Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Clive House, London About the job Job summary We are recruiting for an Assistant Private Secretary and Diary Manager to join our Education Directorate executive support team. As the Assistant Private Secretary and Diary Manager, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the National Director for Education to deliver on an exciting portfolio of work. This position will involve managing the complex and fast-moving diary of the ND, providing administrative support, and facilitating effective communication and coordination across Ofsted and with external stakeholders. This role offers an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of Ofsted, ensuring the smooth running of the National Directors brief and contributing to the delivery of Ofsteds mission. This role is varied, stimulating and challenging and will see you working in fast-paced and dynamic environment. This role will be dynamic and fast-paced, no two days will be the same. If you want to be at the heart of UK education policy, ensuring every child and adult learner has access to the highest levels of education and support then this role is for you. As part of your application, you will be required to write a 750-word covering letter. Take this opportunity to highlight how your skills and experience fit the job description and to also show us why you want to work for Ofsted. If you want to discuss this role please reach out to Louis Hunt-Cole, Private Secretary to the National Director for Education to set up a chat. This is a fantastic opportunity to further your experience in Ofsteds well-established team. The post holder will work with high-achieving professionals at all levels, surrounded by a friendly and supportive team. They will have access to amazing benefits, such as flexible working hours, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, and 32.5 days annual leave 8 bank holidays. We offer a hybrid working model, so you may also choose to spend a proportion of time working from home. Job description Please refer to the job specification for further information about the role. Person specification Please refer to the job specification for further information about the role. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Making Effective Decisions Delivering at Pace Seeing the Big Picture Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Experience of diary management and exceptional organisation skills with strong planning and prioritisation skills. (Personal statement) Experience of working pro-actively in a fast-moving position in a similar office or environment. (Personal statement) Excellent written and oral communication skills. (Personal statement) Experience of building positive and effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders and team members. (Interview) Understanding of the internal and external environments and their impact on the work. (Interview) Benefits Alongside your salary of £39,714, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills contributes £11,505 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. Full details of the benefits available can be found in our Ofsted Offer brochure. Ofsted is devoted to equality, diversity and inclusion. Within our Ofsted Strategy 2023-2027 we have stated that we will improve the representation of under-represented groups across the organisation and publish our progress on this annually. We are always looking to expand on our diverse workforce by recruiting candidates from varied backgrounds and differing experiences. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader, we continually engage with our 5 staff networks for protected characteristics, and highlight the work of our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Group. We ensure all candidates are treated with fair and open competition, with all appointments being made on merit and we use our Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) to provide assurance to all candidates of this. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. Shortlisting: The selection panel will assess your 750 words personal statement detailing your experiences on the below 3 essential criteria (we recommend 250 words per criteria). Experience of diary management and exceptional organisation skills with strong planning and prioritisation skills. Experience of working pro-actively in a fast-moving position in a similar office or environment. Excellent written and oral communication skills. When writing your personal statement, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. You will also be asked to provide information within the Employer/Activity History section of the application form. This information is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV setting out your career history (this will be used in the sifting process). Assessment and Interview: Candidates who pass the benchmark at the shortlisting stage will be invited to an assessment and interview where you will be assessed against a mixture of the Civil Service behaviours and the experience/technical skills set out in section 3 of the job specification. The assessment will be approximately 60 minutes, this will be a written/scenario-based exercise. The successful candidates will be invited to an interviewing during the week commencing Monday 10 February 2025, at Clive House, London. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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 : Talent and Resourcing Team Email : Jobsofsted.gov.uk Telephone : 0300 013 1487 Recruitment team Email : Jobsofsted.gov.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email Ofsted recruitment at jobsofsted.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recrutiment Attachments Job specification - Assistant Private Secretary and Diary Manager to National Director, Education Opens in new window (pdf, 170kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail