Executive Assistant and Diary Manager to the Children’s Commissioner

Contents

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

London, Westminster

About the job

Job summary

Do you want to make a tangible difference to the lives of children across England? Can you use your skills to be a catalyst for creating meaningful change? Are you ready to join a committed team dedicated to giving children and young people a voice on the issues affecting them?

Now is the perfect time to join the Children’s Commissioner’s office (CCo) following the publication of ‘The Big Ambition’, a campaign hearing directly from children and young people across England about what they need to make their lives better. The Children’s Commissioner wants to take children’s thoughts, opinions and ideas to decision-makers, to ensure that the Government reflects children’s voices in the decisions that will affect them in years to come.

What children want and need underpins all the work we do, with the Children’s Commissioner working across sectors, Government, and the civil service to deliver for their needs.

Joining the team is a chance to be involved in shaping children’s policy, making sure children’s voices are heard and being part of an exciting environment which puts children’s needs at the heart of everything they do.

We are working to make the changes children said mattered to them. And we’re looking for dedicated, highly skilled people to join the team.

We are looking for a wide variety of people to take on our roles, however we would particularly welcome applications from care leavers or individuals with experience of being ‘looked after’ by the state. We are also actively encouraging applicants from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds to join our team.

We welcome applications from both inside and outside the Civil Service.

Job description

The Children’s Commissioner for England sits at the heart of Government, delivering for children, and championing their voices and needs. This includes a particular responsibility towards children who rely on the state for their safety or protection.

The Children’s Commissioner is a unique statutory role with powers to help bring about long-term change and improvements for children. Their messages to policy and decision makers, leaders of industry, charities and sometimes parents provide insight, evidence and challenge to us all to provide the best support possible for children as they grow up.

Private Office is a small team managed by the Head of Private Office and Strategy, with responsibility for ensuring the effective delivery of a high-level administrative and organisational support function to the Commissioner to facilitate the delivery of their objectives and that of the wider office. This includes managing the Commissioner’s diary strategically to make the best use of their time, drafting and responding to all correspondence on the Commissioner’s behalf, providing a first-class secretariat function for internal and external meetings and ensuring the smooth running of events, roundtables and visits organised on behalf of the Commissioner and the Senior Leadership team.

The post holder will be a critical member of the Private Office, managing and responding to diary conflicts and visit planning issues as well as working with the wider office to ensure the Commissioner’s engagements are prepared to a high standard. As the first point of contact the post holder must be able to liaise effectively with a variety of stakeholders and proactively build meaningful and effective relationships both internally and outside the organisation.

Duties

• Providing high quality and fast paced diary management for the Commissioner, dealing effectively with calendar and time conflicts, exercising sound judgement in prioritising competing demands.
• Managing the Commissioner’s busy inbox, tracking progress and proactively alerting the Head of Private Office and Strategy and Senior Leadership Team to urgent issues where needed.
• Acting as the first point of contact and key link between the Commissioner, wider office, visitors, and external stakeholders, creating a welcoming and professional environment.
• Co-ordinating visit programmes, working with hosts and stakeholders on suggested itineraries and booking travel and accommodation in line with expenditure guidelines and policies.
• Preparing a daily pack for the Commissioner, including papers, briefings, and submissions.
• Providing personal support to the Commissioner in a professional, responsible and timely manner to assist with their day-to-day activities.
• Supporting the Head of Private Office and Strategy with wider Private Office functions during busy periods, including accompanying the Commissioner on visits and commissioning briefings for engagements.
• Leading on the organisation of logistics for high-profile meetings and events hosted by the Commissioner.
• Acting as Secretariat for the Commissioner’s Advisory Board and Senior Leadership Team meetings, preparing papers and agendas, taking minutes and circulating actions.
• Providing support to the Commissioner and assisting the Head of Private Office and Strategy with the smooth running of the Senior Leadership daily operations.

Whilst the post holder has specific responsibilities, as a member of a small team it will be necessary to become familiar, through time, with other associated aspects of the Private Office function in order to provide cover for colleagues during busy periods and absences. The post holder will be proactive and willing to contribute to the overall performance of the team.

Person specification

Skills/Requirements

Essential Knowledge

• 5 GCSEs or equivalent.
• Evidence of commitment to personal development and appropriate training.
• Proven experience as a Diary Manager/Executive Assistant, or other relevant administrative and organisational experience.
• Experience of representing organisations to external stakeholders and tailoring communications for different audiences.
• Experience of effectively organising events and travel arrangements nationally and internationally.
• Experience of efficiently prioritising, planning and monitoring of workflows and loads.

Desirable Knowledge

• Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant subject
• Knowledge of Government
• Knowledge of what is important to children and the issues confronting them

Essential Experience

• Proven experience as a Diary Manager/Executive Assistant, or other relevant administrative and organisational experience.
• Experience of representing organisations to external stakeholders and tailoring communications for different audiences.
• Experience of effectively organising events and travel arrangements nationally and internationally.
• Experience of efficiently prioritising, planning and monitoring of workflows and loads

Desirable Experience

• Experience of working in a Private Office

Essential Skills and Abilities

• Strong administrative and organisational skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Highly competent IT skills and proficient in use of Microsoft office/ in-house systems.
• Using initiative with excellent listening and recall skills.
• Ability to write clear and concise correspondence, emails, etc., with great attention to detail.
• Ability to use discretion and diplomacy, and to demonstrate sensitivity when handling confidential information.
• Ability to work to tight deadlines and with occasional high volumes of work.
• Ability to use initiative, with a proactive approach to problem-solving and decision making.
• A ‘can-do’ attitude and team player who can drive forward multiple priorities simultaneously.

Desirable Skills and Abilities 

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to deal with complex issues applying sound judgement, often under intense pressure and/or short timeframes.

Personal Qualities:

• Commitment to producing high standards of service, and an ability to deal effectively with the conflicting demands of various stakeholders.
• Friendly and professional manner when dealing with a wide range of people over the telephone and in person.
• Work flexibly as part of a team as well as without close supervision, able to respond to developments as they occur.
• Remain calm under pressure.
• Reliable and confident.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,718, Office of the Children’s Commissioner contributes £10,926 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 (Please note that all CCo staff are dividing their time between our offices in Westminster and home working)
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension 
• 25 days annual leave in your first year, increasing by one day for each year of service to a maximum of 30 days, plus 8 bank and public holidays and 1 day of privilege leave for the King’s birthday
• Employee wellbeing initiatives
• Enhanced maternity/paternity pay

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : CCo Recruitment Team
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]

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