About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Overview

The Advocate General for Scotland is a UK Government Minister and is one of the three UK Government Law Officers. The Advocate General provides legal advice to all UK Government departments on a wide range of issues - including human rights and constitutional law - and is the UK Government’s principal legal adviser on Scots law.
Lord Stewart’s Private Office is an energetic and fun place to work, with exposure to some of the most high-profile and interesting matters within the UK Government. It is the interface between the Minister, the lawyers who staff the department (Office of the Advocate General), and Whitehall. The team and wider department play a key role in the policy development, legislative and decision-making processes of the UK Government.

The Role 

We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly-organised individual who has a keen eye for detail and is able to work independently. You will also be a team player who will be able to balance competing priorities and manage a busy workload, with the ability to horizon scan and react quickly to emerging issues. You will be assertive yet constructive and able to communicate effectively and confidently with Ministers and senior officials across Whitehall, including No.10, and a range of external stakeholders. You do not need to have legal experience.

You will manage the ministerial diary and help ensure that a busy office, which uniquely spans across both London and Edinburgh, runs effectively. You will also gain exposure to a wide range of policy areas and legal matters spanning across Government.

The Private Office is based in Dover House, Whitehall, but the role will require regular visits to the UK Parliament and some travel to the UK Government’s hub in Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth House. It is a small team comprising the Senior Private Secretary, the Assistant Private Secretary and the Diary Secretary. The role is mostly office-based but we are able to offer some flexibility with the opportunity to work from home 1-2 days per week, business permitting. There will be some out-of-hours work and weekend duty required, and as such the role includes a Private Office allowance of £2,562 per year.  

Given its small size, the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland uses Ministry of Justice terms and conditions for recruitment (this is not a role in the MoJ). For substantive civil servants, we are able to offer the MoJ terms or offer the option of a loan agreement with the home department. 

The successful candidate will need to have or complete national security vetting at CTC level initially. Please note that these checks take on average 1-2 months to complete.

Job Description

The key responsibilities of the role include:

• Effective diary management to the Advocate General for Scotland, including: organising and leading on the logistics for meetings; making travel arrangements; and, leading regular meetings to coordinate the ministerial diary, agree priorities and monitor workloads.
• Building and maintaining relationships across UK Government departments to drive forward the Minister’s priorities.
• Handling sensitive content: the postholder needs to be able to handle matters with discretion and awareness of security guidelines
• Developing and maintaining effective administrative processes and accurate record keeping, including upholding the Private Office’s responsibilities regarding Freedom of Information and transparency publications, and managing correspondence.
• Supporting the Minister with engagements where necessary, including organising events, meetings and visits.
• Work as part of the Private Office team, supporting the day-to-day operations of the wider office and providing an efficient, accurate, confidential and comprehensive service.
• Providing additional support to the team on shared tasks and other duties that would reasonably sit within the portfolio, supporting the Senior and Assistant Private Secretaries as and when required. 
• Provide diary and administrative support to the Legal Secretary. 
• Occasional weekend or evening responsibilities.

Skills

Essential:

• Excellent organisational skills, with attention to detail and confidence when making decisions
• Be a great communicator, with excellent interpersonal and team working skills
• A “can-do” attitude and the ability to drive forward multiple priorities simultaneously in a fast paced and changing environment
• Have excellent IT skills.

Desirable:

• A knowledge of, or experience in, the Scottish devolution settlement.

Behaviours

• Managing a Quality Service (Lead Behaviour)
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Contact details 

If you are interested in the role and would like to discuss in further detail please contact: james.gaughan@advocategeneral.gov.uk or caoimhe.mcelduff2@advocategeneral.gov.uk

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £31,169, Ministry of Justice contributes £8,446 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, Strengths and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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 counter-terrorist 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.