Head of Executive Office - Driver

Can you build positive working relationships and communicate effectively with people at all levels, adapting your style to different audiences and backgrounds?

Have you worked in an executive support, administrative or office management role where attention to detail and discretion were essential?

Are you highly organised, with the ability to plan, prioritise and coordinate a varied workload in a fast-paced environment?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

Supporting senior leadership and business operations, this team plays a key role in ensuring the smooth and efficient running of a busy function. Working in a collaborative and fast-paced environment, the team provides high-quality coordination, support and continuous improvement across a range of activities. It offers the opportunity to work closely with colleagues across the organisation, contribute to strategic objectives, and make a real impact on the delivery of business priorities.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at DVSA.

Join the Driver Services Executive Office as Head of Executive Office, supporting the Director of Driver Services and senior leaders at the heart of a busy operational environment. This varied role provides high-quality business support, coordinating executive office activities, preparing briefings, managing correspondence and delivering secretariat support. Working closely with colleagues across Driver Services, you will build strong relationships, manage competing priorities and help ensure the smooth running of key programmes and day-to-day operations.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Supporting the Director of Driver Services through delivery of an effective and efficient Executive Office, including support for meetings, drafting briefings, drafting high quality correspondence responses, supporting communications, and ensuring the Director’s priorities are taken forward.
• Manage the day-to-day operation of the Driver Services Executive Office, coordinating agendas, briefings, correspondence and action tracking.
• Support the preparation of ministerial correspondence, parliamentary questions and senior leadership communications.
• Develop high-quality briefing materials and key messages for meetings, events and stakeholder engagements.
• Coordinate and facilitate stakeholder meetings, ensuring actions are recorded, monitored and progressed.
• Act as a key point of contact between senior leaders, internal teams and external partners.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across DVSA, DfT and wider government organisations.
• Support leadership activities by promoting continuous improvement, coordinating business information and compiling data for corporate and parliamentary reporting requirements.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

You can be based at any of the locations, however if your chosen location is Yeading/Uxbridge please note:

This role is being advertised in Uxbridge, however the contractual base will be Yeading.

While estates work is being carried out in Yeading all posts are being temporarily based at Uxbridge. Successful applicants will start with us at our Uxbridge location.

Please be aware that all employees will be required to work from the Yeading site once it reopens in 2028.

Employees based at Uxbridge will receive a London Weighting allowance of £4,000. This allowance will continue when the location moves to Yeading.

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)

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

How to apply:

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following: Excellent verbal and written communication and stakeholder relationship skills people from all grades and working backgrounds.
• Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Proven experience in executive-level administrative or office management roles.
• The ability to see the bigger picture and how your actions tie into departmental strategy.

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

The sift will take place week commencing 5th October 2026.

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours – Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Managing a Quality Service and Delivering at Pace.
• Experience
• Strengths

The interviews will take place from 22nd October 2026.

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

Further information on the selection process

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All External applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour

Threats or acts of violence

Illegal activity or substance misuse

Sexually explicit material

Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle—it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Feedback

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