Diary Manager

Job summary

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 in the heart of government - and we'd love to hear from you!

We are looking for outstanding candidates to join Private Office as a Diary Manager to a Minister. The Diary Manager is responsible for the effective planning, coordination and delivery of the Minister’s diary, ensuring that the Minister’s time is used strategically, efficiently and in line with departmental and governmental priorities. This is an exciting role which is central to the smooth running of the Minister’s Private Office and requires excellent judgement, discretion, and stakeholder management.

We are looking for enthusiastic, driven, organised, and committed candidates who want to deliver on the wide-ranging priorities of the Department and the wider Government agenda. The role is fast-paced and rewarding, offering regular interaction with Ministers and senior colleagues. We welcome applications from candidates who are looking to join the Civil Service and are excited to learn from working directly with Ministers, parliamentarians, Senior Civil Servants and stakeholders.

This is a London-based role. Due to the nature of the position, you will be required to attend the office a minimum of four days per week.

A Private Office allowance is available for this role.

Job description

As a Diary Manager your responsibilities will include:

• Working closely with the Minister and understanding their needs and priorities.
• Supporting the smooth running of the Minister’s diary, managing and prioritising conflicting requests for meetings.
• Compiling and organising the Minister’s daily briefings for meetings and events.
• Supporting the Minister with the logistics of external events and visits, including commissioning speeches and briefings where required.
• Supporting the visits team and private secretaries in organising visits.
• Managing invitations from external stakeholders, commissioning advice from policy officials to determine which invites the Minister should prioritise.
• Building excellent relationships with other Ministerial Offices, Special Advisers’ office, and senior colleagues.

Person specification

• Proven ability to manage logistics and operations in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
• Excellent organisational skills with strong attention to detail.
• Sound judgement and ability to prioritise competing demands effectively, knowing when to escalate issues.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with confidence dealing with senior stakeholders.
• High levels of discretion, integrity and professionalism.
• Ability to remain calm, flexible and responsive under pressure, including outside normal working hours when required.
• Strong team-working skills and a willingness to be flexible to meet business needs.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,826, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £9,799 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application and Selection

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

Behaviours , Strengths

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

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. 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.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

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

A. why you are interested in the role;

B. how you meet the essential skills and experience required

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

Sifting is envisaged to take place 25/05/2026.

Interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

Private Secretary Allowance

This role is 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.

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

• Fixed Term Contracts

• Internal Fraud Database

• Appeals and Complaints

Security Clearance Requirements

London Office: + SC

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Eve Jackson & Victoria Peace
• Email : victoria.peace@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

a procedural irregularity

an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy

exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk