JOB SUMMARY

The Private Office Group (POG) within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is seeking a talented and ambitious individual to fill a key role at the heart of a dynamic and fast-paced department. Your work will contribute to supporting our Ministers, Special Advisers and the most senior officials in the department.
This role offers exposure to the top-level workings of a government department and an excellent opportunity for the right candidate to develop and hone the skills required to progress further in the civil service.

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are recruiting for an HEO role in the Correspondence and Cabinet Committees Unit.
The Correspondence and Cabinet Committees Unit manages the flow of information to and from the department’s Ministers. This can be in the form of letters from MPs, Peers and other high-profile stakeholders, which require a response.
We are advertising for one role, but other posts at the HEO grade may become available in Private Office Group. If you would prefer not to be considered for any future roles, please let us know in your Personal Statement.
Reporting to the Head of Ministerial Correspondence, the successful candidate will lead a small, focused team to advance the Department’s high standards for drafting and responding to correspondence in the form of letters from MPs and other external stakeholders.
The post holder will set the direction for monitoring and motivating colleagues to deliver a high-quality service. They will implement a continuous improvement culture, seeking to further develop processes and adapting ways of working as needed. They will quality assure draft correspondences, acting as an escalation point for complex cases and will compile and utilise management information to support decision-making at senior levels.
There is a need to ensure colleagues have a clear understanding of their objectives and responsibilities and for setting strategic priorities. They will continually review processes to ensure they are fit for purpose, adapting to the needs of the team, Ministerial Offices, and the wider department. Fostering a continuous improvement culture and promoting an ethos of solution orientated expertise will be essential.
The post holder will provide wider leadership as part of the management group within the Ministerial Correspondence and Cabinet Committee Unit. They will be an active part of the Unit’s leadership team, offering ideas and providing constructive challenge as needed.
The successful candidate will be comfortable using their initiative to address challenges and work independently to resolve them. They will need to react quickly to changing demands, often thinking imaginatively to solve unique challenges thrown up by Ministerial requests and preferences.
This role requires individuals to demonstrate good team management and leadership skills and lead the team to deliver on their responsibilities. You will have excellent organisational ability to keep track of many tasks across the team, which includes helping the team to prioritise and manage their workload. This involves delivering through others so the ability to form and maintain strong, positive working relationships with a variety of contacts, including with senior colleagues and Ministers, is essential.

ESSENTIAL AND PREFERRED EXPERIENCE CRITERIA

Essential experience criteria:
The below criteria are essential and will be assessed at application stage.

This role would generally suit someone who has:

• Strong communication skills – both written and verbal – and the ability to draft concise and clear narratives for Ministers and senior officials;
• Excellent organisational skills;
• Ability to work collaboratively under pressure; and
• Be a confident team player – as we establish new ways of working you will need to work flexibly and show initiative, using problem-solving skills to adapt quickly to changing priorities.

Preferred experience criteria:

• Drafting and briefing experience.

Desirable experience criteria:

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates.

• Managing and developing staff.

Due to the nature of the role, applicants must already hold SC or DV clearance. If you have an application for either of these currently in train, please contact the vacancy holder to check your suitability.

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)
• 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

This role would generally suit someone who has:

• Strong communication skills – both written and verbal – and the ability to draft concise and clear narratives for Ministers and senior officials;
• Excellent organisational skills;
• Ability to work collaboratively under pressure; and
• Be a confident team player – as we establish new ways of working you will need to work flexibly and show initiative, using problem-solving skills to adapt quickly to changing priorities