Details
Reference number
Salary
Job grade
Contract type
Business area
Type of role
International Trade
Operational Delivery
Working pattern
Number of jobs available
Contents
Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
This recruitment is continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be located in the new Department for Business and Trade. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.
The English Regions team is part of the Exports and UK Trade Directorate General, and its role is to provide trade and investment support for businesses at local level, driving growth and prosperity. The Directorate leads DIT’s work across regions in England to upskill exporting and non-exporting businesses in their exporting journey.
The role itself operates at the heart of the English Regions agenda, leading the office of the Director to ensure efficient and effective working of the Directorate. Working with an Executive Assistant, it is vital in enabling the Director to function successfully and ensure that the Directorate is delivering the best service for internal and external stakeholders. It is a stretching and exciting role which provides exposure to strategic decision making and requires you to develop a strong understanding of all the work led by the Director to ensure that the overall operation of the Directorate is run successfully.
Due to the nature of the Director’s role with travel across England and occasional overseas trips they need a strong and self-sufficient Private Office to support them. This will involve taking ownership and using initiative to prioritise work that comes in and effectively delegate to the Director’s leadership team, bringing in additional expertise where appropriate.
You will lead on commissioning briefings, submissions and papers, bringing urgent matters to the Director’s attention and be expected to provide background and handling advice. This post provides a great opportunity to see all aspects of the Director’s role and will require a high level of resilience and an ability to make difficult decisions under tight time constraints. You will need to build strong relationships across DIT and have the ability to flex seamlessly between tactical and strategic work.
Job description
Providing advice:
- Possessing a strong understanding of the English Regions portfolio and the Director’s priorities. The ability to swiftly spot top risks, issues, and opportunities and either allocate to the relevant person or sight and recommend solutions to the Director.
Providing direct support with:
- Triaging and managing the Director’s personal inbox by selecting and scrutinising emails, delegating or cascading as appropriate and sighting the Director on those that are most relevant to them,
- Providing an efficient Senior Management Team (SMT) operation to support the directorates objectives, ensuring there is appropriate representation of the Director and their priorities in external and internal stakeholder meetings. As well as, providing SMT HR support including on recruitment.
- Providing an effective, trusted, and respected link between the Director and offices of the Director General, Permanent Secretary, Ministers, and other parts of the Department.
- Support and line manage the Director’s Executive Assistant,.
Maintaining and upholding systems and processes:
- Overseeing the smooth running of the Private Office, so that it serves the required purpose of supporting the Director, as well as the needs and expectations of English Regions teams.
- Maintaining an overview of commissions that come to the Director and acting as lead for commissioning, coordinating, and agreeing required outcomes and timelines with colleagues.
- Providing secretariat function for SMT meetings, the Directorate’s principal decision-making body, ensuring decisions are implemented efficiently, effectively, and that they are recorded.
- Leadership of cross-Directorate projects, including smarter working, wellbeing, communications, better working with the overseas network and discrete policy projects, leading to higher quality outputs, reduced duplication and better organisational memory.
- Management of the Private office cost centre, including; providing forecasts on future spends, ensuring spend is within the appropriate limit and liaising with the finance team to resolve any discrepancies.
Hybrid Working
The role will be based in either Birmingham, Manchester, London or Darlington. You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas.
Informal hybrid working arrangements will be available as agreed with the vacancy manager and in line with the requirements of the role.
Most DBT employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in an office, on average. If your office location is London, you will be eligible to receive London weighting.
Appointments will be made to candidates in merit order based on location preferences.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to track and manage multiple competing priorities.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to summarise complex issues clearly and succinctly.
- Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships and foster join-up and collaboration across teams.
- Strong personal judgement, able to take decisions and knowing when to escalate upwards.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience of working within Private Office or working with senior leaders.
- Experience of working in a fast-paced environment.
Personal Attributes & Skills
We are looking for a self-motivated person who has enthusiasm and appetite for gaining exposure to senior relationships and governance across a busy and exciting directorate.
The role holder will:
- be able to manage upwards, to be able to work with people of all grades, delegating work, and commissioning briefings, including being prepared to challenge the status quo and push through innovative ideas and thinking.
- take a strategic approach, understand the big picture and how to shape this.
- display high levels of judgement on a broad range of issues, often dealing with varied and sensitive matters.
- be able to work on their own initiative.
- be able to work flexibly at pace, managing several competing deadlines and rapidly changing priorities at short notice and to truly short timescales.
- be able to travel, within and outside of the UK.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.
Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.
Sift will take place week commencing 22/05/2023
Interviews will take place week commencing 29/05/2023
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and a personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please align your CV with previous skills and experience. Maximum of 2 A4 pages.
In your Personal Statement, please explain your motivation for applying for this role and the extent to which you satisfy the essential and desirable requirements of the role. Maximum word count of 500.
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
For this role, the Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. Please note we are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.
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.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
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.
Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.
The Department for Business and Trade embraces and values diversity in all forms. We welcome and pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has on the work we do, and we promote equality of opportunity throughout the organisation.
Please note – harmonised terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
Further Information
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
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 ditrecruitment.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 an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
SC
All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK.
The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.
If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.
Checks will be made against:
- Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
- UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
- Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
- Security Services records
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DIT by email: Resourcing@trade.gov.uk.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.
For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints
