23953 - Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary and Second Permanent Secretary

Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary and Second Permanent Secretary

Grade 7

Private Office and Parliament Directorate

The MoJ Private Office is recruiting permanently for a Grade 7 Private Secretary role. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

Location:

Successful candidates will be based at:

• 102 Petty France, London

Ways of Working

Due to the nature of Private Secretary roles, which involve a significant amount of interaction with the Permanent Secretaries, the successful candidate will need to be able to work in the office when the Permanent Secretaries are present. Unfortunately, the role is unsuitable for part-time or flexible working, but full-time Jobsharers are welcome to apply.

If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.

We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit:

Salary

Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.

Please note that these roles may require working extended hours for which a Private Secretary allowance is payable.

Security Clearance

This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role. You can find more information by reviewing the information held in the following links:

United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The vetting charter - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In addition, there is a minimum UK residency requirement set by the Cabinet Office which is dependent on the security level required for the role.

This role requires SC and to be eligible to apply for this role you should have been present in the UK continuously for the past 5 years.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing over 90,000 people (including those in the Prison and Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £9.5 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.

Further information can be found at

The Work of Private Office and Parliamentary Directorate

The Ministry of Justice’s Private Office and Parliament Directorate is a supportive and collaborative group. It is also a busy and interesting place to work, acting as the interface between the Permanent Secretary, Ministers, the rest of the Department and Whitehall. The Department is at the forefront of the Government’s programme to tackle serious crime and support victims. You will play a key role in turning ministerial priorities into delivery, working across the Department to maintain momentum, resolve problems and ensure agreed actions are followed through. You will gain invaluable experience at the heart of decision-making, working directly with Ministers, Special Advisers, senior officials and external stakeholders on a range of high-profile issues.

Private Secretary - The role

This role will lead a team within the Office for the Permanent Secretary and Second Permanent Secretary, leading on Civil and International Justice, Communications and Technology. It presents an exciting opportunity to take on a key portfolio, and providing leadership within the Permanent Secretaries' Joint Private Office.

The successful candidate will be a trusted adviser who can build a strong working relationship with both principals, understanding how they operate and providing the judgement and challenge needed to deliver their priorities, as well as a strong team leader with demonstrable ability to deliver through others. You will work directly with senior officials across the department, as well as Ministerial Private Offices, often at pace and in the context of high expectations.

This post provides unparalleled experience of Departmental business and decision-making at the most senior level, with direct exposure not only to senior civil servants, but Ministers and external stakeholders.

Candidates must demonstrate adaptability, initiative, leadership, resilience and drive. They will need excellent judgement and the ability to secure progress amid uncertainty, competing views and changing priorities. The successful candidate will be comfortable providing candid advice, managing expectations and offering constructive challenge, while retaining the confidence of the Permanent Secretaries and senior colleagues. They must also lead and support the wider team, maintaining a welcoming and professional culture during sustained periods of pressure.

Skills and Experience

In particular, the post holder is responsible for:

• Leading a team responsible for the Civil Justice, International, Communications and Technology portfolio, ensuring a high-quality service that delivers on principals’ priorities while maintaining clear and realistic expectations of the Department.
• Develop and maintain strong relationship with officials across the portfolio area, as well as with Special Adviser and Ministerial Private Offices for those covering the same portfolio.
• Building a strong relationship with both the Permanent and Second Permanent Secretary to understand their priorities, and anticipate their concerns.
• Demonstrating strong judgement and working independently with resilience, adapting your approach to the principal, the issue and the audience.
• Playing a key role in the divisions leadership, leading a high-performing, happy team able to navigate competing priorities and changing capacity.
• Line management of one SEO, with the potential this could evolve.

Essential skills

• A confident and credible communicator, able to work across levels of seniority.
• Strong judgement and ability to balance competing priorities, and do so with calm and resilience.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships across a range of stakeholders and with senior principals.

Desirable

• Experience working on Justice issues and / or private office work although not essential.

Application process

You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.

Experience

During the application process you will be asked to submit a CV in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.

You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability (no more than 750 words). Which details an explanation of why you are interested in the role and how your skills and experience align with the tasks listed in the job description.

Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview.

Candidates invited to Interview

Please note that interviews will be carried out in-person at 102 Petty France, or online via MS Teams.

During the interview you will be asked a series of behavioural questions, which are listed below.

• Leadership (lead behaviour)
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

The interview will also cover strength-based questions. There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles: Strengths - GOV.UK

Interviews are expected to take place in November 2026.

Please be advised that as part of the recruitment campaign we will conduct fireside conversations with the relevant Senior member of the Private Office Team.

Contact information

Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team. Beth.Atkin-Mayne@justice.gov.uk or Amy.Saunders@justice.gov.uk

Annex A - The STAR method

Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.

Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.

• Where are you?
• Who was there with you?
• What had happened?

Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.

• What was the task that you had to complete and why?
• What did you have to achieve?

Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.

Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.

• What results did the actions produce?
• What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
• Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?

Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.