Diary Manager to the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

SEO

Private Office and Parliament Directorate

The Private Office and Parliament Directorate is recruiting permanently for an SEO Diary Manager. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

Location:

Successful candidates will be based in 102 Petty France, London. Given the nature of the role there is an expectation that the candidate will attend 102 Petty France at least 4 days a week.

Ways of Working

If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.

We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity

Salary

Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.  

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing over 90,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £9.5 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.

Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

The Work of Private Office and Parliament Unit

The Ministry of Justice’s Private Office and Parliament Directorate is a supportive and collaborative group. It is also a busy and interesting place to work - it is the interface between Ministers, the rest of the Department and Whitehall. 

The Department is at the forefront of the Government’s programme to tackle serious crime and support victims. You will play a key role in helping to deliver the reforms that the Secretary of State has set out, working in a fast-paced and exciting environment where strong team working is required. You will gain invaluable experience working at the heart of the decision-making process, working directly with Ministers, Special Advisers and Senior Officials across the Department and with external stakeholders, on a range of stimulating issues.

Diary Manager - the role

This is an exciting, fast-paced role at the very heart of the Ministry of Justice. The Diary Manager is a vital member of the Private Office team, and the successful candidate will work closely with the Deputy Prime Minister, Special Advisers, Private Secretaries and Senior Officials. We are looking for an exceptional candidate to add to our team at a critical time for the MoJ. This role requires a high degree of flexibility, discretion and self-sufficiency as diary arrangements may be changed at very short notice. You must be able to deliver at pace, while being a resilient individual who can manage a number of competing priorities at once. It requires an ability to manage upwards, while having the confidence and command to deal with very senior officials and the Deputy Prime Minister.

The main duties of this role include, but are not limited to:

• Oversight of the Deputy Prime Minister’s diary, including but not limited to all Departmental meetings, external engagement events and successfully liaising with the Deputy Prime Minister’s Constituency team.

• Strategic responsibility for planning the forward diary and ensure the Deputy Prime Minister’s time is prioritised effectively, working closely with the DPPS/PPS.

• Coordinating effectively across the Centre, Ministerial and Perm Sec offices, ensuring there is join-up, productive ways of working and smooth functioning of the top team.

• Handling and advising on a significant volume of invitations; working with Private Secretaries to strategically triage meeting invites and ensure that the Deputy Prime Minister makes effective use of his time.

• Working closely with the visits team, Private Secretaries and Special Advisers to ensure that international engagements and domestic visits are meticulously organised and delivered to a high standard.

• Building strong working relationships with the Deputy Prime Minister, Special Advisers, Private Office and Officials across the MoJ.

Skills and Experience

Essential:

• Excellent organisational skills to balance competing demands and priorities, maintain a high standard of performance and remain calm and resilient under pressure.

• Effective leadership skills, both in acting autonomously on a number of key processes across the Deputy Prime Minister’s private office and communicating effectively with a range of stakeholders.

• An ability to think strategically, translating the Deputy Prime Minister’s priorities into effective diary management and ruthlessly triaging a number of different issues.

• Strong interpersonal skills to build a good working relationship with the Deputy Prime Minister, Special Advisers, Private Office and a range of internal, external and cross-Government stakeholders.

• Confidence in handling a range of information, making autonomous, informed decisions to make the best use of the Deputy Prime Minister’s time. 

Desirable:

• Experience of the justice system would be beneficial, but not essential.

Candidates applying from HMPPS should note that the Ministry of Justice does not have the same conditions of employment as HMPPS. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.

The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.

Application process

You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.

Experience

You will be asked to provide a CV during the application process in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

You will also be asked to provide a short statement of suitability (250 words) demonstrating your motivation for applying and how you meet the essential criteria for the role.

Behaviours

During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviour (see Annex A for more information):

• Delivering at Pace

Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Delivery at Pace. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out in person.

During the panel interview, you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and strengths-based questions to also explore what you enjoy, and your motivations relevant to the job role.

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)

In addition to the Behaviour(s) listed in the application form, you will be asked by the interview panel to provide examples of how you meet the additional behaviours listed below.

• Communicating and Influencing

• Seeing the bigger picture

Interviews are expected to take place in May.

Contact information  

Please get in touch with James Wrigley (Deputy Principal Private Secretary) if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team (james.wrigley@justice.gov.uk).

Annex A - The STAR method

Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.

Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.

• Where are you?

• Who was there with you?

• What had happened?

Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.

• What was the task that you had to complete and why?

• What did you have to achieve?

Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I" rather than “we" to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.

Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.

• What results did the actions produce?

• What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?

• Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?

Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.