Location

Westminster

About the job Summary

Do you have experience of administrative roles supporting managers and executive levels? 

Do you go the extra mile to ensure you give the best service? 

Do you enjoy taking initiative to organise senior managers workloads and feel confident in challenging them? 

We have an exciting opportunity for a Personal Assistant to join us at Department for Transports (DfT) Maritime sector, and we would love to hear from you.

Job description

The UK’s maritime and marine sectors are key to Britain’s economy contributing at least £14 billion gross value added (GVA) and directly supporting 168,000 jobs. This means that the sector is of the same scale as other high value industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing, aerospace and the road freight industry. 

This is a great opportunity to build strong relationships with high-level stakeholders within DfT including Director Generals and Ministers. You will be the middle person between your Director and the business so having strong communication skills is key. 

This is an exciting time to be joining our team as we play an integral role in Government’s No Deal planning, leading on aspects of our contingency planning around critical ports. We are also responsible for ensuring we develop policies around the longer-term resilience and efficiency of our ports and freight flows, and will lead on the international dimension of the new cross-modal Freight Strategy due to report this autumn.
 

Responsibilities

The main responsibilities for the role are: 

Business Support Service 

• Developing and maintaining effective processes to deliver a first-class administrative service. 
• Dealing with emails, phone calls and post promptly; giving standard replies as appropriate and forwarding to relevant members of staff. 
• Manage the Director’s inbox, ensuring urgent/important correspondence is prioritized and brought to the attention of the Director. 
• Preparing all diary logistics, including paperwork and briefing material, ensuring that the Director is always in the correct location, with the correct papers and aware of upcoming appointments. 
• Managing the Director’s schedule and arrange meetings to ensure sufficient time for priorities, travel, desk-time and break and arranging travel and accommodation when necessary. 
• Balancing conflicting appointments and suggesting delegation of meetings where necessary. 
• Supporting leadership team meetings by drawing up agendas, circulating papers, taking minutes and recording and tracking actions. 
• Coordinating corporate returns or requests for briefings. 
• Liaising with finance teams to see through small-scale purchases. 

Records and electronic publishing 
• Monitor the Directorate’s progress with Parliamentary Questions, Chapter and FOI cases, flagging to the Director and Deputy Directors if issues arise. 
• Act as Business Records Officer for the Directorate’s electronic and paper record keeping, ensuring the Directorate’s shared filing system is well-maintained and meets Departmental standards. 

Corporate Events 
• Provide administrative and logistical support to directorate events and ad-hoc projects. 

About you 

You are a confident person who enjoys building solid working relationships at all levels. You will have the ability to communicate effectively across teams and at all levels, including senior managers. You have an analytical mind when looking at situations and use this to help make your decisions. The successful candidate will have excellent time management skills and ability to meet deadlines. Also, you will have in-depth diary management experience and the ability to manage competing priorities and work under pressure. You will have experience of quality note and minute taking and be an advanced user of Microsoft Office products (i.e. Word, Excel and Outlook). 

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance. 

About us 

We are part of the Department for Transport (DfT). DfT is a great place to work, and our ‘one team’ approach really makes a difference. We value our staff and that’s why we’re committed to nurturing an inclusive environment across the Department. 

You’ll be part of an innovative organisation that invests in all our people, ensuring we have the diverse skills to deliver transport that moves Britain ahead now and into the future. 

Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport. 

DfT has been recognised for its leadership on workplace gender equality by being included in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2017. 

DfT’s inclusion is recognition of our commitment to make the Department a great place to work through our culture of equality and inclusivity and the great strides we’ve made to raise the number of women in senior positions.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Benefits Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

Things you need to know Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

The sift is due to take place on 9th September. 

Interview/assessment will be held from 18th September. 

Interview location to be confirmed. 

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates. 

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment could include: 
• an interview 
• an interview with one or more exercises 
• a full day of activities including interactive, written and timed exercises 

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. For further information on Success Profiles please click here 

Your interview may consist of a range of question types. These may include questions about: 
• what energises and motivates you 
• how you would manage situations relevant to the role 
• your previous experience 
• your professional skills and knowledge 

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within. 

Further Information 

We have adopted anonymised recruitment. This means that your name, date of birth and other personal details will not be seen by the sift panel. 

We may hold a merit list for up to twelve months. During this time, if a similar role is identified and you have been placed on the merit list you may be considered for the post. Within the merit list period, your application form and selection information may be shared across the department and its agencies. 

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out. 

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. 

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 [email protected] 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. 
Any move to the Department for Transport will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name :   Jack Perry Email :   [email protected]   Recruitment team : Email :   [email protected] Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Click here (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/) to visit Civil Service Commission