Executive Assistant to the HR Director

Contents

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

London

About the job

Job summary

In Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you’d like to work in, we’d love to hear from you.

We are recruiting for an Executive Assistant to HR Director in the Human Resources Directorate. We are looking for a high performing and highly motivated individual to support the running of the Director’s Private Office, working with other Private Offices, the HR Senior Leadership Team and teams across DHSC.

Job description

Reporting into the HR Programme Office Lead you will be a vital part of a small, dedicated & friendly team working closely to support the HR Director, the HR Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and wider directorate.

The role requires flexibility, effective communication skills, good organisational skills, the ability to forward plan and use discretion, as you will sometimes be dealing with sensitive issues.

We are looking for a motivated individual, who can take decisions based on sound judgement and work independently when needed. This role is critical in making the best possible use of the Director’s time, to maximise their effectiveness and take forward priorities.

The successful candidate will support a range of activities and the job requires the ability to deliver under pressure and process information quickly, manage multiple and competing priorities, have good attention to detail and excellent communication skills (both written and verbal).

Roles and Responsibilities

On a daily basis you will balance a wide range of tasks, both reactive and proactive, responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Providing comprehensive administrative support to the HR Director, including inbox management and diary management, supporting timely responses to key activity.
• Ensuring the Directors diary is accurate and up to date. You will be a key point of contact for matters relating to the Director’s calendar and be confident in issuing invites, booking rooms and monitoring attendee responses. You will ensure that relevant meetings are added and clashes are avoided (delegating attendance to others as appropriate).
• Collating, and commissioning where needed, the relevant papers and briefing for meetings and ensuring the HR Director has what is needed.
• Working closely with other Private Offices across the department, particularly those of the Permanent Secretaries and Director Generals, on diary issues and other cross cutting matters.
• Acting as a central coordination point of contact for a range of business administration activities and collating information in response to commissions that come into the directorate.
• Building strong collaborative relationships with colleagues at all levels across the directorate to ensure smooth running of the HR Directors Private Office.
• Contributing to effective information management (including maintaining administrative and information resources, i.e. filing systems)
• Providing administrative support to the HR deputy directors.
• Travel bookings for the director and SLT. 
• Handling sensitive information with discretion and confidentiality.

Person specification

Key skills and experience required for the role

We are looking for an individual who is highly organised and can work independently, at pace maintaining attention to detail without compromising the quality of the work.

You will be proactive in inbox and diary management, have a good understanding of priorities, using judgement and seeking advice when needed.

You will be comfortable working directly with senior colleagues and have excellent communication skills both orally and written. You will be able to demonstrate an ability to work collaboratively and flexibly with others, often to short deadlines.

The ideal candidate will be: 

• Highly organised, with excellent time management and planning skills, with the ability to prioritise and multi-task, and work effectively to tight deadlines.
• Able to demonstrate strong interpersonal and networking skills, with experience of building trusted relationships.
• Professional, diplomatic and able to act with integrity – displaying strong corporate behaviours to ensure a professional image of the office.
• A team player who is comfortable seeking guidance when needed to ensure the best outcomes.
• Proficient at using Microsoft Office tools, including Word, Outlook, Teams and Excel

Desirable Criteria

• Previous experience as an Executive Assistant/working in a Private Office environment.
• Previous experience of working at pace and managing multiple and competing priorities.

To note, this role will require regular in office presence at our head office in 39 Victoria Street in line with DHSC’s hybrid working approach to assist with HR Director requests and in person meetings. 

Candidates who are appointable but not successful in appointment to this vacancy will be considered for other executive assistant roles in DHSC.

Your normal place of work will be your contractual primary workplace: London. Within DHSC we offer non-contractual hybrid working. The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time spent in the office, enabling in person interaction and collaboration and enhancing team working, learning, and support. 

You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas and some travel may be required across the DHSC estate. 

Opportunities for some working from home may be available; other flexible working options may be discussed with the hiring manager in line with individual circumstances and business need. 

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,923, Department of Health and Social Care contributes £8,349 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 average employer contribution of 27%

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 : Marie Egan
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]

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 the DHSC Central Recruitment Team at [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/

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