Diary Secretary to The Lord Advocate - Edinburgh, United Kingdom - Scottish Government

Scottish Government

Verified Company

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

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Description

Overview:
The Scottish Law Officers are the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland.

The Lord Advocate is a Minister in the Scottish Government and has a range of functions associated with the maintenance of the rule of law and the proper administration of justice.

The main components of the Lord Advocate's role are:

- head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths
- principal legal adviser to the Scottish Government
- representing the Scottish Government in civil proceedings
- representing the public interest in a range of statutory and common law civil and constitutional functions

The Lord Advocate is supported in her functions by the Solicitor General for Scotland, who is also a Minister in the Scottish Government.

The Solicitor General supports the Lord Advocate in the exercise of the Lord Advocate's functions, and may exercise, as required, their statutory and common law powers.

Role of Private Office

Private Office acts as a channel for information between government Ministers and government officials and are responsible for providing organisational and logístical support to Ministers, as well as conveying the views of Ministers to the wider organisation, and requesting advice and briefing on their behalf.

The Law Officers' Private Office staff require to have strong working relationships with the Law Officers (the Solicitor General and the Lord Advocate) and government officials.

They also require to be responsive to working in a demanding and fast-paced office, managing high profile government and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) issues.

The Diary Secretary requires to be a highly-motivated, resilient, self-starter with excellent interpersonal skills, willing to deliver a robust and first-class Private Office service to the Law Officers.

Additional Information

Responsibilities:

Responsibilities of the Diary Secretary to the Lord Advocate:

Management of all diary requests, including liaison with colleagues across government, COPFS, and external stakeholders on scheduling and diary request prioritisation.
Proactively manage two separate Ministerial inboxes (Scottish Government and COPFS) on behalf of the Lord Advocate.
Manage, track, and respond to Ministerial submissions, seeking advice where appropriate from the Scottish Government Legal Directorate (SGLD), the Legal Secretariat to the Lord Advocate (LSLA) and COPFS.
Request and manage briefing papers for Ministerial meetings, and preparation of the Lord Advocate's weekly briefing folders.
Manage and book Ministerial travel, working in partnership with the government's travel provider.
Handle and manage extremely sensitive, and at times distressing, information with discretion and respect.
Proactive planning and coordination of the Lord Advocate's workload and priorities.
Proactive management of the Lord Advocate's time, ensuring sufficient time is set aside to allow the Minister adequate preparation for meetings, case work and speaking engagements.
Develop effective working relationships with officials at all levels within the Scottish and UK Governments, COPFS and the wider justice sector.
Support the Minister at internal and external engagements, and ensure relevant briefing has been provided in advance. Ensure an accurate record is maintained of engagements and actions are taken forward quickly. This includes minute taking.
Ad hoc duties include Freedom of Information requests, maintaining records of the Law Officers' engagements, responding to requests for Law Officers' instructions, processing legal mail, and the maintenance of administrative documents tracking the progress of work.
Leading on the Law Officers' programme of engagements with SGLD and on meetings to ensure the recruitment and retention of Advocate Deputes (senior prosecutors).
Requirement to work outside of normal business hours and be available to work evening, weekend and public holidays as necessary. Every member of the private office participates in oncall evening and weekend cover of Law Officers mailboxes. This is on a rota basis and attracts an oncall allowance and overtime in accordance with Scottish Government policy.

Competencies
Self-Awareness

Improving performance

Communications and Engagement

Analysis and Use of Evidence

Essential Criteria & Qualifications:

Essential Criteria

Excellent administration and organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and manage workloads to ensure deadlines and objectives are met.
Proficient in the use of Outlook and Microsoft Word with the ability to organise, manage, store and retrieve information through effective use of Management Information systems.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and confidence in dealing with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
Ability to work using own initiative, seeking support and advice from appropriate colle