This is a critical role at the heart of the Department, advising and supporting the Department’s Permanent Secretary, wider Executive Team and Non-Executive Directors. The Deputy Private Secretary role sits in the Permanent Secretary’s Office and is responsible for supporting the Permanent Secretary to engage, and be engaged, effectively on a significant portion of the department’s portfolio, as well as the Permanent Secretary’s broader corporate and cross-government responsibilities.
The role is demanding, and the successful candidate will need to be able to a large workload which is often compounded by reactive asks. The right candidate will have an ability to grasp complex issues at pace and be a keen problem solver who can maintain oversight of the bigger picture whilst stepping into enough detail to know when to engage the Permanent Secretary, with support from their manager and the wider office.
Relationship building is fundamental to being an effective private secretary and as such the roles require excellent interpersonal skills and collaborative working across Ministerial Private Offices, Directors General and their offices, and civil servants across the department.
The post-holder will have the following responsibilities:
* Advise and work directly with the Permanent Secretary and Executive team to support them in delivering the department’s priorities. In doing so, they will an interesting department and customer-focussed portfolio, which includes supporting the Permanent Secretary on his internal communications, HR, propriety and ethics, staff/ customer experience, commercial and cross-cutting enablers. As ever, portfolios are subject to change as priorities shift.
* Work with senior stakeholders across the Department, including policy and operations, as well as across Whitehall, to effectively support the Permanent Secretary to discharge their duties
* Leading the corporate function for the team, including line management of the diary/ officer manager.
* Be an active member of the Governance and Legislation Team.
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