About the job

Job summary

We are Britain’s national equality regulator and a United Nations accredited ‘A status’ national human rights institution.

We uphold people’s rights without fear or favour. We use the full force of our legal powers to defend people from unfair or unequal treatment and to challenge breaches of the law. We advise on developing laws and provide guidance, training and support to enable compliance.

We bring people together to create change. We work with employers, governments and a wide range of organisations, to promote understanding of equality and human rights and we support them to make improvements in practice.

Our new strategy for 2022-25 gives us a strong platform to show that we will use our powers to protect and promote equality and human rights, and that we have identified the main challenges in society where we can make a difference in our role as a regulator.

Job description

This is a fast-paced, complex, and fascinating job at the heart of the EHRC, working on high-profile, high-impact issues concerning equality and human rights in Britain.

The successful candidate will be joining at a critical time in the organisation’s multi-year change programme, supporting the Leadership Team and ensuring the Chair, CEO and Deputy CEO are well supported in their roles.

You will:

• Lead a team of (currently two) administrative assistants, taking responsibility for the team’s planning and organisation and ensuring senior decision-makers are able to operate strategically and effectively, with high quality briefing and support.
• Reporting to the Chief of Staff, coordinate briefings and advice from legal and policy experts to support the Leadership Team, Chair, CEO and Deputy CEO
• Compile a twice-weekly box for the Chair, summarising issues for decision and to note.
• Ensure effective and proactive diary management for the Chair, CEO and Deputy CEO and brief the senior team weekly on the EHRC’s corporate calendar.
• Manage the Leadership Team’s secretariat function including drafting and circulating agendas, tracking actions and noting and sharing minutes.
• Coordinate meetings with and responses to correspondence from a variety of stakeholders across government, different sectors, and civil society.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the organisation to ensure deadlines are met, advice papers are of a high quality and received on time, and correspondence is appropriately managed.
• Note and track actions from high-level meetings, to reflect decisions taken and conversations accurately.
• Support the Chief of Staff to ensure the Chair’s, CEO’s and Deputy CEO’s perspectives are reflected in key policy and strategy development and operational delivery.

Person specification

The full list of Knowledge, Skills and Experience required for the role can be found in the Candidate Pack, found at the bottom of this advert.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,160, Equality and Human Rights Commission contributes £10,883 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

You will be asked to provide:

• Your Curriculum Vitae – we will use this to assess your suitability against the required experience, knowledge and skills for this role; and
• Through our online application form, provide examples that demonstrate your suitability against the Core Skills as set out in this Candidate Pack.

If there is a high volume of applicants, an initial sift may take place on the experience, knowledge and skills requirements. Candidates who pass the initial sift may move to a full sift, or progress straight to interview.

Selection Process

At the interview stage, you should be prepared to answer questions on all core skills and KSE criteria as set out in the Candidate Pack

Appointment to the Equality and Human Rights Commission is overseen by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email the Commission’s People Helpdesk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

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.