Private Office - Assistant Private Secretaries to the Ministers

The Department for Work and Pensions is looking to recruit high calibre candidates to fill Assistant Private Secretary (APS) roles into Ministerial and Special Advisers' offices.

DWP is the UK’s biggest public service department, and administers the state pension, a range of working age, disability, and ill health benefits to around 22 million claimants and customers. What we do matters to millions of people every day.

DWP Private Office is the link between Ministers, the Permanent Secretary, the Departmental Board, the Executive Team, the wider Department and across Government, and plays a key role in the development of policy and the delivery of Ministerial priorities.

We have several exciting opportunities coming up, offering the chance to work with Ministers daily, helping to address challenges that affect the lives of people across the country. These roles provide an opportunity to see how Ministers, Special Advisers and the Civil Service operate in a way that is rarely matched in other roles of the same grade.

These are fast paced, stretching and a great platform for your future career in the Civil Service. We are looking for candidates who will enjoy and thrive in this unique and interesting environment at the heart of Government.

The Private Office team is high-performing, friendly and inclusive. These are demanding but rewarding roles for candidates interested in working closely with Ministers, Special Advisers, and senior officials. These roles offer a unique opportunity to facilitate decision-making at the highest levels of government and ensure smooth running of DWP business by communicating Ministerial views to the wider department.

This is a fantastic opportunity to work in a key Private Office role. The Assistant Private Secretary is crucial in providing effective support and advice to the Minister and Special Advisers across a wide range of departmental business, with a particular focus on policy, communications and parliamentary business. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring high quality and timely advice across the portfolio is provided and will be the interface between the Department and Ministerial Team.

The ministerial portfolios are extremely busy and cover a range of both interesting and stimulating areas of policy. These all attract a high-Level of Parliamentary engagement; the successful candidate(s) will therefore be expected to support the Minister with Select Committee appearances, Parliamentary debates, and Oral questions.

We offer successful candidates:

• The opportunity to work closely with Ministers, Special Advisers, and senior officials
• An exciting, fast paced, and challenging work environment that involves dealing with complex issues
• The chance to be part of a supportive team with plenty of opportunities to Learn and develop new skills
• The opportunity to broaden understanding of DWP policy, Parliamentary business and cross­ government functions

In this role, the Assistant Private Secretary is responsible for:

• Work with the Department and the Grade 7 Head of Office, be responsible for making sure Ministers or Special Advisers get the high-quality advice they need to make well informed decisions, often on complex and fast-moving policy areas. You will then work with teams across the Department to ensure feedback is relayed and actioned.
• Advise and work directly with Ministers or Special Advisers to support them to deliver their departmental.
• Co-ordinate the Ministers' or Special Advisers’ duties, supporting them in a wide range of internal and cross-government meetings and engagements, ensuring they are well briefed for parliamentary debates and select committees.
• Support the Minister or Special Adviser during meetings, responsible for providing an accurate readout, capturing actions and ensuring progress.
• Accompany and support Ministers or Special Advisers on relevant events and visits, working with the visits team to ensure logistics are properly arranged and acting as an ambassador for your Minister and DWP when meeting high profile stakeholders.
• In Special Advisers’ office, you will prioritise and work closely with Secretary of State’s Private Secretaries to ensure that the Secretary of State receives high quality advice at the right time.
• Play a proactive role in the wider corporate effort within the Private Office.