Private Secretary to the Prime Minister

Details
Reference number

423018

Salary

£81,000

External candidates will be expected to start on the band minimum. These roles will have a Private Office Allowance attached to it at £12,160 to reflect the sometimes long and unsociable hours. Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the normal Civil Service pay rules.

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

SCS Pay Band 1

Contract type

Fixed term

Loan

Secondment

Length of employment

2 Years

Business area

CO - Prime Minister's Office

Type of role

Policy

Senior leadership

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

London

About the job
Job summary

The Prime Minister's Office is a business unit of the Cabinet Office, which supports the Prime Minister and ensures the smooth running of government - from developing policy, to modernising public services.

The Prime Minister's Office enables the Prime Minister to deliver the Government's overall priorities and to communicate those priorities to Parliament, the public and international audiences. From the Policy Unit, Press Office, Switchboard and Custodians, to the Events & Visits team and the Private Office support; the diverse Downing Street team draws on varied expertise from across the Civil Service and beyond. The teams come together to deliver an excellent service to the Prime Minister while also making No10 a great place to work.

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of government as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. The post holder covers public services for the PM. This involves leading in support of the Prime Minister on issues relating to MHCLG, DfE, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cabinet Office and Equalities.

The role will advise the PM and his top team on a broad range of issues, facilitate between Downing Street and Departments, and communicate priorities. There is a large leadership role to play across No10, being an active SCS supporting the Principal Private Secretary and Deputy Principal Private Secretary in management of the House on corporate issues.

The successful candidate will have expertise and experience in the related areas the role covers. They should be able to demonstrate strong and concise communication skills, and be able to prioritise (leading on multiple issues concurrently). They will be a respected leader, working collegiately and collaboratively with all.

This role will have a Private Office Allowance attached to it to reflect the sometimes long and unsociable hours.

Key Responsibilities will include:

• Working with the Downing Street Policy Unit, Cabinet Office, Departments and others to develop and deliver policy — underpinning them with evidence, probing and identifying the reputational, implementation and financial risks, resolving differences, and negotiating solutions.
• Reacting flexibly to the changing environment, working cohesively with teams to drive forward domestic priorities. As a senior leader in No10 you will take a leading role in driving positive and constructive organisational change and culture.
• Ensuring that policy is presented in a compelling and persuasive manner and that policy and delivery is integrated into the wider Government agenda.
• Arranging and preparing meetings and announcements, including briefing the Prime Minister and recording outcomes.
• Working flexibly as pressures require and acting as a link between Private Offices across Whitehall to identify, coordinate and successfully resolve emerging issues.
• Management – you will have line management responsibilities.

Person specification

It is important, that through your CV and supporting statement that you provide evidence of the following Essential Criteria:

• Personal effectiveness and credibility to work at a senior level across Whitehall, giving advice to the Prime Minister and a clear lead to Whitehall.
• The ability to work at pace in a complex cross-departmental environment, driving progress in the face of a range of different views and priorities.
• Inclusive leadership skills and the ability to motivate and manage a diverse team. A proven track record of recently working closely with senior stakeholders, and the ability to get to the heart of political priorities and translate them into policy development.
• Policy and evaluation skills to question and provide fresh ideas across a broad range of policy and in response to events.
• Highly developed communication, networking and negotiation skills.
• Personal resilience and able to manage multiple priorities in pressurised situations.
• Demonstrated expertise in at least two of the policy areas outlined in the job description e.g. issues relating to MHCLG, DfE, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cabinet Office and Equalities.
• Proven ability to manage a broad and complex portfolio of issues, balancing competing priorities and interests effectively.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience working within or in close collaboration with the relevant government departments e.g. MHCLG, DfE, Cabinet Office and devolved governments.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Cabinet Office contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career with the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead. You'll benefit from a wide range of training and development opportunities, regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you'll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes:

• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years' service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays and one privilege day to mark the King's birthday.
• A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
• Flexible working patterns including part-time or term-time working and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours;
• Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
• Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
• The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable); and
• Occupational sick pay.

Things you need to know
Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process, outlined below. This should be completed no later than 23:55, Monday 3rd November 2025.

1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.

2. A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.

Shortlist

A panel, including the hiring manager, will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the 'Person Specification' section of the attached candidate information pack. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Assessment

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to attend a panel interview, in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. We will be assessing against the success profiles Behaviours and Experience at interview.

Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates. If you are required to prepare a presentation for the final interview you will be given the subject in advance.

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 Government Recruitment Service at: as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the 'assistance required' section in the 'personal information' page of your application form to provide information we should be aware of that will enable us to support you further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Reserve lists

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitable vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview.

Further Information

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact:

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility here.

Current Civil Servants (all contract types) will need to ensure that they are still employed as a civil servant at the point of starting in the relevant new post. If their contract ends (e.g. end of FTA contract or resignation) at any point during the recruitment/onboarding process for the advertised role, they will no longer be eligible and may be withdrawn.

Please note that this role requires Developed Vetting (DV) clearance, which would normally need 5 years UK residency in the past 10 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting .

See our vetting charter .

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 : GRS SCS Recruitment Team
• Email :

Recruitment team

• Email :

Further information

Civil Service Commission Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance you should contact;

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission at and more information can be found

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