Diary Manager

Office of the Children's Commissioner

Westminster, London, UK

Hybrid

Youth Work

Full time

£40,123 per year

Job summary

Do you want to make a tangible different to the lives of children across England? Can you use your skills to be a catalyst for creating meaningful change? Are you ready to join a committed team, dedicated to giving children and young people a voice on the issues affecting them?

Now is the perfect time to join the Children’s Commissioner’s Office (CCo). Based on five years of listening to children, the Children’s Commissioner is taking children’s thoughts, opinions and ideas to decision makers, to ensure that the Government reflects children’s voices in the decisions that will affect them in years to come.

Joining the team is a chance to be involved in shaping children’s policy, making sure children’s voices are heard and being part of an exciting environment which puts children’s needs at the heart of everything we do.

The Children’s Commissioner is looking to fill a role in the Private Office team. The role will be based in Central London at 64 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QP.

The role is suitable for hybrid working, with up to 2 days a week working from home. This is a voluntary non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work from home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working will be discussed with you prior to taking up your post.

Selection for appointment to the Children’s Commissioner’s office is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition.

We are looking for a wide variety of people to take on our roles, however we would particularly welcome applications from care leavers or individuals with experience of being ‘looked after’ by the state. We also actively encourage applicants from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds. We welcome applications from both inside and outside the Civil Service.

Job description

Purpose of the Job

As Diary Manager, you will work within the Commissioner’s Private Office, working to support the Commissioner, her Senior Leadership Team, and senior governance stakeholders. You will work directly with and support the Executive Director and Chief of Staff.

This is a varied role with a key focus on the Commissioner’s governance arrangements. The postholder will ensure that governance runs smoothly and that all relevant documents, including policies and procedures, are in place.

The post holder will be a critical member of the Private Office, delivering the highest standards of service to the Commissioner, managing their diary, engagements and relationships proactively, professionally and in service of the delivery of their strategic objectives.

Role Responsibilities

Diary management to the Children’s Commissioner:

Providing high quality and fast-paced diary management for the Commissioner.
Managing a busy inbox, tracking progress and proactively alerting the Chief of Staff and Assistant Private Secretary to urgent issues where needed.
Acting as the first point of contact and key link between the Commissioner and the wider office for visitors and external stakeholders, creating a welcoming and professional environment.
Co-ordinating visits, organising high-profile meetings and events hosted by the Commissioner, and arranging travel and accommodation for the Commissioner.
Supporting the Chief of Staff and Assistant Private Secretary with wider Private Office functions during busy periods, including accompanying the Commissioner on visits, commissioning briefings for engagements, and supporting key projects and events.

Executive assistant to the Children’s Commissioner:

Providing personal support to the Commissioner in a professional, responsible and timely manner to assist with their day-to-day activities.
Governance
Working with the Chief of Staff to support the Commissioner’s Governance arrangements, acting as secretariat for Senior Leadership Team, Audit & Risk Committee, and Advisory Board.

Governance:

Working with the Chief of Staff to support the Commissioner’s Governance arrangements, acting as secretariat for Senior Leadership Team, Audit & Risk Committee, and Advisory Board.

Correspondence:

Managing the Correspondence inbox and working closely with the Chief of Staff and Senior Strategy Officer to produce timely and accurate responses to correspondence for the Commissioner.
Drafting correspondence from the Children’s Commissioner.

Administrative support to the Executive Director:

Provide high level administrative support to the Executive Director, including managing their diary, arranging travel and supporting on meeting logistics.
Working with the Assistant Private Secretary to commission and collate briefings and presentations for the Executive Director.

Person specification

Successful applicants will :

Have experience of efficiently prioritising, planning and monitoring of workflows and loads.
Be comfortable taking tasks and projects through from start to finish and able to use initiative.
Have strong administrative and organisational skills and be highly competent in the use of IT with proficiency in Microsoft Office.
Have excellent written and oral communication skills.
Be inquisitive and willing to learn about a wide range of functions.
Be able to thrive in a small, friendly, hard working and very supportive team.

Key Criteria

Essential

An understanding of, and experience in, Private Office environments. (LEAD CRITERIA)
Ability to prioritise and work on own initiative.
Excellent administrative skills and proficiency in Microsoft Office.
Highly developed oral and written communication skills.
A willingness to learn and undertake training in relevant areas.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,123, Office of the Children's Commissioner contributes £11,623 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Some of our benefits include:

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 27.97%. Benefits of the pension scheme - Civil Service Pension Scheme
An Employee Assistance Programme.
A comprehensive reward scheme.
Generous holiday allowance starting at 25 days plus bank holidays and one privilege day.
Flexible working options including full-time or part-time and hybrid working (amend as per role).
A range of family friendly policies.
Excellent learning and development opportunities.
A culture encouraging inclusivity and diversity. 14

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

Please upload your personal CV which will be anonymised by our Application Tracking System. Our CV element is short and allows an initial check of eligibility, so please put the main content of your evidence and skills in your Personal Statement.

Personal Statement

Please set out how you meet the essential criteria in no more than 500 words and upload this to our Applicant Tracking System. Ensure you tell us why you want the role and provide examples of your experience to evidence for how you meet each criteria, including transferable experience from any non-policy roles.

Sifting

Applications will be sifted against the essential criteria. If we receive a large number of applications, we will conduct an initial sift based on the lead criteria. The strongest candidates will be invited to interview to provide more information about their experience and skills.

Interviews

Candidates who are successful at the sifting stage will be invited for in person interviews

Interviews are expected to take place during the week of 25 May 2026.

There may be a short task to prepare for the interview.

Reasonable Adjustments

We value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage applications from everyone, especially those that are under-represented in our workforce. We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning difficulties, chronic medical conditions or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy or autism.

Please contact us at occ.recruitment@childrenscommissioner.gov.uk to let us know what changes or help you might need to further on in the recruitment process.

Due to the large number of applications we receive, we will only provide feedback to people who attend an interview.

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

Security

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.

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).

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Contact point for applicants

Salary range

£40,123 per year