As the Head of Office to the Permanent Secretary you will operate at the heart of the Department. You will be the lead Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary and provide her strategic advice on the full range of DCMS policy issues, support her in leading the Department, and drive forward her priorities in both in DCMS and across Government. This is a fascinating role advising the most senior leader in DCMS on an exciting delivery agenda. You will need excellent judgement, and have an outstanding ability to prioritise and organise. You will be strategic, able to spot key issues as they arise, consider competing viewpoints and advise the Permanent Secretary appropriately, staying calm and resilient under pressure. You will be able to build and maintain strong working relationships with other, often much more senior stakeholders, as well as holding them to account for departmental delivery. You will have significant leadership experience and strong communication skills, be comfortable leading a large team and representing the Permanent Secretary at the most senior levels across Government. Person specification Essential requirements: Leadership: outstanding leadership skills, both of high performing teams and corporately; with the ability to build a strong team culture and ethos, and to motivate and manage a team to deliver at pace on a challenging and complex agenda. Seeing the big picture: the ability to understand and analyse complex policy and delivery issues at pace and to use your judgement to provide clear, strategic advice. Delivering at pace : the ability to translate priorities into objectives for managers and teams; provide clarity about the action required to achieve results and address unexpected developments; and establish a culture which allows people to deliver their objectives. Communicating and influencing: able to deliver difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity, being persuasive when required; communicate with others in a clear, honest and enthusiastic way in order to build trust. Explain complex issues in a way that is easy to understand. Take into account peoples individual needs. Working together : excellent communication and relationship building skills, with the ability to build a strong network and deliver through it; and the ability to foster an inclusive working environment in the teams you lead and with others. Desirable skills Familiarity with DCMS sectors and DCMS delivery agenda. Experience working with and delivering for senior officials. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Leadership Seeing the Big Picture Delivering at Pace Communicating and Influencing Working Together Benefits Alongside your salary of 64,837, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes 18,783 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. Were committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include: Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years service A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice 3 days of paid volunteering leave Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay generous paternity and adoption leave Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year Occupational sick pay Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience. To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile : A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable 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 and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form. A Statement of Suitability (max 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in t he assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates. For the shortlist, we will select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application. In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application. For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the Application and Interview Guidance document attached to the job advert. The interview process will assess behaviours, strengths and experience and will include a presentation, which will be provided prior to interview. The behaviours to be tested at interview are: • Leadership • Seeing the big picture • Delivering at pace • Communicating and influencing • Working together There will be two-stages to the interviews for the role, with the highest scoring candidates from the first-stage being invited to the second. Susannah Storey, DCMS Permanent Secretary will be present in the second-stage interviews. As part of your second-stage interview, you will be asked to deliver a short oral presentation. Full details of this, including the topic, length of time, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview. Both stages of the interviews will take place in person at 100 Parliament Street. For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack. Further Information This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying. For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting You must hold, or be willing to obtain DV level. Information on eligibility for security vetting can be found here. A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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 New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the Candidate Information Pack attached. If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 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 applicants 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. Reasonable Adjustment We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment, please: Complete the Assistance required section on the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or a verbal test rather than a written one. Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Accessibility If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert. Feedback 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 developed vetting (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). To help VERCIDA find roles that are best suited to you at DCMS, we ask you to confidentially share information about yourself with us. Any data VERCIDA receive is securely stored and never shared with third parties. 'Did you know that users who have filled in their profile fully are 42 times more likely to get matched with the right employer?' 'At DCMS we are committed to having diverse interview panels at every grade we recruit.'