Ministry of Justice

JOB DESCRIPTION

Business Area

Patrick Finucane Inquiry

Role Title

Operations Manager and PA to the Chair

Terms of Appointment

Loan / Fixed Term (Two Years with the possibility of extension)

Band

SEO

Location

Central Belfast

Occasional travel to London will be required.

Vacancy Manager

Nadine Milne

Applications Invited From

External Candidates and Existing Civil Servants on level transfer and promotion

New entrants to the Civil Service will be expected to join on the minimum of the pay range.

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

The national starting salary is £41,463

BACKGROUND

On 11th September 2024, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that he would establish an independent statutory inquiry into the murder of Mr Patrick Finucane on 12th February 1989. The Inquiry is being established under the Inquiries Act 2005 to enable the Government to discharge its obligations under Article 2 of the ECHR in line with the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal judgment in July 2024.  The inquiry will build upon the previous reviews and investigations which have already been conducted into this case, take specific account of the materials and information provided to and generated by them, and avoid unnecessary duplication of investigation.

The Chair of the Inquiry (once appointed) will be supported by a small secretariat, providing administrative and policy support to the Chair and other office holders.

The Inquiry is at the very early stages and this role offers an opportunity to make a real impact on the future direction of the Inquiry. As a member of a small team, you will have a varied role on a high-profile topic, working with a diverse group of stakeholders. It’s an exciting time to be part of a growing and energetic team with lots of potential for development and growth within this role.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The role-holder will need to work flexibly across the secretariat team, providing support to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary and working as part of a wider team, often fulfilling tasks and roles outside his or her key responsibilities.

The key responsibilities of the role are flexible, and expected to include:

●               Leading on a wide range of operational and finance workstreams, including support for procurement and financial management.

●               Acting as Personal Assistant to the Chair of the Inquiry (once appointed), ensuring that all administrative requirements are met to support the Chair’s activities, working closely with all members of the Inquiry team.

●               Setting up and overseeing systems for daily operational running of administrative requirements and finance keeping, including raising POs, processing invoices and receipting for services.

●               Overseeing the smooth, efficient and effective running of the Secretariat’s day-to-day operations, secretariat inbox, HR and finance matters. This will include working closely with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, Head of Teams, and at times other key stakeholders.

●               Setting up and managing systems to provide business support to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary and growing team, including logistics and travel bookings, recruitment,  accommodation, events and hearings management.

●               Acting as lead administrative support for key internal meetings. This will mean  overseeing and leading on commissions, the collation of papers, and the setting up and minuting of these meetings, with some diary and travel management.

●               Acting as an administrative liaison between the Secretariat and other senior leaders and stakeholders.

●               Preparing and organising all meeting papers for the Secretariat, providing some diary management support and overall support.

●               Potential line Management responsibilities

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of responsibilities; the precise roles and responsibilities will be subject to views of the Chair and Secretary once appointed.

Please note this appointment will be made subject to HMT business case approvals and approval by the Secretary (once appointed).

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview:

●                    Ability to build and maintain strong and credible relationships with senior stakeholders.

●                    Strong prioritisation, communication and influencing skills.

●                    Experience with finance and understanding of financial record keeping and management.

●                    Experience managing the administrative needs of a principal and/or organisation.

●                    Ability to assess and solve problems quickly and effectively.

●                    Strong attention to detail and excellent written communication.

●                    Willingness to obtain Security Check (SC) clearance if not already held.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

●      Holding Security Check (SC) clearance would be beneficial.

BEHAVIOURS:

We will assess you against the following Success Profiles behaviours at the SEO level during the application sift and interview process:

●      Leadership

●      Communicating and Influencing

●      Working Together

●        Delivering at Pace

EXPERIENCE:

Please provide a CV and statement of suitability no longer than 750 words outlining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria. Both will be used in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

Your statement of suitability needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role.

If you don’t have work-based examples then give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.

You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your education, professional qualifications, previous skills and full employment history. Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Your CV will be used to add context to your personal statement.

Please note that in the event of a large number of applications being received we may run the initial sift on the lead Behaviour Leadership.

INTERVIEW:

Depending on the timescales for appointment of the Chair, it may be possible to have a brief discussion with the Chair on the work of the inquiry and the nature of the role before interview. If so, this discussion will be informal and will not be scored.

At the interview stage, you will be assessed against the same behaviours and will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated the behaviours.

It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:  

●     WHO- What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or

●     STAR- What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take?  What were the Results of your actions?

OFFER

Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. Offers will be made in strict merit order to the highest scoring candidate first.

The successful candidate will be notified of a start date following successful security checks.

Additional information received after the closing date will not be considered.  Failure to provide sufficient information in support of an application prior to the closing date will not be considered as grounds for an appeal if an applicant is not shortlisted for interview.

SECURITY CLEARANCE:

This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role.  You can find more information by reviewing the information held in the following links:

Neither Detached Duty terms nor relocation costs will apply to this post.

Further Information:

Further information about the post may be obtained from Nadine Milne via email to nadine.milne@nio.gov.uk.

All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit.

This job description should not be taken as constituting conditions of employment.

Please note that due to the high interest in NIO opportunities, feedback cannot be given if you are unsuccessful at the sift stage. Feedback is available on request if unsuccessful following the interview.

Interview dates

Date(s) TBC

Closing Date:

Wednesday 14 May 2025, 23:55 hours.