Details

Reference number

432686

Salary

£29,715 - £34,435

National: £29,715 - £30,705
London: £33,350 - £34,435
For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading Salary.

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

DEFRA - Environment - International Biodiversity & Climate

Type of role

Administration / Corporate Support

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time

Number of jobs available

Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information

Location

Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York

About the job

Job summary

Are you looking for a role that offers personal development and career progression?

Do you want to be at the heart of a team tackling some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time?

Do you thrive in fast-paced environments where no two days are the same?

Are you highly organised, with an eye for detail and a passion for making things run smoothly?

Do you want to learn on the job whilst undertaking an apprenticeship to gain a qualification in Business Management?

If yes, then please read on...

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has a number of vacancies across various directorates within Environment Group. This group covers a broad portfolio of domestic and international environmental policies spanning land, air and sea and offers varied, rewarding roles with the opportunity to both understand the breadth of the department and make a real difference to the long-term future of our planet.

While there are currently 4 roles available for this vacancy, we aim to establish a reserve list of successful candidates. Those placed on the reserve list will remain eligible for appointment for up to 12 months. Offers of employment will be made in merit order as vacancies arise across relevant business areas.

Job description

As an Executive Assistant, youll provide comprehensive support to one or more Director or Deputy Directors and their wider teams, helping ensure their divisions run smoothly and efficiently.

In many instances you will be the first point of contact and will need to be confident in engaging with internal and external colleagues to field queries and build relationships. The role calls for a highly organised individual who takes responsibility, works independently, is innovative and offers their own ideas.

This is a great opportunity to gain insight into the breadth of work delivered across Defra, develop an understanding of environmental policy, and build awareness of Defra Group priorities and wider drivers for change. Alongside the role, youll undertake a business management apprenticeship, with time allocated for study online.

Your apprenticeship will be guided by your dedicated line manager, who will support your development by regularly reviewing your progress in performance meetings, in line with our probation policy and established procedures. Your potential for continued employment is closely linked to the successful completion of your apprenticeship. This apprenticeship provides a well-structured learning experience, where you will have the opportunity to achieve a level 3 qualification upon successfully concluding the programme.

On successful completion of the apprenticeship, you will have the skills, knowledge and behaviours to undertake the responsibilities below.

Organisational support and ensuring the smooth running of the Director/Deputy Directors day to day business and engagement across the Directorate/Division
Managing all meetings and diary requests for the Director/Deputy Director/s and any associated meetings they are chairing/organising
Continuous monitoring of the Director/Deputy Directors inbox with prioritisation of incoming emails, flagging urgent matters at the earliest and appropriate moment, and responding accurately within deadlines.
Working with Director/Deputy Directors to ensure they are adequately prepared for meetings (e.g. preparing briefing packs)
Providing expert insights to the Director/Deputy Directors preferences in terms of time and workload management, working with multiple contacts to ensure that expectations are met.
Logistics support including booking meeting rooms, travel and accommodation for Director/Deputy Director and wider team as appropriate.
Proactively working with colleagues internally and across Government on delivering other tasks, actions and commissions, ensuring successful and timely delivery as requested.
Working effectively as a member of the wider Executive Assistant Team supporting colleagues through sharing of experience best practice and providing cover when required.

This is not an exhaustive list but gives a good feel for the role. You may be asked to work flexibly and deliver work outside of the above job description to support the Director/Deputy Director as well as the wider team. There is an opportunity for the successful post holders to shape their role and to contribute to team and directorate level initiatives. In this role you will be an important member of the wider team who will both support you and rely on you as a valuable colleague. Further you will be expected to promote civil service values and will be encouraged to take part in directorate and department-wide initiatives.

Person specification

Your personal qualities are extremely important to us: this is a varied role, and we dont expect you to be an expert on everything at the outset. You will be able to develop a good overview of Defra Group priorities, the wider drivers for change, and opportunities for improvements. If you believe you have the skills and qualities we are looking for, then we would like to hear from you.

The Defra group is dedicated to having a diverse workforce which represents people in our communities and an inclusive culture where everyone feels they can be their authentic self at work, belong in the organisation and can speak up to challenge. We want everyone to be able to contribute to the success of our organisation, regardless of your background.

Essential Criteria

Essential skills you would bring to the role must be demonstrated in your personal statement:

Highly organised individual with the ability to manage multiple tasks
Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with a range of internal and external customers and stakeholders.
Adaptable and flexible approach, with the ability to respond positively to changing demands, priorities and working environments
Clear and confident communication skills, both written and verbal
Familiarity with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel and Outlook

Apprenticeship Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply you must:

Be ordinarily resident in the UK
Work for more than 50% of your time in England it is not essential to live in England, but you must physically work for more than 50% of your time in England
Ideally work for more than 30 hours per week
Your training provider will advise you on the number of hours allocated to apprenticeship training with the remainder of your time being spent 'on the job' in the workplace
Be able to demonstrate that the apprenticeship will provide substantive new skills and learning and that the apprenticeship programme it is materially different to any other training undertaken or qualification held.
If aged 16 - 18 at the start of the apprenticeship, be able to provide evidence of a pass in GCSE Maths and English (or equivalent) OR be willing to complete Functional Skills modules in working level Maths and English as part of the apprenticeship

If you hold a Level 4 qualification in an unrelated subject, we will consider you for this apprenticeship. However, if you hold a qualification higher than a Level 4, we will not be able to do so.Please note that you will be subject to National Apprenticeship checks.

Technical skills

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

Working with Others

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £29,715, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £8,608 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Application Process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a personal statement (500 words) which will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined in the person specification.

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

We are holding drop-in sessions to give candidates the opportunity to speak to professionals from Defra and to find out more about the work we do. Please note that if you join a session using your personal Microsoft Teams account, your name and email address may be visible to other attendees. To maintain privacy, we recommend signing out of your account and joining the session as a guest.

Monday 27th October 6:30pm: Join the meeting now

Wednesday 29th October 11:00am: Join the meeting now

Sift

The sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to an interview where you will be assessed on a five minute verbal presentation, a technical skill and strength based questions.

Interview will be conducted via MS Teams.

Sift results and interview dates to be confirmed, please note that the sift may time to complete if volumes of applications are high.

Further Information

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and based on your own personal experience. Submitting content that has been generated by AI or copied from others and presented as your own may be considered plagiarism. Applications found to contain such content may be withdrawn, and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please refer to our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s)

Where the location is National the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defras location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Defra 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.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the Assistance required section in the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if youre deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

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

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Merit Lists

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Criminal Record Check

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

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service 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 Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

Internal Fraud Database Check

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 applicants 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.

Who can start an apprenticeship

To start an apprenticeship, youll need to be:

16 or over
living in England
not in full-time education

You can apply for an apprenticeship while youre still at school but youll need to be 16 or over by the end of the summer holidays to start the apprenticeship. Please note if successful you must be 16 or over to undergo the relevant security checks.

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)
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

The Civil Service Code 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 .

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 and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans 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 :

Name : IBC Resourcing Team
Email : IBC.Resourcing@defra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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