PA to the Director General

Details

Reference number

321951

Salary

£31,416

Job grade

Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

DFE – Regions Group

Type of role

Administration / Corporate Support
Operational Delivery

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information

Location

City of Westminster, London (region), SW1P 3BT

About the job

Job summary

We encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates
At DfE, we are proud of the commitment we make to diversity and inclusion and of the progress we have made. We have active & vibrant staff networks, special leave policies and workplace adjustments put in place for those who need them. We are continuing to build a diverse DfE, in an inclusive environment which nurtures and realises potential in all, at all levels.
Equality and Diversity – Department for Education
In Regions Group we aim to improve outcomes for children, families and learners by accelerating system improvement and reform through active intervention and by better aligning the Department’s operations and users’ needs at a local and regional level.
We will:

Bring together improvement and intervention work in Children’s Social Care, SEND and Schools as well as area-based programs like Opportunity Areas and Education Investment Areas
Maintain the stewardship of the school system and, working with the Future ESFA, provide a unified voice to academy trusts and to individual Local Authorities at a local level
Set DfE up to deliver for and respond more effectively to local needs and to understand how local contexts impact on children and learners in a place, particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people.

Diversity & Inclusion is our top priority, and we embrace uniqueness. We strongly encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are a welcoming and inclusive workplace where our people are able to bring their whole selves to work.
We are looking for a Personal Assistant (PA) to support with the running of a busy and evolving Director General’s office within Regions Group, DfE. The PA role is a varied post which will see the candidate work directly to the Director General, while supporting across the team with a range of functions. You will need to be a strong decision maker, be resilient and adaptable to working in a fast paced and demanding environment.

Job description

As Personal Assistant (PA), you will need to provide the Director General with high quality support. For instance, you will be responsible for ensuring the Director General has the information they need from our teams to inform their meetings and visits. You will play an active role in building strong working relationships with people in the department and externally; negotiating with internal colleagues to achieve good outcomes for the Director General and their Group; and working with key external stakeholders.
It is essential you have good communication skills (written and verbal) and excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise tasks, work under pressure, provide excellent customer service, and be IT literate. You will be organised and highly efficient; and when required take initiative with minimum supervision, knowing when to seek assistance.
What are my responsibilities?
The main responsibility of the post holder is to provide a high level of administrative support to the Director General over the full range of their responsibilities and the provision of appropriate briefing. The main activities will include:

Management of the Director General’s diary to ensure meetings reflect their longer-term priorities, commitments and responsibilities.
Booking of all travel for the Director General and recording expenses in line with Government policy.
Lead on Group level commissions, such as the quarterly transparency report, and the weekly headlines.
Preparing the Director General’s OneNote to ensure it is up to date with papers, meeting information, and key documents.
Preparing a Director leave chart and cover for all the major holidays throughout the year, and Director General annual leave.
Provide administrative support to the wider Director General Office including sending out papers, agendas and maintaining a forward for weekly calls.
Provide in-office support for when the Director General is in London.
Coordinating responses to ad-hoc queries from within the Group or wider department.
Building relationships with other PAs, senior officials and external stakeholders to act as an informed point of contact for the Director General’s office.
Anticipating problems, upcoming tasks and future demands on the Director General’s time and resolving these, planning ahead accordingly and ensuring they have what they require to make effective and quick decisions.
Handle sensitive information in a confidential manner.
Develop a strong understanding and working knowledge of Regions Group and the wider DfE.

Person specification

Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate that they meet the following essential criteria:

Strong communication skills and the ability to quickly build effective and professional working relationships.
Experience in managing conflicting requests and the ability to remain calm under pressure.
Experience in creating clear and concise meetings documents including agendas, notes, and event itineraries.
Resilience to working in a fast paced and ever-changing environment.
Have excellent written and verbal communication skills and be able to provide clear direction to colleagues at all levels.

Benefits

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.
As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK, with an average employer contribution of 27%.
You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.
We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.
Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.
As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Strengths and Experience.

Applicant Support
Please visit the below webinars for further information and support in completing your application and preparing for an interview:

How to craft a well written job application in the UK Civil Service
Crafting a CV that stands out in the UK Civil Service
Writing a personal statement in the UK Civil Service
How to ace interviews in the public service

Application Stage
At the application stage, we will assess Experience. Candidates will be sifted through their CV and personal statement.
Your personal statement (500-word limit) should display how your experience meets the essential criteria of the role, listed in the Person Specification section. Please adhere to the wordcount as anything over 500 words will not be considered.
In the event of a large volume of applications, the sift may be restricted to assessing your personal statement only.
Interview Stage
The interview will involve experience and strength-based questions.
Sift date to be confirmed. Interviews will likely take place in the week commencing 27th November 2023.
Other Information
We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.
The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.
DfE cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DfE holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.
A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.
Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs
Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.
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 Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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.

Apply and further information

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 :

Regions Group People & Skills Unit

Email :

Recruitment.RG@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email :

AdvertsRecruitment.DFE@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages