Location: National*
Closing Date: 22 May 2026
Interviews: From 04 June 2026
Grade: HEO
(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)
Salary**: London: £40,014 - £42,859; National: £35,335 - £37,847
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working, Job share
Contract Type: Permanent
Number of vacancies: 1
Vacancy number: TBC
*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP
Please note that unless you are an existing member of staff at Justice Digital, Data and Science, the only London location being recruited to is 10 South Colonnade, E14 4PU. We are no longer recruiting to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ.
We’re recruiting for an Assistant Private Secretary, CDIO Officehere at Justice Digital, Data and Science to be part of our warm and collaborative CDIO Office team.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a high-performing Private Office supporting the Executive Director, Chief Digital & Information Officer. You will play a central role in ensuring the Director’s time is used effectively, supporting the smooth running of the office, and contributing to a high-quality, responsive service.
You will be joining this central leadership office at a critical point for the organisation, mobilising for significant delivery to transform the justice sector.
Working as part of a team of six, you will help provide professional, organised and forward-looking support to the executive director, enabling them to deliver a complex and high-profile agenda.
You’ll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department, including:
A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
25 days of annual leave, (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work-life balance.
Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!
You can find more details of the Benefits we offer here. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital, Data and Science please take a look at our blog.
Diary and time management
Strategic planning of the Director’s diary, developing a high-level understanding of key departmental priorities and ensuring efficient and appropriate use of their time
Proactive management of the Director’s diary, working closely with internal and external stakeholders to negotiate diary changes and resolve competing demands
Provide clear recommendations on how the Director’s time should be allocated
Briefing and daily preparation
Maintain the Director’s daily notes, ensuring all meetings are supported by clear, concise and timely briefing
Work with Private Office leads, delivery and corporate teams to ensure the Director has the right information at the right time
Triage and stakeholder engagement
Assess meeting requests and event invitations, providing advice and recommendations on prioritisation
Ensure alignment between external engagement and organisational priorities
Build effective working relationships across teams and with other private offices
Office operations and workflow
Support the management of the Director’s inbox, tracking actions and ensuring timely responses
Work closely with the Private Secretary and Business Manager to maintain grip on priorities and delivery
Contribute to effective systems for tracking work and managing competing demands
Continuous improvement
Identify opportunities to improve how the office operates, including reducing duplication and increasing efficiency
Support and lead improvement initiatives, including exploring opportunities for automation and better use of digital tools
Contribute to building a modern, resilient and forward-looking Private Office
Incident and rota support
Participate in the Private Office incident management rota
Ensure appropriate senior coverage is in place and clearly communicated
If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!
Essential
Experience supporting senior leaders in a complex and fast-paced environment, including managing competing priorities, coordinating activity across teams and exercising sound judgement to support effective decision-making and efficient use of senior leaders’ time
Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for BPSS clearance
We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.
Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.
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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
Base salary for this role is:
London: £40,014 - £42,859; National: £35,335 - £37,847
New entrants to the Civil Service joining the MoJ are expected to start at the minimum of the pay band.
Existing Civil Servants moving on a level transfer will retain their current base salary or move to the minimum of the pay band for the role, whichever is higher.
Existing Civil Servants who are promoted will either move to the bottom of the new grade’s pay band or receive a 10% uplift, whichever provides the greater increase.
The final offer will reflect the skills and experience you demonstrate during the assessment process.
In Justice Digital, Data and Science, we recruit using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We shall assess a combination of your Experience and Behaviours during the assessment process.
Stage 1 - Application and sift:
To apply for this position, you must submit the following as part of your application:
A CV detailing your career history (including any relevant qualifications). Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Person Specification of this advert.
A behaviour application answer for the Delivery at Pace behaviour (no more than 500 words)
A Personal Statement (no more than 500 words) which should outline your experience and skills, giving clear examples of work undertaken. It should specifically address the following criteria, using a separate paragraph for each.
Experience supporting senior leaders in a complex and fast-paced environment, including managing competing priorities, coordinating activity across teams and exercising sound judgement to support effective decision-making and efficient use of senior leaders’ time
Delivering at Pace
A diverse sift panel will review the information in your CV and Personal Statement to assess the sift criteria specified above. We operate an anonymous shortlisting process. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement do not include your name or any other identifying details.
Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply - Application Guidance
Stage 2 - Interviews:
Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a panel interview held via Microsoft Teams. At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements - Experience and Behaviours:
Experience supporting senior leaders in a complex and fast-paced environment, including managing competing priorities, coordinating activity across teams and exercising sound judgement to support effective decision-making and efficient use of senior leaders’ time
Delivering at Pace
Communicating & Influencing
Making Effective Decisions
Managing a Quality service
Working Together
Appointments are made strictly in merit order. In the event that two or more candidates receive identical interview scores, the following will be applied as the primary lead criterion to determine the final merit order:
Experience supporting senior leaders in a complex and fast-paced environment, including managing competing priorities, coordinating activity across teams and exercising sound judgement to support effective decision-making and efficient use of senior leaders’ time
Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Please review our Terms and Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact digitalanddatarecruitment@justice.gov.uk