About the job

Job summary

The Home Office has one of the most critical jobs in Whitehall: to keep Britain safe and secure. We operate at the heart of the Government's agenda, leading on immigration, policing, and national security. The demands facing the Department are novel and complex, making this one of the most stimulating and exciting Government departments to work.

These roles sit at the centre of the Home Office, supporting the Permanent Secretaries/ Ministers in their private office. You will see how the Department runs from the centre and interacts with the rest of Whitehall.

Job description

The role is Diary Manager to the Minister/ Permanent Secretary. Working alongside a team of private secretaries, you will be responsible for ensuring your principle’s day runs efficiently and their time is effectively managed, as well as being able to coordinate their briefing and effectively manage correspondence. This vital role requires outstanding interpersonal skills, attention to detail, and the ability to prioritise and prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

Private Office allowance available (£4,236 per annum) which caters for unpredictable hours.

Candidates will be expected to attend the office a minimum of 4 days each week and at times 5 days in the office.

Due to the nature of this post this position is only open to full-time members of staff.

If you wish to contact the vacancy holder to discuss the roles or responsibilities of this post in more detail, please send your query to Ministerial Support Unit - POS@homeoffice.gov.uk. If your query relates to the selection process of this campaign, general recruitment, HR or the onboarding process, please email the HORC Campaign Team (email address listed below under the vacancy holder details).

Person specification

Main responsibilities will include:

• Management of the diary, making sure it is accurate and up to date, and dealing effectively with short notice changes. Forward planning of the diary to ensure longer-term priorities, commitments and responsibilities are captured.
  
  
• Working with the team of Private Secretaries to advise the principals on how best to use their time, ensuring that they both have the right papers, and being able to brief them on the details of their engagements.
  
  
• Acting as a tactful and highly professional first point of contact for enquiries for principals both by phone, email and in person, managing communications and correspondence to arrange meetings, briefings and other interactions.

Forming and maintaining effective relationships with key personnel across the Home Office, other Departments and with wider stakeholders to help coordinate diaries and other business needs.

• Leading on logistical matters, including prioritising and planning domestic and international travel arrangements and ensuring value for money.

Essential criteria

• Good time management with the ability to prioritise tasks effectively.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to respond to short notice and urgent requests.
• Efficient and organised with a proactive and problem-solving approach.

Desirable criteria

• Previous diary management experience.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Ability and Experience.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

As part of the application process, you will first be asked to confirm your eligibility by providing some basic personal information.

After submission of this first stage, you will be invited to complete Civil Service Numerical & Verbal Reasoning tests. If you successfully pass these tests, you will then be invited to complete the full application form. Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests and full application form is 23:55 on Monday 5th February 2024. If you fail to complete the online tests or full application before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn. 

Guidance for the tests will be available when you are invited to take the tests. The tests are administered online and accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website. 

You will then be asked to complete:

• a CV detailing job history
• a statement of suitability (maximum 500 words)
• provide evidence of the behaviour Delivering at Pace (250 words maximum)

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The statement of suitability should be aligned to demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job description.

The sift will be held on the behaviour Delivering at Pace and the statement of suitability (personal statement). The CV will not be scored.

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview which will be behaviour-based questions on all listed behaviours.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place from 6th February 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place from 20th February 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change.

Interviews will be carried out via video. Candidates will be required to have access to:

• A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
• Good internet connection
• Microsoft Teams

PLEASE NOTE: Due to time constraints we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s). It is therefore expected that candidates who are successful at sift stage will make themselves available during the above time frame given.

Further Information

For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.  A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

A 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 ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. All applications are screened for plagiarism and copying and generating of examples/answers from internet sources including Artificial Intelligence. If any is detected the application may be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving civil servants. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.

If you are currently an agency member of staff or a contractor working within the Home Office, you can only apply for roles that are advertised externally, i.e. outside the civil service. If you are eligible to apply for a role, you are required to select yourself as an external applicant and not internal when submitting your application on Civil Service jobs. This will prevent any delays in pre-employment checks should you become successful in being made an offer of employment after the interview stage.

We are unable to sponsor any individuals via Skilled Worker Sponsorship / Tier 2 (General) work visas as we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License.

Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

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 applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.

Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.

Transfer Terms: Voluntary.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to  bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.

Any move to the Home Office 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 at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.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 you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

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

Open to UK nationals only.

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.