Private Secretary

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 411735

**Salary**:

- £36,728 - £40,670
- These roles are entitled to private office allowance as compensation for sometimes long and unsociable hours, including occasional weekend working.
- A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

**Job grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer

**Contract type**:

- Permanent

**Business area**:

- CO - Chief Operating Officer Office

**Type of role**:

- Policy

**Working pattern**:

- Full-time

**Number of jobs available**:

- 2

**Contents**:

- Location
- About the job
- Benefits
- Things you need to know

**Location**:

- London

**About the job**:
**Job summary**:
We are recruiting for two Private Secretaries in the Cabinet Office:
The second is Private Secretary to Minister Georgia Gould. You will be expected to lead on key areas of the Minister’s portfolio, such as public sector reform and civil service people policy, as well as supporting the Minister in her wider duties, including representing Cabinet Office business in the House of Commons, and supporting the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and wider Cabinet Office Ministerial team as necessary

**Job description**:
These roles will require you to act as the critical bridge between the Ministers, the Special Advisers, Senior Civil Servants and policy experts in the department. You will also need to work closely with other government departments, and with stakeholders and with the public.

You will be expected to lead on key elements that support the essential functioning of the Private Office. This could include leading on key areas of the Ministers portfolio, being the primary point of contact for the department and providing robust advice to the Minister, helping to manage the Minister’s diary, supporting their engagements and responsibilities in the House of Commons and their cross Government interests.

**Key Responsibilities**
- Drive forward the Ministers’ priorities, ensuring these are communicated effectively to the teams with timely and high quality advice, and using your influence where needed to provide steers on ministerial preferences;
- Provide an effective channel of communication between the Minister, Special Advisers, and Cabinet Office teams;
- Remain highly organised, simultaneously managing a large number of commissions of varied deadlines, while proactively engaging teams to ensure that potential delays and problems are identified early and dealt with quickly and effectively;
- Use your relationships, judgement and understanding of the wider context to support the Minister in their work and to add value to the process and substance of decision making;
- Identify the main issues in complex problems, clarify understanding or stakeholder expectations, to provide the best advice to the minister;
- Supporting the work of the Minister in Parliament, for orals, debates, questions and speeches, you will work closely with the parliamentary team and other Private Offices; and
- Contributing to team and directorate culture which is supportive, flexible, calm, and hard-working.

**Person specification**:
**Essential**:

- Ability to work in a fast-paced and pressured environment, balance a large number of competing priorities and push strategic priorities;
- Excellent attention to detail and strong critical thinking skills;
- Ability to review, analyse and critically summarise written briefings quickly;
- Outstanding written and oral communication skills; and comfortable engaging with a range of senior stakeholders;
- Self motivated, with a track record of independently driving results of progressing a range of objectives;
- Serve as a strong team-player, working flexibly to support colleagues and drive to improve ways of working where possible; and
- Demonstrate strong political awareness.

**Desirable**:

- Experience of working closely and confidently with senior leaders or Ministers;
- Detailed understanding of how Whitehall operates and experience of having worked or covered in a Private Office

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

- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Delivering at Pace

**Benefits**:

- Alongside your salary of £36,728, Cabinet Office contributes £10,640 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Learning and development tailored to your role.
- An environment with flexible working options.
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
- A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

**Additional information**:
A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also