Private Secretary to the Director

The responsibilities for the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology for 2023 are as follows:  

• Positioning the UK at the forefront of global scientific and technological advancement 
• Driving innovations that change lives and sustain economic growth 
• Delivering talent programmes, physical and digital infrastructure and regulation to support our economy, security and public services 
• R&D funding 

 For 2023, our priorities are:   

• Optimise public R&D investment to support areas of relative UK strength and increase the level of private R&D to make our economy the most innovative in the world. 
• Promote a diverse research and innovation system that connects discovery to new companies, growth and jobs – including by delivering world-class physical and digital infrastructure (such as gigabit broadband), making the UK the best place to start and grow a technology business and developing and attracting top talent. 
• Put our public services – including the NHS and schools – at the forefront of innovation, championing new ways of working and the development of in-house STEM capability to improve outcomes for people. 
• Strengthen international collaboration on science and technology in line with the Integrated Review, and ensure our researchers are able to continue to work with leading scientists in Europe and around the world. 
• Deliver key legislative and regulatory reforms to drive competition and promote innovation, including the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill and our pro-innovation approach to regulating AI. 
• Pass the remaining stages of the reformed Online Safety Bill to keep British people, especially children, safe online.   

Our Inclusive Environment 

We are building an inclusive culture to make the Department a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves.

We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions.    

We offer first-class flexible working benefits, excellent employee well-being support and a great pension. We are fortunate to have a range of excellent staff networks and are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We will support talented people from all backgrounds to build a career and thrive.   

We actively welcome applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusion. We will fully support candidates with a disability or long-term condition who require adjustments in our recruitment process. 

Find Out More 

We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/departmentforsciencetechnologyandinnovation? 

You can also follow our LinkedIn Careers Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dsitcareers/   

The Romans built roads, the Victorians canals and Railways. Putting in place the right digital infrastructure across the country is an equally big challenge for our time, and a top priority for the Prime Minister. The Digital Infrastructure directorate leads on making this happen – setting policies to promote investment and protect national security, whilst running innovative pilot programmes for the next generation of technology. We play a leading role across government, delivering new commercial deals, policy and legislation, and work closely with No.10, Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and key Whitehall delivery departments as well as industry, Ofcom and international partners to achieve our goals.

This is a unique opportunity to perform a role at the heart of the Digital Infrastructure (DI) directorate where you will have sight of the entire spectrum of the DI agenda. As a Private Secretary, you will provide a high-quality private office service to the Director, working closely with the Head of Office and the Diary Manager to drive forward the Director’s priorities. You will also work closely with the DI Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to support various corporate initiatives and have daily contact with seniors’ and ministers’ offices in DSIT.

You will empower the Director to focus on the leadership responsibilities of their role and get more done by processing information flow to surface priorities, ensuring the Director is briefed for meetings, taking meetings on the Director’s behalf as appropriate, and ensuring proper follow-up on decisions. Among other things this will include:

– Managing the Director’s inbox and filtering the incoming information to prioritise, delegate, or dismiss as appropriate.

– Working with the Diary Manager to ensure the Director’s diary is well organised and correctly prioritised.

– Commissioning briefings from the directorate and ensuring that the Director is appropriately briefed for all meetings, clear next steps are agreed during meetings, and effective follow-up is done after meetings.

– Leading / contributing input at meetings on the Director’s behalf as required.

You will support the smooth running of the directorate. You will coordinate input into various business processes and work with the Head of Office, Business Manager, and DI SLT on special projects to make the directorate a great place to work. Among other things this will include:

– Building strong relationships with the DI SLT and other senior teams and private offices across the department, working closely to progress joint priorities.

– Acting as the first point of contact for internal and external stakeholders and following up on various requests & commissions.

– Following up on decisions made by the SLT and coordinating actions across the directorate.

– Communicating priorities to the directorate and feeding back insight from the directorate to the SLT.

– Leading / supporting directorate corporate initiatives.

– Looking for opportunities for continuous improvement and bringing them to fruition.

You will contribute to running a happy and high performing Director’s Office team. You will act as a line manager to one or more Diary Managers / Executive Assistants and empower them to succeed in their roles. Among other things this will include:

– Modelling good performance by upholding high quality standards in everything you do, pursuing continuous improvement and smart ways of working, and promoting well-being.

– Setting clear objectives for your direct reports and effectively managing performance against them through effective feedback.

– Coaching direct reports to find solutions to problems and supporting their professional development.

– Supporting the Head of Office in leading the team.

We would love to hear from you if you are:

– Naturally proactive and thoughtful in your approach to task at hand.

– Able to work effectively at pace, make decisions in the face of competing priorities, and remain calm and resilient under pressure.

– Keen to look for better ways of doing things in every aspect of your role and take initiative to make it happen.

– Able to form effective working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.

– Able to communicate effectively with different audiences.

– Organised and naturally prone to paying attention to detail; able to process a large flow of information and synthesise key insights.

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an average employer contribution of 27%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Job contact :

• Name : Monika Rudzeviciute
• Email : monika.rudzeviciute@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dsitresourcing.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk