Our mission is to deliver exceptional public service communication that makes a difference.
The Operations, Private Office and Governance team is critical for the direct support it provides the Permanent Secretary and Executive Team of the GCS, balancing the interests, engagement and priorities of the organisation and senior team. The Operational, Private Office & Governance team is the foundation of a smoothly run and effective GCS, responsible for business planning, financial, and project management support of business practices; and implementing the systems underpinning the way in which GCS will operate to foster the highest level of efficiencies
Effective and efficient private offices are integral in supporting the senior leadership team to deliver their priorities in a fast-paced and politically interesting environment. As a member of the private office team, you are the connection point between the Permanent Secretary and GCS and the wider comms community and gain a unique insight into senior decision making.
The role of Assistant Private Secretary is varied and demanding and as such requires excellent organisation and communication skills, and the ability to build relationships across the Department and more widely, and work confidently with officials at all levels
This role will work to tight deadlines with high volumes of work and require creative responses. The role holder will need to be able to remain calm, work independently, and exercise strong judgement. This role will have frequent exposure to senior stakeholders, require a collaborative approach to issues, however assertiveness is needed as well as the ability to build strong working relationships quickly.
Responsibilities & Duties
* Play an active role in the support for the Permanent Secretary in carrying out his day-to-day activities, relieving pressure on his time by reading, researching, and routing correspondence to the appropriate person, escalating issues of concern where needed.
* Overseeing the collation of the daily box & day pack.
* Managing the team’s Forward Look of work in pipeline and ensuring work is on time.
* Supporting the flow of information between the Exec Team, private offices, and internal and external stakeholders, responsible for creating agendas and circulating and commissioning papers for high level meetings.
* Taking minutes and actions of the Permanent Secretary’s meetings and distributing them to relevant colleagues. Following up and tracking actions.
* Drafting of correspondence and documents on behalf of the Permanent Secretary.
* Commissioning and collating speeches and presentations for the Permanent Secretary.
* Commissioning and collating briefs for visits and events.
* Forging and maintaining effective networks and relationships across Government Communications, the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, working closely with Ministerial, Special Advisor’s and other Permanent Secretary’s private offices to arrange meetings, collate papers, and answer queries.
* Engaging with key stakeholders both internally and externally.
* Acting as a point of contact for colleagues for submissions to the Permanent Secretary.
* Acting as a main point of contact between Directors of Communication across government.
* Effectively managing the Permanent Secretary’s inbox with discretion and professionalism, ensuring urgent issues are dealt with promptly and that work is prioritised and appropriate issues are escalated to the Private Secretary or Senior Private Secretary.
* Support HR and staffing processes.
* Manage time proactively to ensure priorities are clear and on track.
* May be required to cover for the Private Secretary and ensure there is always support provided to the Executive team.
* Opportunity to lead on discrete pieces of work across the Permanent Secretary and Exec Team’s brief including leading on visits or drafting speeches and presentations.
* Will be responsible for line management of the Diary Manager for the Permanent Secretary.
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