About the job

Job summary

Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

The Science Capability in Animal Health (SCAH) programme is an ambitious, 10–15-year programme working towards safeguarding and future-proofing the UK’s animal health science capability. The programme has recently secured significant funding towards transforming the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) Weybridge scientific campus. 

This is an exciting opportunity to join a priority Defra programme on the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio, of significant national importance.

Job description

The Personal Assistant support will be responsible for providing comprehensive support to one or more Senior Responsible Officer/Directors and Deputy Directors and their functional leadership teams across the SCAH Programme.

Senior Leader support will form the core part of your role in addition to your own portfolio of business which will contribute to the wider executive office function. You will report directly to the Executive Office Manager as a part of a team who provide support to the core Senior Leadership Team

You will provide high quality support to the Programme Directors and Senior Leadership Team. This will include managing the flow of information into and out of their office, you ensure their meetings and diary are arranged as efficiently as possible, scheduling room bookings alongside travel & accommodation where required . Managing various priorities and time-sensitive issues, you will be able to organise and deliver practical resolutions when faced with competing priorities and will be capable of working with complete discretion. This will form the most part of the role but you will have ownership of your own portfolio of business that contributes to the wider executive office function.

Stakeholder engagement and excellent organisation skills are key in this role. You will need to establish and maintain good working relationships both across the programme and with external partners, you will work closely with colleagues in the Executive Office Team to support changing priorities and support management of shared mailboxes. You will support visitors to both the Weybridge and Marsham St offices. You will also be required to work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders at all levels to maintain the highest standard of service.

You will be capable of working with ambiguity, whilst managing your own workload you’ll understand the needs of the wider team and can be flexible to support when needed.

You will be working as part of a fast paced busy team made up of the Executive Office Manager and 3 other Personal Assistants.

Person specification

Responsibilities

Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate their experience in the following areas:

• Providing Executive Assistant Support to Directors or similar experience supporting senior management/ senior civil servants. effectively prioritising emails and highlighting matters of importance or for urgent attention
• Working with Director/Deputy Director/Senior Management to ensure they are adequately prepared for meetings (e.g. preparing briefing packs)
• Provide secretariat support to Director/Deputy Director led meetings
• Working with Director/Deputy Director to ensure they are adequately prepared for meetings (e.g. preparing briefing packs)
• Monitoring and actioning of e-mails received in the team shared mailbox
• Ensure effective record keeping, including managing directories of electronic files, archiving and administration of various team sites such as Sharepoint
• Working effectively as a member of the wider Secretariat Team to maintain a core level of service, help and support other colleagues through the sharing of experience and best practice, and providing cover when required
• Be able to effectively manage a broad range of stakeholders both internal and external, ensuring any communication is appropriately cascaded
• Supporting Director/Deputy Director with other specific work as required
• Provide support to the Executive Office Manager as required

Note: An employee may be required to carry out additional duties within the scope of the grade and within the limits of their skill, competence and training.

Skills and experience

Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate the following experience & skills:

• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to form close working relationships with colleagues to support collaboration at all levels
• Excellent organisational skills, with an ability to manage conflicting demands, keeping focus and swiftly re-prioritising to ensure change does not adversely impact on delivery
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office programmes, including strong proficiency in the use of Outlook, Sharepoint, Teams and Forms, plus other collaborative tools
• The ability to confidently communicate across all levels in a clear and concise manner, both in written and verbal format
• Ability to operate with discretion and work with confidential information
• Proven experience working in a fast past environment with changing priorities, demonstrating resilience
• Proven background in supporting a senior manager / head of a sizeable organisation / delivery of particular project or service
• Experience of working on large complex programmes would be beneficial

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,827, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £8,323 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.

Application process

As part of the application process, you will be assessed on your Experience and will be asked to complete:  

• A CV  
• A 500 word personal statement: "Referring to the 'Responsibilities' and 'Skills and experience' section of the job advert, please demonstrate how you are suitable for the role by providing relevant examples."

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

Sift   

Your application will be sifted by a panel shortly after the advert closes.  

Should there be a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted using your personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment or interview.

Sift results are expected to be released w/c 19th February. 

Interview  

If successful at sift stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be asked a strength question and assessed on the following Behaviours:  

• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making effective decisions

A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.

Interviews are expected to take place w/c 4th March 2024.

Please note that these may be subject to change. We will inform you as soon as possible. All interviews will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams.

Location

As part of the pre-employment process, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is 'National' the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Salary 

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

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

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put 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 defrarecruitment.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. 

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.

Criminal Record Check

If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

Internal Fraud Database Check

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.

Higher Security Clearance 

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer. 

Childcare Vouchers 

Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

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. 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.