Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Birmingham, Leeds About the job Job summary Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what its really like to work at HMRC. Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential. The Private Secretary role offers a great opportunity to support the Director of Estates, working as part of the Estates & Locations Programme Private Office actively supporting all aspects of work across the wider business aligning with other Private Office teams across HMRC and wider government. The role requires a highly motivated and adaptable individual who has the drive and capability to deliver high quality work to strict deadlines and manage demanding and often complex priorities, collaborating with a range of senior leaders and other Private Offices across the Civil Service. You will be required to display high levels of judgement often dealing with senior leaders on high profile and critical matters, frequently working closely with the Senior Leadership Team and their Personal Assistants to drive key deliverables and ensure alignment and consistency. Job description As the Private Secretary you will be responsible for leading the day-to-day private office support for the very busy Director of Estates which incorporates (but is not limited to): Owning the inbox/systems that are put in place to manage the flow of information. Initial triage of all emails to determine appropriate responses (i.e. cascading readouts, commissioning, or taking forward actions on behalf of director). Flagging high priority actions, and delegating work to deputy directors and their offices as appropriate. Supporting the Director by maintaining a strong oversight of key and emerging issues. Including management and tracking of actions as required. Attending meetings with the Director to make notes of actions to provide a read out and actions. Understanding the Directors priorities and using initiative to see the bigger picture across the directorate to action emails, solve problems at pace and prioritise work responsibilities. Using good working knowledge of the directorate and the portfolio to make decisions regarding delegation and sign off of products to Deputy Directors and supporting them to empower their SLT. Being able to place requests to right people and being seen as a point of escalation by the directorate. Draft email replies, being able to challenge assumptions and handle sensitive information appropriately and discreetly. Responsible for ensuring papers and reports are prepared and scheduled for review, ensuring colleagues across the directorate have correctly organised necessary papers and briefing for meetings. Direct line management responsibilities of a PA pool supporting the Deputy Directors. Working with the Head of Private Office to maintain processes to ensure sustained ways of working across the private office and the wider directorate. Drafting communications on behalf of Director. Ensuring performance reporting requirements are met including supporting on recruitment. Deputise for the Head of Private Office as required. There will be an element of 5pm cover, shared between the Directors Private Office Team. There will also be the need for overnight travel and occasional out of hours working as the business needs dictate. Person specification Thrives working in a fast-paced, highly pressured environment with tight deadlines and changing priorities, taking responsibility for prioritising work to deliver results where no two days or weeks are the same? Confident communicator who can engage with a wide variety of people including senior leaders on the Directors behalf. Ability to manage and influence upwards when delegating work, commissioning briefings, following up on action points. Demonstrable experience in problem solving at pace, and ensure all deadlines are met. Good eye for detail and delivers quality outputs. From time to time can manage a portfolio of work/specific projects, to be agreed with the Head of Private Office and the Director. Ability to understand the bigger picture when commissioning briefings and delegating work. Comfortable working within a small private office team. Providing leadership across the wider directorate PA community, building strong relationships with the team. Good organisational skills. Resourceful and resilient, in particular calm when working under pressure Good working proficiency with Office 365 and how to manage SharePoint sites. Willingness to learn and develop self and others Would you like to make a real difference using high levels of autonomy and often dealing with senior customers on high profile and critical matters, working closely with the Senior Leadership Team and their Private Offices to progress key work and ensure alignment and consistency. In return we will invest in your development and give you access to some exciting activities that will help progress your career to new heights. Essential Criteria: Experience of working in a Private Office function or similar, supporting senior leaders, at a director level (SCS level if applying internally to the Civil Service) in a large or complex team. Evidence of working in a fast-paced, highly pressured environment with tight deadlines and changing priorities. Please ensure evidence and examples provided fully demonstrate this requirement. Ability to build and maintain relationships with Senior Directors and stakeholders. Confident in preparing presentations, reports and other materials, showcasing attention to detail and creativity. Desirable Criteria Previous experience of working in a Facilities or Estates Management environment would be beneficial but is not essential. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Delivering at Pace Communicating and Influencing Benefits Alongside your salary of £44,110, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £12,778 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs. We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by as day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days. Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary. Family friendly policies. Personal support. Coaching and development. To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what its really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service 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. How to Apply As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following: A name-blind CV including your job history and previous experiences. A 750-word personal statement. Your Personal Statement should detail how your experience matches the roles and responsibilities outlined in the job description and how you meet any of the essential criteria mentioned, providing evidence where possible. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. We acknowledge that AI can assist you in your application. Find our guidelines here. Sift In the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held on CV. At full sift your CV and your Personal Statement will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview. We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications. Interview During the panel interview, you will be assessed on Behaviours and Strength based questions. This is an example of a strengths-based question It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well. Interviews will take place face to face at our Leeds regional centre. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed. Eligibility Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresultshmrc.gov.uk Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example Please re-open my application [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]. To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application. Reserve List A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles if this applies to you, well let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account. Criminal Record Check Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy. Merit List After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location. Reasonable Adjustments We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact the UBS Recruitment team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresultshmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the Assistance required section in 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 if youre deaf, a Language Service Professional. Additional Security Information Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post. Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role. Terms and Conditions Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process. HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations. The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences. Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process. Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert. 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. New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band. Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract. If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. 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. 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 : Nicki Scott Email : Nicki.scotthmrc.gov.uk Telephone : 07342 020637 Recruitment team Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresultshmrc.gov.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commissions Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaintshmrc.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their website. Attachments UPDATED - Combined TC and OGD Pay English - July 2024 Opens in new window (docx, 129kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail