Change text size:

Choose Style:

Executive Assistant

  • Public sector
  • 24/04/2025
  • £28,915.00 - £34,585.00 /yearly
  • Permanent
Job expired!

Job Overview

Job Type

Permanent

Salary

£28,915 - £34,585 yearly

Date Posted:

24/04/2025

Expiration date:

11/05/2025

Additional Detail

Job ID

25257

Work Location

Remote and/or Onsite

Job Description

Location: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford
 
Do you want a career where you can make a real difference? Do you want to work at the forefront of current policy making decisions? Do you want to have an impact on the UK and beyond? If yes, then a career at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) could be for you.
 
Here at DESNZ we are delivering our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, with clean electricity by 2030 and accelerating the UK's journey to net zero. Our work is helping ensure clean energy for all, keep bills down and seize the opportunities to lead the world in new green industries, taking back control of our energy with Great British Energy and encouraging greater energy efficiency across the UK. The work of the department has never been more timely or relevant, and by joining us you will be part of making that difference.
 
Our work is varied, interesting and most importantly it's impactful. Our DESNZ Values are interwoven into everything we do; we are bold, we are collaborative, we are inclusive, and we learn. As a department we are committed to these values to build a culture where everyone can thrive.
 
We offer great working benefits including a world-class pension, flexible working options and a career where your learning and development is taken seriously. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.
 
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
 
Find Out More 

We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application and interview process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://forms.office.com/e/pqUhdr3L72 You can also follow our LinkedIn Careers Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/desnz-careers/  

Job overview

This role is ideal for someone who is proactive, well-organised, and enthusiastic about delivering high-quality executive support to multiple Deputy Directors, while also contributing to a broad range of business management and corporate initiatives.

As the first point of contact for the Deputy Directors' diaries, you'll become a well-known and trusted presence across the directorate. This position offers a fantastic opportunity to strengthen your existing skills, develop new ones, and gain valuable exposure to emerging policy areas and strategic priorities.

The Energy Markets and Analysis Directorate is a friendly place, and we have teams covering a broad range of energy-related policy subjects, you will find ample opportunities for career development. We are a diverse and welcoming bunch, with a range of different career paths and levels of experience within the Civil Service.

We are committed to work-life balance and flexible working and the Directorate has senior sponsored groups focussing on making the directorate the best place to work in DESNZ. You will have the opportunity to shape how we work together, for example joining diversity and inclusion networks.

Key responsibilities

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

  • Proactively managing multiple diaries for two or more Deputy Director's, effectively dealing with diary clashes and reprioritising as necessary.
  • Overseeing incoming emails, briefing papers etc and commissioning materials to wider teams as required.
  • Supporting with minute-taking of meetings and opportunities for wider secretariat support.
  • Support the Deputy Directors to balance a range of senior partner meetings, advising on urgent requests and suggesting delegation of meetings when necessary.
  • Arrange meetings and requests from internal and external partners. This includes checking availability of attendees; booking rooms; providing conference call details; issuing appointments; rescheduling if necessary; arranging deputies and ordering refreshments and collecting visitors if needed.
  • Booking travel arrangements for the Deputy Directors, and occasionally the wider team when necessary
  • Build strong working relationships with other Deputy Directors in the directorate, their PAs and the wider team.
  • Co-ordinate events for the teams and the Deputy Directors.
  • Undertaking duties and tasks as assigned by the Deputy Directors.
  • Be a great teammate.

Essential Criteria

  • Use good judgement to prioritise the Deputy Director's time.
  • Engage confidently with high-profile partners, senior staff, and external partners.
  • Demonstrate the flexibility needed to balance changing and challenging diary priorities.
  • Communicate clearly and effectively, both verbally and in emails.
  • Ability to work quickly and effectively to tight deadlines and manage changing / conflicting priorities.

Desirable Criteria

  • Proficient in using Microsoft 365 applications, including Outlook, Teams, Word and PowerPoint.

Behaviours

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

  • Managing a Quality Service
  • Delivering at Pace
  • Making Effective Decisions

Alongside your salary of £28,915, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £8,376 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero 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 employer contribution of 28.97%.
  • 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.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and behavioural statements.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to set out how your skills and experience make you a good fit for the role.

Applications will be sifted on behavioural statements and personal statement.  

Please note - the CV incorporated into the application form is for information purposes only and will not be scored.  

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement. 

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

The interview will consist of behaviour and strength based questions.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Reasonable Adjustments

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions. 

Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DESNZ Candidate Guidance. A DESNZ Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available. 

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section. 

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. 

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero  from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

DESNZ does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home). 

DESNZ cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DESNZ holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland 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] 

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 had their employment continued. Any applicant's 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.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
 
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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) (opens in a new window)
  • 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 (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
 
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
 
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
 
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact

Recruitment team

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. 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.

Attachments

DESNZ TCs v1.2 Opens in new window (doc, 174kB)

REPORT JOB

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to help our site function. We’d also like to use analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use our website.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies page.


Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core website functionality such as network management, security and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may impact how the website functions.


Analytics cookies

 

We’d like to collect website analytics cookies information using Google Analytics to help us improve our website. We collect this data by running Google Analytics JavaScript on your device, which collects data about how you interact with our site. The data is collected in a way that does not directly identify anyone. For more information please see our Cookies page.