About the job

Job summary

Are you a puzzle solver, able to navigate conflicting priorities with sensitivity but never losing focus on the bigger picture or compromising standards, experienced in adapting quickly to changes whilst consistently delivering excellent levels of customer care?

This is a great opportunity for an experienced Diary Manager to play a vital role at the very centre of Ofgem, providing proactive diary and administrative support to our CEO. You’ll play an involved role in ensuring the smooth running of the CEO office, acting as a first point of contact for colleagues throughout the organisation and with external stakeholders. As you’d expect there are considerable demands on the CEO’s time, so a highly professional and proactive approach to complex diary management is vital. This is a great role, joining a high performing and friendly team who are all playing a part in delivering Ofgem’s goals of protecting energy consumers and decarbonising the energy system.

This role will suit someone who enjoys working at a pace in a busy, and sometimes pressurised, environment. There is plenty of variety in the role as no two days are the same. You’ll need to be able to get the detail right, balancing immediate priorities with planning ahead for the longer term. We expect that you’ll have experience in a similar role, providing support to senior executives; and that this has enabled you to develop excellent organisational and complex diary management skills, highly developed communication skills as well as an appreciation of the importance of establishing positive relationships with key stakeholders.

Job description

The Diary Manager to the CEO will manage the CEO’s busy schedule. Working closely with Private Secretaries and EAs and PAs across the organisation, the Diary Manager should play a proactive role in ensuring the CEO has everything they need for their days to run smoothly.   

The Diary Manager must be a team player with an ability to work flexibly across the organisation, prioritising and managing their own workload amid conflicting demands and busy work periods. Excellent judgement and discretion, and an ability to promote a positive image to both internal and external stakeholders, are essential.  

Key Responsibilities   

• Proactively manage the CEO’s diary to ensure their time is used effectively to enable them to fulfil their internal and external obligations. 
• Use strategic judgement to prioritise demands on the CEO’s time, managing stakeholder requests and expectations as required. 
• Provide general administrative, logistical, and business support to the CEO and Private Office, covering a wide range of duties in a fast-paced environment.   
• Manage information flows through the Private Office and advise the CEO Secretaries of any urgent matters as required.   
• Work collaboratively with the wider EA/PA network to represent the CEO’s views and deliver their priorities.

Key Outputs and Deliverables   

• Ensure the CEO’s diary is managed in a way that enables them to operate effectively as they lead the organisation.  
• Effectively manage complex key external and internal stakeholder relationships, acting as the initial point of contact for stakeholders, and handling all queries in an efficient and professional manner to promote a positive image of the organisation. 
• Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with colleagues across the wider organisation, to ensure a high level of service to the CEO. 
• Work with Private Secretaries to ensure the CEO receives relevant papers and briefings for meetings in a timely manner, so that they have sufficient time to absorb the content and provide any feedback.   
• Brief and update the CEO and Private Secretaries with any pertinent information that may be required by them to function effectively in their roles.  
• Any other tasks commensurate with the role that are required by the CEO or Private Secretaries.   

Key Stakeholder Relationships  

Internal   

• CEO 
• Directors 
• Private Secretaries  
• Ofgem staff, including at senior levels 
• Other EAs, PAs, and Administrators   

External   

• Other government departments 
• Senior Industry stakeholders 
• Consumer and environmental organisations  

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Proven track record of diary management at CEO / Director level (Lead criteria). 
• Ability to multi-task and remain calm when working in a fast-paced environment, with a patient and logical approach to analysing information effectively to solve problems.   
• Exceptional attention to detail and organisational skills with proven ability to identify priorities and actions efficiently and effectively without supervision.   
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate confidently at all levels and establish a strong rapport with senior leaders, both internally and externally, using diplomacy, tact and influencing.   
• Experience of dealing with matters of a highly confidential nature and acting appropriately.   
• Highly proficient with the MS Office suite, OneNote and document management.   

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,070, OFGEM contributes £9,468 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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.

When you press the ‘Apply now’ button, you will be asked to complete personal details (not seen by the sift panel), your career history and qualifications.  

You will then be asked to provide a 750 word ‘personal statement’ evidencing how you meet the essential skills and capabilities listed in the role profile. Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your supporting statement, how you meet each of the essential and desirable skills and capabilities. 

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expect all candidates to abide by these principles. Ofgem take any incidences of cheating very seriously. Please ensure all examples provided are of your own experience. Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant applications will be withdrawn from the process. 

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.