Head of Directors Office

Job summary

Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment?

Do you have excellent organisational and communication skills?

Would you like to work at the heart of local transport, working closely with senior officials and high-level stakeholders, acting as a critical point of contact and supporting the wider work of the directorate?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

The Local Passenger Transport & Inclusion (LPT&I) Directorate is right at the heart of the Department’s business and plays a key role in meeting the Department’s strategic aims. Our focus is on people – making their experience of transport better, breaking down the barriers to great journeys and leading the way in DfT in putting people at the heart of how we plan, build and operate transport. The local transport network connects people and places, driving local economies and creating opportunities for employment, education and economic growth everywhere.

Within LPT&I we work flexibly to ensure we can deliver against the government’s ambitious plans to improve local passenger transport and so we can collectively and proactively address emerging issues.

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 DFT Central – Home , Civil Service Careers

Job description

The role of Head of Directors Office is a fast paced role that provides plenty of opportunity for development. You will play a critical role as a key point of contact in the office of two Directors within PTLG. You will form a wide network of effective relationships and gain experience of working with senior officials and high-level stakeholders. You will also be head of the PA team, providing line management, leadership and support.

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

• You will regularly assess the two Directors priorities proactively engaging with them to prioritise their time, developing and maintaining action lists to ensure they are focused on the right issues and enabling them to make effective decisions in a timely manner to provide strategic leadership across the directorate and help teams deliver ministerial and public priorities across high profile and demanding policy portfolios.

• You will build up an excellent understanding of the Directors priorities to understand what activity they wish to prioritise and you will work closely with the Diary Manager to the Directors triaging emails, correspondence and meeting invites that come into their individual mailboxes to sort them into folders for action or information. You will flag high priority and urgent items that require the Directors attention, effectively delegate to Deputy Directors or their teams and filter out or redirect other items. You will ensure that there are clear systems in place to record information effectively.

• You will quickly build up an excellent understanding of the key internal and external stakeholders and work closely with them to build high quality working relationships.

• You will deal quickly and effectively with ad hoc requests from the Directors and Senior Leadership Team and work closely with the Deputy Head of INSPIRED to help ensure the smooth running of the directorate and corporate priorities wherever necessary.
• You will identify, clarify and where possible manage and resolve issues coming to the Directors’ office before escalation – if there is an issue, you will act as the initial focus and filtration point; ensuring that relevant information and advice is highlighted and communicated in a timely manner.
• You will support the organisation of directorate level staff engagements. Such as producing agendas for directorate level events; ensuring events are innovative, diverse and inclusive; liaising with speakers and ensuring necessary logistics are in place.

• Working closely with the Deputy Head of INSPIRED, you will lead the organisation of Senior Leadership Team meetings preparing meeting agendas, papers and providing secretariat support where necessary. This includes proactively managing a forward look and other key meeting documentation.

• You will have line management responsibility for 1 x EO Diary Manager and 3 x EO Personal Assistants, who support the two Directorate’s Deputy Directors.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills set out in the Civil Service Line Management Standards.

Colleagues are expected to work with a degree of flexibility, meaning responsibilities may change to support priority delivery.

For further information on the role, please read the attached 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.

Person specification

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Experience of providing support or advice to senior level management.
• Experience of working to tight deadlines with competing priorities, under pressure
• Experience of confidently making timely and accurate decisions

Additional Information

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.

Occasional travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

DfT does not offer Visa Sponsorship for this role

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,663, Department for Transport contributes £10,331 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• 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).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours 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 (of no more than 2 sides) and personal statement (750-word count). Please provide evidence of your
• Experience of confidently making timely and accurate decisions.
• Experience of providing support or advice to senior level management.
• Experience of working to tight deadlines with competing priorities, under pressure.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead Success Profile element, Experience of providing support or advice to senior level management.

The sift will take place week commencing 14/09/2026.

Stage 2: Interview

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

• Behaviours – (Working Together, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace)

The interviews will take place week commencing 28/09/2026.

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 a12-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.

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.

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 theHow 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.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Olivia Ely
• Email : olivia.ely@dft.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

Attachments

Role Profile (93) Opens in new window (docx, 91kB)