Location

Given the nature of the role, the postholder will need to have a contractual base in Bristol, Exeter or Reading to support close, regular working with the HR COO. The role will also require regular in person attendance and occasional travel between core locations to support meetings, priorities and wider leadership activity.

About the job

Job summary

This role sits within the Defra group HR Private Office, supporting the HR Chief Operating Officer and working closely with the HR Chief of Staff and wider senior leadership team.

This is a high profile, high impact role at the centre of HR delivery. You will lead support for the HR Chief Operating Officer (HR COO), ensuring strong oversight of priorities, governance and delivery. You will act as a trusted adviser, applying a people lens to high-quality briefings and reporting, and ensuring the HR COO is well equipped to make informed, timely decisions.

You will play a key role in ensuring the HR COO’s portfolio runs smoothly, with strong forward planning, clear decision-making structures and high-quality outputs across HR services, enablers and change.

As part of the HR Private Office, you will report to the HR Chief of Staff, who works directly to the Defra Group Chief People Officer, and work closely with colleagues across HR to provide joined up, high quality support to the HR senior leadership team and the wider function.

Job description

As the Private Secretary you will:

Lead the day to day management of the HR COO’s office, ensuring oversight of priorities and delivery: Take overall responsibility for the smooth running of the HR COO’s office, ensuring priorities are clear, aligned to delivery objectives and delivered effectively. Maintain a clear line of sight across the portfolio, proactively managing competing demands, resolving issues and ensuring the HR COO’s time and focus are used effectively.

Own governance for the HR COO, including forward planning, agendas and action tracking: Establish and run a robust governance framework for the HR COO portfolio, ensuring a clear and effective rhythm of business. This includes leading forward planning of key forums, shaping high quality agendas aligned to HR priorities, and maintaining rigorous tracking of actions, decisions and dependencies to ensure delivery and accountability.

Commission and quality assure briefings, submissions and reports: Oversee the commissioning of all briefing and reporting products for the HR COO or on their behalf, working with teams across HR to ensure inputs are timely, accurate and aligned. Provide strong quality assurance, challenging content where needed and ensuring outputs are concise, insightful, and support clear decision making.

Provide strategic advice, identify risks and support effective decision making: Act as a trusted adviser to the HR COO, bringing together insight from across the HR function, Group Corporate Services and Defra Arm’s Length Bodies to inform thinking. Anticipate emerging operational and people risks and issues, provide balanced and evidence based advice, and support the HR COO to make informed, timely decisions across a complex and fast moving portfolio.

Act as a key interface across HR, maintaining alignment and flow of information: Build and maintain strong relationships across HR, GCS and the wider department, acting as a central point of coordination for the HR COO to ensure information flows effectively in both directions, enabling alignment, reducing duplication, and supporting a joined up approach to delivery.

Drive high standards in governance, reporting and submission quality: Set and uphold clear expectations for the quality of governance, reporting and submissions across the HR COO portfolio. Embed consistent standards and ways of working, continuously improving processes to ensure outputs are clear and credible, and that governance operates efficiently and effectively.

Future focused and innovative – Use AI and other emerging tools with confidence and judgement to enhance delivery, strengthen outputs and improve ways of working.

Person specification

We are looking for a highly capable Private Secretary to support the HR Chief Operating Officer to drive effective delivery across their portfolio. You will be a confident and highly organised individual who brings sound judgement, strong written skills and the ability to build trusted relationships in a fast paced, senior facing environment.

The following skills and experience are essential to the role and will be assessed throughout the recruitment process:

Experience working in a Private Office or similar environment: Demonstrable experience of supporting senior leaders in a fast paced environment, with the ability to manage competing demands, handle sensitive information and work with pace and discretion. Comfortable operating with autonomy, anticipating needs and providing proactive support.

Excellent drafting, briefing and reporting skills: Strong ability to produce clear, concise and well judged written material for senior audiences. Able to draw out key messages from complex information and present them in a way that supports effective discussion and decision making.

Strong organisational skills and ability to manage competing priorities: Able to stay organised and effective across a busy and changing workload, using sound prioritisation and attention to detail to maintain momentum and quality under pressure.

Sound judgement and ability to operate at senior level: Demonstrates good judgement, discretion and political awareness when working with senior stakeholders. Able to navigate ambiguity, know when to act independently and when to seek direction, and operate with confidence and credibility.

Strong stakeholder engagement skills: Able to build effective working relationships quickly and work collaboratively across teams and functions. Confident engaging with a range of stakeholders and using good interpersonal skills to support alignment and progress.

Knowledge of HR or experience working in HR environments: Understanding of HR functions and strategic priorities, or experience working in an HR context, with the ability to recognise people risks and implications for delivery.

Behaviours

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

Communicating and Influencing

Delivering at Pace

Making Effective Decisions

Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

Brief writing