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Contents
- Location
- About the job
- Benefits
- Things you need to know
- Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is responsible for driving economic growth across the United Kingdom. This role will be located within the Global Futures Directorate – a central and specialist team led by the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA): Professor Julia Sutcliffe. We work to ensure the department’s decisions are underpinned by a strategic approach to long-term and systematic issues that affect the UK economy, including science, technology, research, development and innovation, as well as net zero, climate adaptation and environmental regulation. We also contain the department’s futures analysis and foresighting capability.
This role will be part of the CSA’s Private Office team, led by the Chief of Staff. The Private Office is responsible for providing a high-quality service to the CSA, supporting them with all aspects of their role, from administrative tasks (e.g. diary management, briefings and travel bookings) to providing an immediate source of policy advice, and leading on urgent tasks. The Private Office also supports the running of the wider Directorate, looking after core business tasks such as finance, people and risk management.
Job description
As Science Briefing and Business Support Officer to the Chief Scientific Adviser, you will work as part of a small but tight-knit team focused on ensuring the smooth running of the CSA function and the directorate they lead. You will be required to work on a wide range of tasks, primarily of a coordination and secretariat nature. This is a great opportunity for someone to get direct exposure working for a senior official and science leader in government.
Key responsibilities will include:
- BRIEFING – 50%: Leading on briefing coordination for the CSA, acting as a single point of contact to ensure that high-quality supporting material is prepared for all relevant engagements, whether for external meetings with businesses, attending cross-government boards or carrying out overseas trade promotion activity.
- BUSINESS SUPPORT – 50%: Providing diary support for the Deputy Director, including occasional travel coordination for both Deputy Director and CSA.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
The below criteria are essential and will be assessed at application stage;
The successful candidate must demonstrate:
- Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships across the department and Whitehall.
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal for preparing high quality briefing material.
- Experience of office administration tasks, such as diary management, travel booking and budgeting would be preferable.
Desirable Criteria
The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates;
- Experience of working in a private office environment.
- Experience working on science and technology issues.
Personal Attributes and Skills
The below is a list of characteristics which may be helpful in this role. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but are laid out to help candidates understand more about the role.
This role would generally suit someone who;
- A self-starter, happy working autonomously and helping co-design a new team.
- Comfortable with fast-paced work.
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
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 employer contribution of 28.97%
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.
Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.
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.
To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages.
- A Personal Statement of up to 500 words, explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential criteria.
Your application will be sifted against the Experience criteria of the Civil Service Success Profiles.
It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date, though this is subject to change.
We aim to sift both the CV and the Personal Statement but, in the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift may be conducted on the CV only. Candidates who pass the initial sift of the CV will either progressed to a full sift where the Personal Statement is then assessed, or progressed straight to further assessment/interview.
Candidates who pass the sift will be invited to interview, where we will assess you on the Success Profiles elements of Behaviours:
- Delivering at Pace;
- Managing a Quality Service;
- Communicating and Influencing;
- Making Effective Decisions.
Reasonable Adjustments
We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment:
Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process.
Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.
Candidate Support
You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.
Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department.
Further Information:
- A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.
- 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.
- The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.
- 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. Any applicant who has 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.
- Terms and Conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
- Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.
- This role may be considered as a secondment opportunity. Please reach out to the hiring manager listed at the bottom of this advert to discuss.
- Candidates that do not quite meet the standard for this role may be offered a position at a lower grade.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland/Access NI 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 [email protected] stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email [email protected]
For further information on the Access NI confidential checking service telephone: the Access NI Helpline on 0300 200 7888 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email [email protected]
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles .
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : CSA Private Office Team
- Email : [email protected]
Recruitment team
- Email : [email protected]
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 DBT by email: [email protected].
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
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