Private Secretary

Job summary

Working at HM Treasury puts you at the heart of government, making a difference to the UK economy and ultimately to people’s lives right across the UK.

Jobs at the Treasury are fast-paced, fun and can offer unparalleled perspective – not least the opportunity to advise Ministers on the decisions which directly determine the UK’s prosperity. Deep in our DNA is a commitment to empowering our people: maximising individual and collective impact, with interesting work no matter your role or seniority.

Day-to-day you could be supporting Ministers to decide the right level of a specific tax or line of government spending; helping maintain the stability of financial markets; analysing the long-term trends impacting the future of the economy; or enabling this work as part of our vital corporate functions.

We are a high-performing department and proud to have outstanding staff from a wide range of backgrounds. We are also a friendly, inclusive and sociable workplace that prides itself on fostering great team spirit. Our two largest offices are 1 Horse Guards Road in London, opposite St James’ Park, and the Darlington Economic Campus, which also contains eight other departments. We work seamlessly across all our sites, including Norwich, Birmingham and Leeds, as one Treasury.

We are both a 1,000-year-old institution and dynamic, forward-looking economics and finance ministry, with a strong direction set by our organisational strategy, the Future Treasury Vision. The 21st century offers huge opportunities and poses new challenges for the UK. Working at the Treasury is your chance to help the country chart the right course.

Job description

This is an exciting and challenging role at the heart of our work, helping a busy and fast-paced Group achieve stretching objectives, while providing a high level of support to our staff and the GMT. You will be Private Secretary to the Director of SPB and be a key part of the GMS team helping SPB Group run smoothly. If you are organised, efficient and people-focused, then we would love to hear from you.

As Private Secretary you will link the Director to the GMT, the wider Group, and wider across HMT including EMB, to ensure their steers and priorities are acted on and ensure that they are sighed on priority work at the right time.

The role will include:

• Develop an understanding of the Treasury's most important policy and Budget priorities by supporting the Director in managing advice and correspondence, highlighting key issues and decisions, and helping to ensure priorities are progressed effectively.
• Manage the Director's diary efficiently, proactively planning and using your professional judgement to line up meetings in a well-organised way. Resolve conflicts, negotiate and allocate appropriate time to the Director's priorities. Develop a good understanding of the Group's work and priorities so you can make decisions on behalf of the Director where appropriate, prepare diary and meeting packs in their preferred format, and manage the logistics for engagements as required.
• Inbox oversight – Maintain oversight of the Director's emails and priorities, helping to identify actions, track progress and ensure important issues are highlighted at the right time. Where appropriate, use your judgement to cascade information or coordinate follow up with colleagues across the Group.
• Forward plan against the Director’s priorities to anticipate problems, risks, issues and corporate tasks and proactively propose the best way to take them forward.
• Understand HMT’s processes including finance, correspondence and recruitment to allow you to give robust administrative support to the Director, Head of Group Management and GMS Manager and wider group and to build resilience across the GMS team.
• Take the initiative to develop and build and lead relationships with key internal and external partners and colleagues to effectively do the job.
• Deputise for GMS Manager when required:
  • Stepping in for GMS manager in business and corporate information cascade and planning of corporate activities with the Director.
  • Knowledge retention and organisation of information on team’s intranet folder including being site owner and overseeing Active Directory updates and liaising with the central team to reflect changes within the Group.
  • Work closely with the GMS Manager to assist in ensuring business priorities across the group are managed effectively and corporate activities are carried out to ensure the smooth operation of the group.
  • Deputy secretariat of the GMT meetings, which includes working with the GMS Manager to ensure each meeting has a chair, agenda, papers and readout /actions.
• Support the GMS team through providing flexible cover for the GMS team during absences, preparing full handover notes for your own absences and fulfilling commitments under the GMS Service Level Agreement (SLA) – delivering timely, high-quality support.
• Provide flexible cover for GMS team during absences and preparing full handover notes for your own absences.

You may also be asked to help with other ad-hoc or new tasks, in line with your development plan and the business needs.

While this role does not currently include direct line management responsibilities, we are looking for a candidate who demonstrates the potential and flexibility to lead others effectively. As the team evolves, there may be future opportunities to take on leadership and line management responsibilities, and we seek someone who can inspire, support, develop and guide colleagues to deliver high-quality outcomes.

Candidate Drop-In Session – Microsoft Teams

The hiring manager will be running a candidate drop-in session for this role on Thursday 20th August at 11.30am click to Jointo give you greater insight about the role as well as the chance to learn more about HM Treasury and ask any questions you may have. If you would like to join us, then use the link below to join the call at the right time.

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact Rebecca Hopper (Rebecca.Hopper@hmtreasury.gov.uk).

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Person specification

Application Form

Applications should consist of a CV including your employment history, and a 250-word behaviour and experience statements. Your CV and employment history won’t be scored. It’s used to give context to your application and support discussions at interview.

The panel will review applications and invite those that best demonstrate evidence of the shortlisting criteria below for interview. Please keep this in mind when writing your application.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Behaviours

1. Working Together: Establish effective working relationships across a range of stakeholders. Foster a collaborative and engaging approach to meet common objectives.
2. Communicating and Influencing: Communicate in an engaging, positive, and varied manner, appropriate for the audience, and taking into account individual’s needs. Deliver difficult and important messages, with clarity and sensitivity.
3. Delivering at Pace: Us