21062 - Deputy Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor
Ministry of JusticeJobsCloseBy Editorial Insights
Two SEO Deputy Private Secretary roles to the Lord Chancellor at the Ministry of Justice, Private Office and Parliament Directorate, based at 102 Petty France, London. You will lead a portfolio across Courts and Constitution, ensure timely briefing and readouts for Ministers, coordinate with policy and Parliamentary colleagues, and deputise for the G7 Head of Desk when required. This is a fast paced, public facing role that requires discretion with sensitive information, strong relationship building, and sound decision making under pressure. Essential: superb written and verbal communication, resilience and the ability to work independently; desirable: ministerial or senior official support and parliamentary process knowledge. SC security clearance and five years UK residency required. Hybrid working; salary £49,325-£53,081; closing date 28 August 2026. For your application, tailor your CV and a 500 word Statement of Suitability to demonstrate Communicating and Influencing with STAR examples.
General Information
Descriptions & requirements
Deputy Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor at the Ministry of Justice – 2x Roles
SEO
Private Office and Parliament Directorate
Want to see how government really works? Join a team at the heart of ministerial decision-making, where every day brings new challenges, direct exposure to Ministers, and the chance to develop skills that will serve you throughout your career. We'll support you with active development opportunities and the chance to work flexibly in a team that values your contribution.
The Private Office and Parliament (POP) Directorate is recruiting for a SEO Deputy Private Secretary. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.
The ministerial team at MoJ lead on a range of high-profile policy areas, and this is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of that work.
Successful candidates will be based at 102 Petty France, London.
About the role
The roles are based in the Lord Chancellor’s office in the Private Office and Parliament (POP) Directorate. It is a busy and interesting place to work – it is the interface between Ministers, the rest of the Department and Whitehall.
Working within a busy, dynamic and friendly team, the successful candidate will be a credible source of advice to the Lord Chancellor. We are looking for someone who can build effective relationships, enjoys problem solving, and is confident supporting ministers.
What you’ll do: On a day-to-day basis, you will lead on a portfolio, ensuring that correspondence and advice are boxed in a timely manner, and providing expert support to the minister on a range of issues across their portfolio. You will collaborate with policy, Parliamentary and other Private Office colleagues, making sure that the minister is looped in on emerging issues in the right way, at the right time. You will make sure that they are fully briefed ahead of meetings, providing accurate readouts so that actions can be appropriately followed up. You will also be expected to support the Private Secretary and deputize for the G7 Head of Desk when required.
What we’re looking for: You will need to have strong inter-personal skills, as you will be one of the go-betweens for the minister and the rest of the department. You’ll need to be highly organised and have the ability to make effective decisions at pace. This is a public-facing role, in which you will represent the department in front of external stakeholders and to other government departments.
These roles will cover the Courts and Victims and Constitution desks in the Lord Chancellor’s office.
Why join us: This is an exciting time to join the POP directorate and we are keen for someone who is willing to learn in this busy atmosphere. We are a friendly, collegiate directorate. We have a range of corporate workstreams that make POP a fun and exciting place to work. We provide support to all private secretaries so that they can thrive and succeed in what can be demanding and fast-paced roles.
Skills and Experience
We are looking for someone who has experience of:
Essential:
- Working within a fast-paced environment
- Ability to handle sensitive information and make sound decisions under pressure.
- Confidence in engaging with senior officials, Ministers, and external stakeholders. Clear written and verbal communication is vital.
- You will be comfortable with working independently, be resilient and are able to adapt your working style to address both reactive and proactive tasks.
- Prior exposure to ministerial or senior official support roles.
- Understanding of parliamentary processes
- Experience of line management and developing those within a wider team
About the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing over 90,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £10 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.
Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
Ways of Working
This role is available on a full-time basis.
Due to the nature of this role the successful candidate will be expected to primarily work from the office in 102 Petty France.
Please note that this role may require working extended hours for which a Private Secretary allowance is payable.
If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.
We may consider the possibility of making the successful applicant permanent at the end of the loan assignment, should headcount and budget restrictions allow. This will be reviewed at the end of the loan period and is not guaranteed.
We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity
Salary
Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.
Security Clearance
This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role. You can find more information by reviewing the information held in the following links:
United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The vetting charter - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In addition, there is a minimum UK residency requirement set by the Cabinet Office which is dependent on the security level required for the role.
This role requires SC and to be eligible to apply for this role you should have been present in the UK continuously for the past 5 years.
Application process
Candidates applying from HMPPS should note that the Ministry of Justice does not have the same conditions of employment as HMPPS. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful.
The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.
Experience
During the application process you will be asked to provide a CV in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.
You will also be asked to upload a Statement of Suitability of no more than 500 words stating what you would bring to the role, with reference to the Skills and Experience listed above.
Behaviours
During the application process you will be asked to provide an example of how you have met the following behaviours (see Annex A for more information):
- Communicating and Influencing
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
Should we receive a large number of applications, we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of Communicating and Influencing. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.
Candidates Invited to Interview
Please note that interviews will be held in-person in 102 Petty France.
During the panel interview, you will be asked Behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of. The Behaviours that will be covered by the panel are as follows:
- Delivering at Pace
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Communicating and Influencing
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
The interview will also cover strength-based questions. There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.
You can refer to the CS Strengths dictionary for more details: Success Profiles - Civil Service Strengths Dictionary (publishing.service.gov.uk)
There will be a short exercise during the interview, where candidates will be presented with a submission and asked to summarise the key points. The exercise will take approximately 10 minutes in total.
Interviews are expected to take place in August/September 2026.
Contact information
Please do get in touch with Jonathan Richmond or Katie Morris if you would like to know more about the roles or what it is like working in our team, via: [email protected] and [email protected].
Annex A - The STAR method
Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.
Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.
- Where are you?
- Who was there with you?
- What had happened?
Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.
- What was the task that you had to complete and why?
- What did you have to achieve?
Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.
Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.
- What results did the actions produce?
- What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
- Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?
Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.
Working Arrangements & Further Information
The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.
Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.
For nationally advertised role: all successful candidates will be appointed to the nearest viable office nearest to their home postcode and on its respective pay scale. This will be at either a HQ building (subject to desk allocation, a Justice Collaboration Centre (JCC) or a Justice Satellite Office (JSO) – See Map. All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity).
For current MoJ employees, your base location will need to be changed to the nearest viable office (to your home postcode), either at a HQ building, JCC or JSO within the National Office Network and moved its location’s respective pay scale (any legacy arrangements/locations will need to be amended).
Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.
MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer.
All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet.
Flexible working hours
The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.
Benefits
The MoJ offers a range of benefits:
Annual Leave
Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.
There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
Pension
The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.
Training
The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.
Networks
The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.
Support
- A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
- Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
- For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on www.GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
- Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
- Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order
- To Transformative Business Services (0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected]);
- To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team ([email protected]);
- To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)
As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.
For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please watch our animated videos.
You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the TBS Recruitment Enquiries Team.
Diversity & Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
A Great Place to Work for Veterans
The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans
Redeployment Interview Scheme
Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ is committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.
MoJ is able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidates will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.
Civil Service Nationality Rules
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
Reserve list
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.
MoJ:
If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected]
Please quote the job reference: 21062
HMPPS
If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail [email protected]
Please quote the job reference: 21062
Job Description Attachment
-
x-Gov JD Deputy Private Secretary (Courts and Constitution).docx (Job Description Attachment)
Application form stage assessments
Interview stage assessments
Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)
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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.