Discovery, Review & Disclosure Officers (Up to 4 posts)

The Cabinet Office plays a vital role in supporting the independent public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, the Public Inquiry Response Unit (PIRU) was set up to lead the Cabinet Office and No. 10’s response to the Inquiry. PIRU commissions, coordinates and supports work across the department to provide evidence and statements to support the Inquiry. It also works with witnesses to ensure they are well supported through the process, and provides senior leaders, and Ministers, with analysis of the Inquiry’s progress.
The Inquiry is unprecedented in its scale and the breadth of issues it covers. PIRU’s role in responding to the Inquiry and supporting both the Cabinet Office and No. 10 makes the Unit a fascinating place to be. Over the past two years, PIRU has disclosed over 50,000 documents to the Inquiry, and has supported over 40 witnesses. The Inquiry is a high profile area to work and has attracted a lot of interest from the media and wider public.
The Unit provides excellent learning and development opportunities, with members benefiting from a range of opportunities including formal training (eg. apprenticeships) as well as informal development opportunities (such as attending the Inquiry’s hearings in person).
If you are looking for an exciting position in a fast-paced environment within a friendly team, in a high-profile area of Government, this role would provide an excellent opportunity for you., The Discovery, Review and Disclosure (DRD) team works with teams across the Cabinet Office, other Government Departments, the Inquiry and also legal teams to collate all relevant evidence held across the department, ensuring it is reviewed and disclosed in response to requests from the Inquiry.
We are seeking 4 highly motivated Executive Officers for roles within the DRD team. The roles involve: reviewing a range of evidence to be submitted to the Inquiry; working closely with a wide range of stakeholders to assess documents for sensitivities; maintaining an audit trail of documents, keeping track of their progress through the review and disclosure process; and working with colleagues across the wider Cabinet Office.
Each role is integral to the functioning of the wider PIRU team, with responsibility for supporting cross-cutting issues within DRD and ensuring that the team is best placed to support PIRU’s overall programme, working collaboratively with all CO teams. The role also provides for regular engagement with the PIRU leadership team; the Government Legal Department; external contractors; and with other Senior Leaders across the Cabinet Office and No. 10.
Our work can also adapt to those who need to work flexibly through a part- time or job share arrangement, but who want to be involved in supporting the Cabinet Office and No. 10’s response to the Inquiry. We can offer a range of flexible working arrangements that will be agreed with successful candidates on a case- by- case basis prior to the start of employment. However, we do require that any successful candidate can work in one of our offices for 60% of their working time, in line with Cabinet Office policy.
This role is available on level transfer and on TDA.
Responsibilities will include (not limited to):
+ Commissioning sensitivity checks across documents identified as relevant to the Public Inquiry, collating results and ensuring appropriate action is taken where necessary.
+ Developing, managing and maintaining products to track the journey of documents through the review and disclosure process, ensuring a comprehensive audit trail.
+ Supporting with searches for relevant documents to be disclosed, working with Cabinet Office Business Units to locate material.
+ Ensuring that documents the Public Inquiry wish to publish have been fully reviewed and agreed redactions have been applied.
+ Developing excellent working relationships with stakeholders and legal teams, including senior leaders, to ensure all relevant parties are involved in the process of sensitivity checking documents.
+ Playing an active corporate role in the wider unit, for example supporting the monitoring of Inquiry hearings., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
o Delivering at Pace
o Communicating and Influencing
o Changing and Improving, If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.
Please note that this role requires CTC clearance, which would normally need 3 years’ UK residency in the past 3 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.
Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access 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
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out., Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.
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.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
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.

Diversity and Inclusion
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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
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o Able to work independently and manage tasks allocated;
o A positive approach to collaborative working, supporting others in the team as needed;
o Good organisational skills, able to plan your activity, and prioritise effectively, ensuring attention to detail;
o A clear communication style, able to ask questions to clarify areas of uncertainty;
o Good interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with colleagues across the department;
o Inquisitive, curious and keen to learn and share your knowledge and experience with others;
o Able to prioritise a number of differing work streams and competing deadlines, working with stakeholders and colleagues to achieve this.
Essential Criteria
o Be highly organised, with the ability to work on, manage and prioritise multiple work streams within tight timelines and with limited supervision;
o Ability to build and maintain a network of colleagues and contacts to achieve progress on shared objectives;
o Excellent written communication skills and the ability to spot errors or inconsistencies;
o Ability to work in an ambiguous environment with continual change.
Desirable Criteria
o Experience of working in or responding to public inquiries;
o Experience and knowledge of information management processes;
o CTC clearance or above.

Alongside your salary of £28,791, Cabinet Office contributes £8,340 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
o Learning and development tailored to your role.
o An environment with flexible working options.
o A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
o A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
o A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.