We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.
Diary Manager
Minister of State for Prisons and Violence Against Women and Girls
EO
Ministry of Justice Private Office
The Ministry of Justice Private Office is looking to fill a Diary Manager vacancy for the Minister of State for Prisons and Violence Against Women and Girls. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.
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: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity
Location
102 Petty France, London is our main office, however there are opportunities for flexible working (such as, working from home and condensed working hours).
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing over 80,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £9 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 https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
Private Office - who we are and what do we do
The Ministry of Justice’s Private Office & Parliament Directorate is a supportive and collaborative group. It is also a busy and interesting place to work – it is the interface between senior officials, Ministers, the rest of the Department and Whitehall.Â
This exciting vacancy sits in the office of the Minister for State for Prisons and Violence against Women and Girls. Working within a fast-paced, dynamic and friendly team, the successful candidate will manage the Minister’s diary, building strong relationships with them and other senior Departmental leaders. The role will be challenging and rewarding; the successful candidate will deliver an impeccable service, learn quickly and develop good quality cross-Whitehall relationships and networks.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in Private Office roles. We are also keen to encourage those with operational backgrounds to apply and those who do not yet have experience of working in a government setting.
We also operate a reserve list for all Private Offices. Additional strong candidates will be invited to join this if they are interested in other Band D vacancies that may become available over the next 12 months
Job description overview
Duties may include:
- To have overall responsibility for the management of the Minister’s diary, including arranging all internal and external meetings.
- To liaise closely with other Private Offices within MoJ and across Whitehall, the Government Whips office, and officials within MoJ and agencies.
- Working reactively, being responsible for ensuring that the diary is updated in a timely manner as meetings are arranged, ensuring that all the details are accurate and that the Minister and interested parties are advised of the date and time of the meeting promptly.
- To manage conflicting diary engagements and find ways of resolving them; to process all invitations and to plan ahead to ensure effective use of the Minister’s time (including ensuring that Parliamentary commitments are fulfilled).
- To arrange and co-ordinate all necessary logistics of a Ministerial visit.
- Developing and maintaining strong relationships with the Private Office team, working strategically with Private Secretaries to ensure join-up across policy portfolios.
- Lead corporate support of the office, including onboarding, management of the team’s physical space, security, mailing lists, and intranet presence.
- Oversee team finance, including invoice management, the tracking of purchase orders and contracts.
- Oversee the team information management.
- There may also be scope for taking on responsibility for policy and corporate areas within Private Office.
- You will be a core part of the Minister’s team in a public facing role, representing the minister and the civil service to high profile stakeholders inside and outside of Whitehall.
Application process
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.
Experience
You will be asked to provide a CV during the application process 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 of no more than 500 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.
Behaviours
During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviours (see Annex A for more information):
Develop a range of contacts outside own team and identify opportunities to share knowledge, information and learning. Show genuine interest when listening to others. Contribute to an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are listened to and all individual needs are taken into account. Ensure it is clear that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. Offer support and help to colleagues when in need, including consideration of your own and their wellbeing. Change ways of working to aid cooperation within and between teams in order to achieve results.
- Making effective decisions
Take responsibility for making effective and fair decisions, in a timely manner. Analyse and research further information to support decisions. Talk to relevant people to get advice and information when unsure how to proceed. Explain how decisions have been reached in a clear and concise way, both verbally and in writing. Demonstrate the consideration of all options, costs, risks and wider implications, including the diverse needs of end users and any accessibility requirements.
Regularly review the success of activities in the team to identify barriers to progress or challenging objectives. Identify who and what is required to ensure success, set clear goals and areas of responsibility and continually assess workloads considering individual needs. Follow relevant policies, procedures and legislation to complete your work. Ensure colleagues have the correct tools and resources available to them to do their jobs. Have a positive and focused attitude to achieving outcomes, despite any setbacks. Regularly check performance against objectives, making suggestions for improvement or taking corrective action where necessary. Ensure that colleagues are supported where tasks are challenging.
Please refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade. We will be looking at how you meet the expectation for the grade of role you are applying for: Level 2 - EO equivalent.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf
Candidates invited to Interview
During the interview process, we will be assessing you on Behaviours and Strengths from the success Profiles framework.
You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details:Â Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Interviews are expected to take place in July or early August 2022.
Candidates applying from HMPPS should note that the Ministry of Justice does not have the same conditions of employment as HMPPS. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.
The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.
Contact information Â
Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team. Contact connie.mckimm@justice.gov.uk for further information. We look forward to hearing from you.
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.
TOP