PA to Deputy Directors

You will be joining a friendly and supportive team, which places a strong emphasis on supporting each other to deliver diversity and well-being.

If you join us, you will be supporting two Deputy Directors who are responsible for leading work across a wide range of issues and topics. Both Deputy Directors lead multiple teams and your role will involve working with those teams and across the organisation to support them in delivering their responsibilities. You will help them to prioritise their time and support them to deliver their job as effectively as possible., You will be work with other PAs and colleagues who provide corporate support within the Business Intelligence & Resilience Directorate or Post Office & Business Engagement Directorate, which are both in Business Group in the Department of Business and Trade.

• Diary management: room bookings, and appropriate plans to make effective use of the Deputy Directors' time so that they are prepared for meetings. Working closely with the Director's offices and other Deputy Directors' support teams to arrange meetings, events, and briefings.


• Inbox management: including flagging urgent requests and delegating work to teams where appropriate, as well as ensuring all meetings are covered by empowered deputies when the Deputy Directors cannot attend.


• Organising travel: both Deputy Directors will occasionally travel within the UK and overseas. You will make travel arrangements in accordance with the Department's Travel Policies always ensuring cost effectiveness and compliance with the policy.


• Finance: Handling and processing the Deputy Directors' financial expenses and supporting the Business Manager with budget management for the whole Directorate.


• Meeting support: Taking minutes at senior management meetings and distributing to relevant people.


• Cross-Team support: including technical/IT, communications, planning events, recruitment, and other admin tasks as needed.


• Cross Directorate work: Support the Head of the Directorate's Programme team including contributing to the Directorate's business planning, covering for other PAs from time to time, and helping with our work to respond to annual staff feedback.


• Cross departmental working: Build and maintain positive professional working relationships across the Directorate and other areas of Corporate Services, such as the Finance team, the Department's travel provider and Human Resources.


The role can be based in any of the Department's 7 hub locations. The Deputy Directors you will work for are currently London based. Overall teams across the Directorate work in either London as their main office, when they are not working from home. Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas.

Informal hybrid working arrangements will be available as agreed with the vacancy manager and in line with the requirements of the role. Most DBT employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in an office, on average., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service


• Working Together


• Communicating and Influencing, Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way., A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.


• Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.


• The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.


• 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. Any applicant who has 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.


• Terms and Conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.


• Please note - the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.


• This role may be considered as a secondment opportunity. Please reach out to the hiring manager listed at the bottom of this advert to discuss., 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
  
  You will get to see first-hand how senior civil servants influence and make decisions to deliver the Government's agenda. The Deputy Directors have broad portfolios and you will be exposed to wide-ranging subject areas. Their roles require them to work with a wide range of people at all levels within the Civil Service and external stakeholders in business and civil society. As a result, you will need to be able to communicate and work effectively with a wide range of people., Overall we are looking for candidates who will be proactive, motivated, eager to learn, with a can-do approach to problem solving., Good written and verbal communication, with the ability to communicate concisely and coherently to a variety of audiences.


• Good organisational skills & excellent attention to detail.


• Ability to prioritise & multitask efficiently.


• Discretion & tact.


• Ability to work as part of a team.


• Working knowledge of standard word processing, spreadsheet & other productivity software tools. Proven experience of MS applications, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel.


Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of PA/EA support for senior managers


Personal Attributes and Skills:

We are looking for a highly organised, efficient, and discreet individual who is a team player, can be flexible, and work with a range of stakeholders. We strongly encourage applications from people with diverse skills, strengths, perspectives, and backgrounds to bring value to our team and the wider Department., Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Alongside your salary of £27,329, Department for Business and Trade contributes £7,378 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role


• An environment with flexible working options


• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity


• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%, To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:


• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages.


• A Personal Statement of up to 500 words, explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential criteria.


It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date, though this is subject to change.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Following the sift stage of the campaign and before the interview stage, all short-listed candidates will be invited to attend a short meeting with the Deputy Directors., Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Principles.