About the job

Job summary

At the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), we encourage applications from everyone, particularly groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. We pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has and promote inclusivity and equality of opportunity for all. Our recruitment process is anonymised, which means that your name, date of birth and other personal details will not be seen by the sift panel.  

Are you a self-motivated and adaptable individual who can thrive within a fast-moving C-suite working environment? 

Do you have strong communication skills with great attention to detail? 

Are you highly organised and enjoy managing multiple tasks? 

If so, we would love to hear from you!

Job description

This role provides executive Personal Assistant and Office Management support to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), dealing with a wide range of stakeholders, having an impact across the whole organisation. 

The role ensures the CTO is appropriately briefed on key topics, and that the prime tasks and objectives of the IT Department are being progressed appropriately. 

The role is often the first point of contact between stakeholders, staff and customers. They provide effective and efficient diary management to ensure that the CTO’s time is effectively organised and prioritised. 

The nature of the role requires experience, confidentiality, discretion and integrity. 

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include, but not be limited to: 

• Managing, controlling and prioritising CTO mail, relying on own initiative to route correspondence and monitoring progress to ensure deadlines are met.
• Acting as initial point of contact for CTO, building and maintaining effective relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders, ensuring they are dealt with appropriately.
• Drafting/co-ordinating responses on behalf of the CTO to ensure deadlines are met. Drafting messages and communication material for circulation to relevant areas. Making informed decisions, working to tight timescales and prioritising workload.
• Handling personal/confidential data securely and appropriately in line with Government guidelines.
• Effectively and efficiently managing diaries, enabling appropriate balance between preparation time, staff engagement and meetings. Arranging for necessary briefing notes/documentation to be available in timely manner prior to meetings. 

For further information about the role please see the attached role profile.

Additional information 

This role will be based in Swansea, and we will be operating a hybrid working model that allows you to work between home and on-site giving you greater flexibility about where and when you work, subject to business needs and this also allows for ongoing support, development, and collaboration with colleagues.  

Therefore, the expectation is that you will spend a minimum of 60% of your working time based at your principal workplace (DVLA). We would encourage you to discuss the working arrangements for this role with us during the recruitment process. 

The successful candidate will be required to work full time to manage a very busy workload and provide critical support to the CTO and senior management team, which would not be achievable on a part time basis.

Person specification

You possess excellent organisational skills with the ability to organise and prioritise your work to maximise productivity and achieve all deadlines whilst working at pace, sometimes without day-to-day direction. You have a flexible attitude and welcome autonomy to your role.

You have effective verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to tailor these to suit your audience, clearly and confidently. You will have experience of preparing written papers, taking minutes and creating action reports. 

You are assertive, proactive and confident in engaging with senior stakeholders both face to face and using written communication methods. You are able to communicate with people easily and across all levels using the positive working relationships you have built.

We strive to ensure that DVLA is a great place to work where everybody can be their true self, be treated with dignity and respect, and according to their individual needs. We have a number of staff network groups run by staff to support their colleagues.  

Working for the DVLA Digital Team 

At the DVLA, licensing is just the start. Every project you implement, touch and deliver has a ripple effect that’ll wash across the entire nation. Here the work you’re doing has the capacity to change the way 50 million people interact with our services.

As we aim to keep our roads some of the safest in the world, our innovative, transformative digital-led services help optimise an entire nation of individuals and business every single day. That’s huge. No two ways about it.   

To see how our people are transforming our digital services, head over to our DVLA Digital Services Blog and, to understand more about the great opportunities and benefits of working at DVLA read our Inside DVLA blog. 

Due to the evolving nature of the business, vacancies can become available at any time. Therefore, this campaign may create a reserve list to fulfil demand if it arises which will be held for a period of 12 months. 

Benefits

Passionate, reliable and always willing to push yourself and those around you, you’ll continue to seek improvement in your own role and challenge us too. Because we pride ourselves on how we approach your development.

From training courses to specialist skills workshops and opportunities to grow your expertise, we thrive when you thrive. We are firm believers that diverse organisations have the most diverse impact on society, we welcome and encourage applications from absolutely everyone.

You can find out more about all of the above here alongside a full list of our benefits: 

• Best in class learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.  
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.  
• Generous employer contribution of at least 26.6%, depending on rate of salary and chosen pension scheme. 
• Digital communities with clear career frameworks. 
• On-site gym plus personal training available. 
• On-site nursery, restaurants and coffee bar.  
• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays), increasing by 1 each year (up to 30) & 1 extra day for the King’s birthday. 
• Free parking.  
• Ability to buy and sell annual leave.  

  

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.

For this role you will need to submit a CV and personal statement of up to 750 words.   

For your CV and personal statement, please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following essential criteria:   

• Experience of being highly-organised, while responding quickly to changes, working at a C-suite level.
• Evidence of effective written communication e.g. preparing written papers, agendas, minutes/actions or reports.
• Have strong verbal communication and engagement skills, with the ability to communicate across all levels.

Click here for further guidance on writing a CV and personal statement. 

The sift is due to take place from Monday the 15th of April 2024.

Interviews will be held on Tuesday the 30th of April 2024.

This interview will be conducted on site at DVLA, Swansea. Full details of which will be provided to you should you be selected for interview. 

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates. 

If invited to interview, this may consist of a range of question types. These could include questions around behaviours and how you would respond in any situation as well as specific examples of things you have done. 

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include: 

• An interview.

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.  

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website. 

Please take note that DVLA does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. 

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

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

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

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. 

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.

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.