Diary Manager

We are MHCLG

Do you have excellent organisational and prioritisation skills with the ability to manage your workload autonomously?

Are you able to deliver at pace with agility and flexibility? Do you have excellent attention to detail and coordination skills?

If so, we have exciting opportunities for Diary Managers to join teams at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), working directly with Ministers and Senior Officials in the heart of government - and we'd love to hear from you!

We are looking for enthusiastic, driven candidates to join Private Office as a Diary Manager to Ministers and Director Generals. The role requires excellent organisation and coordination, sound judgement, attention to detail and the confidence to challenge where needed.

At application and interview stage you will be asked to share a preference to work in Ministerial or Director General Private Offices. There are four positions available – two will be working in Ministerial Private Office based in London, one will be working in a Director General Private Office based in London and one will be working in a Director General Private Office based in Leeds or London.

As the Diary Manager your responsibilities will include:

• Working closely with the Minister or Director General and understanding their needs and priorities and ensuring their time is used strategically, efficiently and in line with departmental and governmental priorities
• Supporting the smooth running of the diary, managing and prioritising conflicting requests for meetings.
• Compiling and organising daily briefings for meetings and events to support private secretaries, including external visits
• Managing invitations from external stakeholders, commissioning advice from policy officials as needed to help prioritise.
• Building excellent relationships with other Private Secretaries from Ministers, SpAds and Director General offices, and policy colleagues across the department.
• Organise any domestic and international travel arrangements, including flights, accommodation, transportation and itinerary planning.
• Coordinating meetings, including booking rooms, managing logistics and liaising with other Private Offices, senior officials and external stakeholders.
• Supporting further corporate and discrete pieces of office business as required.

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)
• 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)

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Strengths

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience: In your CV and covering letter (of no more than 500 words), please include:

Which role you are interested in; Ministerial (London based), DG (London based) or DG (London or Leeds based).

• Why you are interested in the role.
• How you meet the essential skills and experience required

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

We do not consider CV applications sent directly to our inbox. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com.

Stage 2: Interview

Behaviours: Working Together, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace

Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 19/10/26.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 02/11/26 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

Private Secretary Allowance

Employees appointed to eligible Private Secretary roles (Assistant Private Secretaries, Private Secretaries and Principal Private Secretaries) within Ministerial or Permanent Secretary offices are eligible for a Private Secretary allowance.

The allowance is currently 15% of basic salary and is payable in recognition of the additional responsibilities and working patterns associated with Private Office roles.

Disability Confident Scheme (DCS)

We are a Disability Confident employer.

We apply a fair and proportionate interview process for all candidates. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to progress candidates who apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and meet the required minimum selection criteria.

However, where high application volumes are received, progression to interview may be limited to those who best meet the role criteria. In these circumstances, the benchmark required to proceed to interview may be raised for all candidates.

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

• Applying
• Sifting
• Interview
• Interview Results & Feedback
• Reserve List
• Near Miss
• Civil Service Grades
• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer
• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements
• Civil Service Nationality Requirements
• Right to Work
• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles
• CV Declaration
• Sponsorships
• Salary and Grade
• Existing Civil Servants
• Conflict of Interest
• Location and Flexible Working
• Internal Fraud Database
• Appeals and Complaints
• Fixed Term Appointments for:
• External Candidates
• Existing Civil Servants (Including Loans)
• Secondments
• MHCLG employees

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office: BPSS

London Office: BPSS + CTC

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.