London
Job Summary
DWP is looking to fill Principal Private Secretary role in Policy Group.
Role
The Principal Private Secretary plays a high profile and critical role within DWP working within a fast paced and dynamic environment. Their primary focus is acting as a trusted adviser to the DWP Secretary of State, managing that critical relationship and supporting the Secretary of State in their delivery of the DWP priorities. The role entails:
* Advising and supporting the Secretary of State in their oversight of the department and delivery of their objectives.
* Leading Private Office, ensuring that it works effectively in support of Ministers and the department.
* Oversight of ministerial correspondence, legislation and Parliament, and the Secretary of State’s Implementation and Delivery Unit.
* Acting as a bridge between the Secretary of State, senior civil servants, policy and operational experts across the department.
* Building strong relationships with the PM and Chancellor’s office, to support the Secretary of State and the Department to achieve its objectives.
* The role involves a significant amount of collaborative working across DWP, with Senior Officials and their teams, Ministers, Special Advisers and stakeholders.
Virtual Engagement Session
Date: 18th June 2025 Time: 14:00 – 15:00
This virtual session is an opportunity for you to find out more about the role and what it's like leading the Policy Directorate. You'll get the opportunity to hear directly from the vacancy holder Emily Antcliffe (Vacancy Holder) and Carrie Rodgers (HR Director) who will provide an overview of the role and hold a Q&A session Join Live Event
Job Description
As the biggest public service department in the country, we are looking for a dynamic and experienced leader to help us navigate through the times ahead.
This role presents a fabulous opportunity to work at the heart of government, advising and supporting the Secretary of State, wider Executive Team and Non-Executive Directors on the governance and accountability of the department.
This is an important leadership role, of both the immediate Departmental Governance and Legislation Division, and working with a busy Private Office and ministerial team supporting priority cross-cutting work in the Department.
Please see the candidate pack attached to the advert for Key Responsibilities.
It’s an exciting time to be part of DWP!
As the biggest public service department in the country, we are looking for a dynamic and experienced leader to help us navigate through the times ahead.
This role presents a fabulous opportunity to work at the heart of government, advising and supporting the Secretary of State, wider Executive Team and Non-Executive Directors on the governance and accountability of the department.
This is an important leadership role, of both the immediate Departmental Governance and Legislation Division, and working with a busy Private Office and ministerial team supporting priority cross-cutting work in the Department.
Please see the candidate pack attached to the advert for Key Responsibilities.
It’s an exciting time to be part of DWP!
Person specification
The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their knowledge, experience and skills against the following essential criteria:
* Experience of working in a policy and political environment with senior stakeholders and an understanding of how DWP’s role fits into the wider Government context.
Highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills, with the ability to:
* Establish credibility and trust quickly with a diverse network of senior leaders and / or Ministers
* Present complex issues simply and effectively and influence decisions,
* Deliver results at pace, handle uncertainty and demonstrate exceptional judgement in a complex environment
Strong People Leadership Skills
* An inspirational leader with a flair for engaging people making the complex simple and compelling
* Provides visible, positive, and collaborative leadership
* Able to build capable, inclusive, and high performing teams
* Makes a full contribution to the wider leadership team.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Leadership
* Communicating and Influencing
* Delivering at Pace
* Making Effective Decisions
Alongside your salary of £81,000, Department for Work and Pensions 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.
DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:
* Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
* Generous annual leave – at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
* Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
* Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
* Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
* Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
* An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
If you think you have the experience and energy to take on these stretching and demanding role, we would be very keen to hear from you.
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process outlined below no later than 12:00 midday on 30th June 2025.
* 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;
* A personal statement (maximum 1250 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.
Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.
For more information about the roles and the applications process, please see the candidate pack attached.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
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 (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
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 (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
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) (opens in a new window)
* 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 (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).
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.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).
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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) 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 : DWP Senior Recruitment
* Email : Senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk
Recruitment team
* Email : Senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk
Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DWP by email: Senior.Recruitment@DWP.GOV.UK.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission. Click here to visit the Civil Service Commission. #J-18808-Ljbffr