Senior Personal Assistant - Private Office

CPS HQ Private Office is pleased to advertise the role of Senior Personal Assistant within Private Office.

This is a rewarding and high-impact Executive Assistant role at the heart of a fast-paced Private Office, providing proactive support to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and two Director Generals (DG). You support our principals to maximise their impact, ensuring their time is used effectively, and their priorities are delivered at pace through excellent diary and inbox management, coordination of key activity, and professional executive support.

We are seeking a trusted and experienced partner who can act as a central point of contact between Private Office, CPS teams locally and nationally, and key external stakeholders, including other government departments. This role goes well beyond traditional administration. You will be comfortable managing complex diaries and correspondence, anticipating competing priorities, and exercising sound judgement to ensure Private Office runs smoothly and that our senior leaders' time is used to best effect.

Working closely with another Senior Personal Assistant, the Private Secretaries and colleagues across the organisation, you support the DPP and DGs by establishing a reliable rhythm of engagement and providing high-quality secretariat support.

You also support and facilitate internal and external meetings and events, ensuring that our principals and other senior leaders are fully prepared, effectively briefed and able to focus on the issues that matter most.

Building and maintaining effective working relationships is central to the role. You engage regularly with CPS teams and stakeholders across the organisation to stay informed of local and national issues and wider organisational priorities, enabling you to provide timely, accurate and sensitive support.

This role would suit someone who enjoys operating at the centre of a fast-paced environment, bringing order to complexity and enabling senior leaders to perform at their best. No two days are the same in Private Office, and you will gain unique insight into senior decision-making, exposure to some of the organisation's most high-profile and sensitive work, and the opportunity to develop your skills within a supportive and experienced Private Office team.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 16 or over at the point of starting in this role. The expected start date is approximately 8–12 weeks after the application closing date. You are expected to commence employment as soon as possible following the expiry of your notice period. Requests for significantly later start dates may not be accommodated.

You must complete and pass your Civil Service tests by 23:55 on 30th October 2026 to be able to complete an application for this role.

Your roles and responsibilities

• provide high‑quality executive and administrative support to the most senior leaders in the CPS, including the Director of Public Prosecutions, and two Director Generals, ensuring they are able to discharge their duties effectively.
• manage busy and complex diaries and inboxes, acting as the initial point of contact for requests, prioritising activity in line with organisational and operational priorities, and ensuring the sustainable and effective use of the principals’ time.
• work closely with private secretaries and colleagues across private office to coordinate activity, support the smooth flow of information, and act as a key channel of communication with internal and external stakeholders, including other government departments.
• provide comprehensive administrative and secretariat support, including arranging travel and accommodation, supporting correspondence and expenses, coordinating papers, returns and approvals, and providing secretariat support where required.
• anticipate competing priorities and respond flexibly to changing demands, exercising sound judgement to support effective decision‑making and the efficient, professional and secure running of private office.
• regular travel to other (UK based) CPS offices.

A copy of the full job description is attached.

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 and Experience.

Recruitment process

The recruitment process consists of an online application, assessment and interview

Motivation

We ask you to complete a personal statement of no more than 500 words. We want to understand why you want to work in in CPS HQ Private Office as a Senior Personal Assistant. We’ll be looking for you to address the following four things at Application.

• Your interest in the senior personal assistant role.
• Why you want to work in public service.
• Awareness of the Crown Prosecution Service values and priorities – our latest strategy is available on our website: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-2030

In addition, you need to demonstrate the following experience required for this role:

• demonstrable experience of providing high‑quality executive or senior administrative support in a fast‑paced environment, including managing complex diaries and competing priorities.
• proven ability to organise, prioritise and manage a high volume of work accurately and calmly, often to tight deadlines.
• experience of handling sensitive information with discretion and exercising sound judgement when dealing with senior stakeholders.
• strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships across teams and with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• good organisational and IT skills, with experience of managing inboxes, correspondence and documents

Behaviours

You are asked to complete a statement of no more than 250 words for each of the following behaviours, setting out how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience match the specified behaviours and requirements:

• making effective decisions
• delivering at pace
• communicating and influencing.

You also need to demonstrate the Crown Prosecution Service or Civil Service values.

The panel has the right to assess the lead behaviour ‘making effective decisions’ first. If the standard on this behaviour isn’t met, the other behaviours won’t be considered and your application won’t progress. The panel also has the right to raise the minimum standard pass mark. The panel may also refer to the lead behaviour at the interview stage to determine merit order.

CV

You’re not required to upload your CV. However, when submitting your application there is a ‘CV section’. You are required to provide information about your employment and/or academic history for the past three years. The CV section will be used as supporting evidence, it won’t be assessed.

It’s your responsibility to provide the specified information in the requested format to ensure that you're considered for the post.

If you're unable to cover three years through employment or academic history, you must provide a character reference for clearance purposes.

Interview

The interviews and assessments are expected to take place on 9 and 10 November 2026 at 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9EA.

A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact Rachel.Seagraves@cps.gov.uk.

You should keep these dates free or notify us if you're not available. We'll make every effort to accommodate your date preferences but we can't guarantee it.

We ask you to complete an assessment as part of the recruitment process for this role. We will provide details immediately before your interview.

We use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to see if you're a good fit for the role. You are assessed against EO in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 4 behaviours at interview and assessment stage:

• making effective decisions – interview and assessment
• delivering at pace – interview and assessment
• communicating and influencing– interview
• Seeing the big picture – interview

Online tests

Before submitting your application, you’re invited to complete an online Civil Service judgment test. You must successfully complete the test to progress to the next stage. Please complete the online test as soon as possible – we recommend within 24-48 hours. The closing date for the test is 30th October 2026.

We send you an invitation to take the test and provide full instructions about how to complete it. The test can’t be taken on mobile phones or tablets.

For more guidance about the online Civil Service tests, please see the GOV.UK website: Civil Service online tests - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Other

This is a full-time post. We do consider requests for flexible, part-time working and job share, always considering the operational needs of the department.

Please note that the CPS is unable to offer visa sponsorship. If you require visa sponsorship to work in the UK, you will not meet the eligibility criteria for this role.

Clearance

If successful, you are required to secure a Disclosure and Barring Service check and Security Check clearance, for which you must have a current valid UK address.

If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form, and nationality and immigration questionnaire and national security vetting form.

If you're a Crown Prosecution Service member of staff, you won’t need to do a Disclosure and Barring Service check as you already hold this clearance.

The job you’re applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act doesn’t apply. You’re required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions including spent convictions. Failing to make a full declaration will result in withdrawing your offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that haven’t been disclosed.

To be cleared to Security Check clearance level, you have to be able to meet the residency requirement in the Cabinet Office guidance. For the Crown Prosecution Service, this is three years within the last five years

Reserve list

If you're recommended by the selection panel but not appointed to the current vacancy, you will be put on a reserve list for 12 months. You may be offered another senior personal assistant post in the CPS if a vacancy comes up during this period. We may also approach candidates on the waiting list to fill other roles that require similar knowledge and experience.

Civil Service Commission

If you’re dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact Strategic.Resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns.

If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commission complaints page Recruitment Complaints - Civil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/

Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Candidates are subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

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