as required, providing leadership and continuity across the team.
PLEASE NOTE: There will be 5pm cover, primarily picked up by the Private Secretary to maintain full ownership of the director’s busy inbox. There will also be the need for overnight travel and occasional out of hours working as the business needs dictate.
We are looking for someone who:
Thrives in a fast‑paced, high‑pressure environment with tight high- priority shifting deadlines, taking ownership for prioritising work to deliver high‑quality results where no two days are the same.
Is a confident communicator, able to engage effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leaders, on the Director’s behalf.
Demonstrates the ability to manage and influence upwards when delegating work, commissioning briefings, and following up on actions.
Has proven experience of problem‑solving at pace and ensuring deadlines are consistently met.
Can, when required, manage a portfolio of work or specific projects, as agreed with the Chief of Staff and the Director.
Understands the wider strategic context when commissioning briefings and delegating tasks.
Provides leadership across the wider directorate PA community, building strong and collaborative relationships.
Demonstrates excellent organisational skills; resourceful, resilient, and calm under pressure.
Has strong working knowledge of Office 365 and effective management of SharePoint sites.
Shows a clear willingness to learn and to support the development of others.
Makes a meaningful impact through high levels of autonomy, frequently working with senior stakeholders on high‑profile and critical matters, and collaborating closely with the Senior Leadership Team and their Private Offices to drive key work and maintain alignment.
Essential Criteria:
Experience of running a Senior Private Office function, that includes complex inbox management and action tracking, supporting senior leaders, at a director level in a large or complex team.
Proven experience of working in a fast‑paced, environment with tight deadlines and shifting priorities.
Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with Senior Directors and key stakeholders.
Confident in preparing presentations, reports, and other materials, demonstrating strong attention to detail and creativity.