Private Office: Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Job summary

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is recruiting for the role of Private Secretary to the Secretary of State.

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for social security, labour market, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department, we administer the State Pension and a range of working age, disability, and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. What we do matters to millions of people every day.

Private Office is crucial to providing effective support and advice to Ministers and Special Advisers across all aspects of Departmental business, acting as the key interface between the Department and Ministers to deliver DWP’s critical agenda.

Job description

The Private Office is a high-performing, dynamic, supportive and inclusive team. This is a demanding but rewarding role for someone interested in working closely with Ministers, Special Advisers and senior officials.

This post reports to the Deputy Principal Private Secretary. In this role you will:

• Advise and work directly with the Secretary of State, his Special Advisers and the wider Ministerial Team to support them in delivering their priorities;
• Work with senior stakeholders across the Department, including policy, comms and operations, as well as across Whitehall, to provide the Ministerial Team with high quality and timely advice;
• Support the Secretary of State in a wide range of internal and cross-Government meetings and external engagements;
• Be an active member of the Private Office Senior Management Team.

We offer successful candidates:

• An exciting, fast-paced and challenging work environment that involves dealing with complex policy and operational issues
• The opportunity to work closely with the Secretary of State, Special Advisers and senior officials on priority pieces of work
• The opportunity to broaden understanding of DWP policy, parliamentary business and cross-government functions
• The chance to be part of a supportive team with plenty of opportunities to learn and develop new skills

Person specification

We are looking for a high-performing, resilient and energetic person with excellent communication and judgment skills who can work independently and as part of a wider team to deliver for the Secretary of State.

You will need to be comfortable with managing a heavy workload, prioritising effectively and working in a fast-moving environment.

Experience of working with Ministers or senior leaders is desirable but not essential.

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

• (Lead Criteria) Strong interpersonal, relationship building and communication skills to deliver common goals to short deadlines. This includes engaging with and building trust with the department’s most senior leaders, including Ministers, Special Advisors and Director Generals.
• Excellent judgement and approach to situations, tasks and problems; working independently and drawing on wider knowledge and political awareness to identify and resolve issues.
• An ability to deliver to tight deadlines quickly and effectively, whilst remaining professional in a pressured environment.
• A strong track record in managing a high-quality service. This includes having a strong attention to detail whilst being able to manage competing priorities.
• A flexible outlook and approach, coupled with a real enthusiasm for taking responsibility for high-quality work and demonstrating personal resilience.

Due to the nature of the role, it may be necessary to work long hours, especially when Parliament is sitting, for which Allowance will be payable.

The successful candidate will be based in the office (Caxton House, London) and is full time/job share.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £63,075, Department for Work and Pensions contributes

£18,272 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Things you need to know

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 taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement (1000 word max) to demonstrate how you meet the person specification and the essential criteria.

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

Selection will be by a written sift and shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an face-to-face interview (Caxton House), London.

CV

The CV is an on-line tool accessed through the Civil Service Jobsite and there is no requirement to upload your personal CV. Our CV element is short, and allows an initial check of eligibility and will not be individually scored , so please put the main content of your evidence and skills in your Personal Statement.

Personal Statement

When completing your personal statement, please read and understand the Essential Criteria thoroughly as this is what your written evidence will be assessed against.

Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. You may choose to address each criteria separately, however, one narrative example may cover and evidence several essential criteria.

You may not be able to meet all the key criteria, but please ensure you evidence: the key personal requirements and what have you done that relates to the requirements. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used.

Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why, what you can do and the skills you have that are transferable to the key requirements, and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criteria:

• (Lead Criteria): Strong interpersonal, relationship building and communication skills to deliver common goals to short deadlines. This includes engaging with and building trust with the department’s most senior leaders, including Ministers, Special Advisors and Director Generals.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

The sift will be carried out in September 2026

Interview Stage

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview at Caxton House, London and will be assessed on their answers to interview questions on Behaviours and Strengths. The interview aims to be more of a conversation exploring the candidate’s capability for the role.

This will consist of a face-to-face blended interview, which should take approximately between 30-45 minutes.

Candidates may be asked to undertake a short-written assessment or presentation as part of the interview. Details of which will be provided to those invited for interview.

Blended Interview

You will be asked a mixture of Behaviour and Strength questions.

A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation at interview offering a more inclusive approach.

The Behaviour and Strength based questioning explores what the candidate can and has done, but also their potential.

The behaviours being assessed are:

• Communicating and Influencing: Communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm. Respect the needs, responses and opinions of others
• Delivering at Pace: Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
• Seeing the Big Picture: U nderstand how your role fits with and supports organisational objectives. Recognise the wider Civil Service priorities and ensure work is in the national interest.

It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in, and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:

What was the task, How you approached the work/situation and what the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? Or What was the Situation ? That were the Tasks ? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?

It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role.

While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.

Interviews dates will be confirmed in due course.

Appointment on Merit

Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles here . Successful candidates will be posted in merit order based on your location preferences, where appropriate, and the geographical requirements of the business. Dependent on your position on the merit list, if none of your location preferences remain at the point we make a job offer DWP may offer you a role at an alternative advertised location. If we are unable to offer you a role in any of your preferred locations, and you are unable to accept a role at an alternative advertised location, we will add you to the reserve list if one is being held.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas .

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Important Information:

Essential Security Criteria

Please note   that the role that you are applying requires National Security Vetting (NSV) to the level – Security Check (SC).  You can find more informati