Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford About the job Job summary At DSIT were all about improving peoples lives by maximising the potential of science & technology. We accelerate innovation, investment and productivity through world-class science, research and development. We use technology for good by ensuring new and existing technologies are safely developed and deployed across the UK, with the benefits more widely shared. We are driving forward a modern digital government which gives citizens a more satisfying experience and their time back. We do all this to enable the Governments 5 national missions: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, taking back our streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS fit for the future. Above all, we focus on improving peoples lives. Whether its researching new treatments for disease, developing better batteries, reducing burdens through better public services, keeping children safe online, and much more, outcomes for citizens are at the heart of what we do. Our Inclusive Environment We offer flexible working benefits, employee well-being support and a great pension. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below. 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. Find Out More We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application and interview process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://forms.office.com/e/Jae3B4w7xm You can also follow our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dsitcareers/ Job description We have two Private Secretary roles available - one is for the Technology & Innovative Regulation (TIR) directorate and the other is for the newly created Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO). You'll be working closely with the Director, Corporate Business Manager, and wider teams. Both directorates are diverse and supportive teams, dedicated to innovation and a positive work environment. The TIR director overseas interesting technology policy areas including Quantum and Engineering Biology, with a focus on national and economic security. TIR also lead on emerging technologies such as robotics, advanced materials etc. and is now spearheading the government's new industrial strategy. The RIO has been created to help businesses by bringing new products and services to market through innovations - such as AI training software for surgeons or drones making critical deliveries quickly.It will reduce the burden of red tape on innovation and help kickstart economic growth. As a Private Secretary, you'll be the essential go-to person for the Director. This role suits anyone who is self-motivated, organized, and has excellent interpersonal skills. Whether you're a diary manager seeking new challenges or looking for more policy exposure, the role offers fantastic growth opportunities. Person specification As Private Secretary, you will play an essential role in supporting the director and understanding their priorities to help them maximise their time. To achieve this, you will develop a deep understanding of the TIR portfolio and the wider departmental strategic picture. Your main responsibilities will include: 1. Managing the Directors inbox, prioritizing meeting requests and taking appropriate actions. This includes prioritising incoming mail to ensure key deadlines are met. 2. Ensuring all briefing materials and papers are provided in advance, and commissioning requests for information and briefings on key issues as needed. 3. Understanding, articulating and helping to drive forward the Directors priorities; this will include responding to emails on her behalf or making judgement calls in her absence. 4. Overseeing the Directors travel and logistics to ensure appropriate arrangements are made. 5. Assisting the Director with ad-hoc requests such as secretariat support, attending meetings, managing SCS recruitment campaigns, expense claims etc. 6. Assisting the Corporate Business Manager with some business support functions ie. maintaining organograms, distribution lists etc. Skills and Experience TIR and the RIO are both looking for a proactive, organised Private Secretary who can keep the Director well-organised and act on their behalf. Prior experience is not necessary for this role, but we want to hear from you if you have: Strong interpersonal and communication skills, building networks with staff across all grades and manage upwards effectively. Strong organisation skills, managing competing deadlines at pace and rapidly respond to changing priorities at short notice. Show high levels of judgement on a broad range of issues, often dealing with varied and sensitive matters - sometimes you will need to make effective decisions with minimal direction or in absence of the director. Willingness to challenge the status quo and role-model innovation in the directorate - the TIR director genuinely welcomes new ideas and more effective ways of doing things. Taken proactive steps to increase your understanding of the bigger picture (beyond your immediate role) and adopting a strategic approach to your work. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Making Effective Decisions Communicating and Influencing Delivering at Pace Working Together Benefits Alongside your salary of £33,015, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £9,564 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including: A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours. Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%. A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30. An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue. Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts. Office attendance The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period. 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. As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to demonstrate how you have the relevant skills and experience for the role. Please use the Skills and Experience section of the advert for reference. Applications will be sifted on CV and Personal Statement. In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview. The interview will consist of behaviour and strength based questions. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed. Further Information Reasonable Adjustment We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions. I nformation about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available. We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position. Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you. Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 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 https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home). DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Crim inal 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. For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Infodisclosurescotland.co.uk 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. For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting 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 security 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). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : Luci Wilkins Email : luci.wilkinsdsit.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : dsitresourcing.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commissions Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance DSITrecruitment.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints. Attachments DSIT T&Cs v1.2 Opens in new window (docx, 179kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail