Description
The Department for Work and Pensions is recruiting for the role of the Principal Private Office Analyst (PPOA) to the Secretary of State (SoS) for Work and Pensions.
The PPOA is responsible for advising the SoS on some of the most critical policy areas of this Government’s priorities.
This is an analyst job and so candidates must meet the eligibility requirements set out in the ‘Essential Qualifications’ sections of the candidate pack; which is either to be a member of one of the following professional bodies Government Economic Service (GES), Government Operational Research Service (GORS), Government Social Research (GSR) or Government Statistician Group (GSG) or have the required qualifications to become a member of one of these professions.
The analyst community in DWP operates a Managed Moves system. Given the nature of this role, the successful candidate will not be able to opt in to the Managed Moves until a) they have been in this post at least two years and b) there are surplus Managed Moves roles available.
Job description
This is a unique role where the post holder will directly support the SoS to progress their priorities and regularly interact with Ministers, Special Advisers and senior officials.
The post-holder will also be a key part of the Private Office senior management team, and will manage one junior analyst.
In this role, the Principal Private Office Analyst is responsible for:
- Being the main analytical point of contact in Private Office for all analysts within DWP.
- Leading analytical support to the Secretary of State and Ministers on a range of analytical questions to support their decision making and parliamentary activity.
- Leading analytical support to prepare analytical and statistical briefings for the Secretary of State, Ministers and senior officials for appearances in Parliament and Select Committees.
- Oversight and quality assurance of all analytical work, including briefing for Ministers, and any ad-hoc analysis the team produces.
- Supporting briefing to Ministers and press office on Official Statistics.
- Leading, managing and developing a team within the Private Office structure to ensure the Ministerial team receive the highest level of service.
Person specification
The successful applicant will need to demonstrate sound and sensitive political awareness; robust analytical skills and a strong understanding of the policy-making process.
Excellent analytical, communication and stakeholder engagement skills are required for this role, as well as an ability to thrive and remain resilient in a high-pressure environment.
Essential Criteria
If you meet the eligibility requirements, then you will be asked to provide a 750-word personal statement.
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 £67,928, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £19,678 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
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.