Assistant Private Secretary - Edinburgh, United Kingdom - Scottish Government

Scottish Government

Verified Company

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Overview:
Are you a team player?

Are you looking for a role that offers career development opportunities?

Do you want to work at the centre of Government? If so, Ministerial Private Office division could be for you

We're looking for talented people, from all walks of life, who want to make a difference to the lives of people in Scotland, to join us in Ministerial Private Office division as Assistant Private Secretaries (APS).

As an Assistant Private Secretary you will have a pivotal role within Private Office through management of all correspondence, Ministerial diaries, administration and logístical support for Ministers.

You will play a vital role in supporting the Scottish Ministers' schedules; and managing communication channels with the wider Scottish Government and external stakeholders.

Time spent in Ministerial Private Office will mean that you learn and understand the intricacies of Parliamentary and Cabinet business whilst observing decision making at its highest level in Government.

We will invest in your potential by supporting your development through a structured induction programme which will include on the job training, a buddy system, access to specific Private Office training modules and signposting to other relevant Learning and Development activities.

Through regular feedback, your team leader will also discuss and help you seek out opportunities to develop yourself both within post and Ministerial Private Office division.

We anticipate vacancies will arise in the forthcoming months within various portfolio Private Offices.

In normal times, the post is based in St Andrew's House, and involves working in the Scottish Parliament building and may involve travel with the Minister across Scotland.

At the moment there are hybrid working arrangements. We will hold a reserve list of names for any future posts that arise.

Responsibilities:

Management of all diary requests, including liaison with the Private Office team, communication colleagues, Special Advisers, policy colleagues, and external stakeholders on scheduling and diary request prioritisation;
Meeting management, including all relevant logístical support, commissioning briefing for Ministers;
Management of the Ministerial Database, processing of Ministerial Expenses, and management of purchasing for the Private Office;
Management of Ministerial travel, working in close partnership with the Scottish Government travel company
Management of correspondence in and out of the Minister's office, including decision making on the type of response required, and prioritisation of correspondence;
This duty includes an element of quality assurance of responses, and will involve close partnership working with policy colleagues;
Management of the Parliamentary Question process, including liaising with Special Advisers and collating briefing for possible supplementary questions in response to oral PQs, often within demanding deadlines;
Management of papers for Cabinet, including coordination of briefing for the Minister.

Competencies
Self Awareness

Information Management

Communications and Engagement

Team Working

Customer Service

Essential Criteria & Qualifications:
No specific qualifications required.

Essential Criteria

Excellent administration and organisational skills.
Confidence in dealing with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Proven track record of working effectively and flexibly as part of a team.

Diversity/Disability
For futher information on this post please review the Person Specification below.

Person Specification

As part of any recruitment process, Scottish Government and associated public bodies collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants and applicants for public appointments.
**Personal information you provide in the recruitment process will be made available to Scottish Government and our additional data processors.