Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary for Government Communications

Job summary

Government Communications is undergoing its most significant transformation in a generation. The Permanent Secretary for Government Communications — a role created in November 2025 — is leading a radical modernisation of how the Government speaks to citizens, working with Civil Service leaders to drive a fundamental shift in how Government plans, delivers and evaluates communications.

The priorities of our Permanent Secretary, David Dinsmore, are:

• Increasing the reach and impact of communications from government by shifting to an audience-first approach that connects citizens with what government is doing for them.
• Modernising Government Communications with a new brand and channel strategy, increased digital capability, and greater collaboration across departments.
• Strengthening leadership, accountability and performance across Government Communications.

The Principal Private Secretary will be instrumental in helping David to achieve these objectives.

You will lead and develop our Private Office team, providing expert support to both the Permanent Secretary and the Director General for Government Communications. You will be the principal adviser to the Permanent Secretary and work closely with senior leaders and ministerial teams, both within Cabinet Office and across Whitehall, to deliver our transformation.

About Government Communications

Government Communications is the professional body for communicators across the UK Government. With over 6,000 communicators working across ministerial departments, agencies and arm's-length bodies, we are one of the largest and most influential communications organisations. To find out more about what we do, go to https://www.communications.gov.uk/

Job description

This is an exceptional opportunity for a senior leader who wants to work at the very heart of an ambitious transformation programme. As Principal Private Secretary, you will be the Permanent Secretary's most trusted adviser and a key contributor to our modernisation agenda.

You will lead a small, high-performing Private Office team and act as a strategic partner to both the Permanent Secretary and the Director General for Government Communications. You will operate with significant autonomy, exercise fine judgement on the most sensitive and complex issues, and engage credibly and confidently with the most senior leaders across the Civil Service — including the Cabinet Secretary, the Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service, directors of Communications and ministerial teams across government.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic leadership and advice: Serve as the principal strategic adviser to the Permanent Secretary, providing candid, well-judged advice on priorities, risks, opportunities and decisions. Ensure the Permanent Secretary's time and energy are focused where he will have the greatest impact.
• Private Office leadership: provide inspiring, empowering leadership to the Private Office team — setting high standards, supporting professional development, managing performance and maintaining team resilience in a demanding environment. Be an active and visible leader within the central GCS team and with your peers in Permanent Secretary offices across Whitehall.
  
• Governance and delivery: ensure the Permanent Secretary and Director General are supported by robust systems, high-quality briefings and effective governance arrangements. Maintain rigorous oversight of correspondence, submissions and the preparation of ministerial and senior official engagements.
  
• Driving the transformation agenda: work closely with the Director General, Strategy Development Unit and senior leaders to ensure the Permanent Secretary's modernisation ambitions are translated into clear plans and that progress is tracked and reported effectively. Identify blockages early and take proactive steps to resolve them.
• Senior stakeholder engagement: build and maintain trusted relationships with the most senior leaders across Cabinet Office, Whitehall and the wider government communications community. Represent the Permanent Secretary's office in key forums, broker alignment where there are competing priorities, and ensure strategic coherence across a complex stakeholder landscape.

The successful candidate will be a strong leader, able to motivate and instil confidence with clear thinking, strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. You will develop a strong network of contacts across Whitehall and beyond, and draw on that network to secure the necessary advice, buy-in and quick decision-making to support a high performance, private office delivery team.

Person specification

It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post as set out in the essential criteria below.

Essential Criteria:

• We are looking for a senior leader who combines strategic thinking with pragmatism, and who is as comfortable shaping strategy as they are navigating the day-to-day complexity of a busy working environment. You will be collaborative and collegial by instinct, but decisive when it matters. You will build trust quickly, handle sensitive information with discretion, and bring out the best in the people around you.
• Proven ability to operate strategically at the most senior levels of large and complex organisations (e.g. government, public sector or equivalent), exercising sound judgement in complex, ambiguous and fast-moving situations where the stakes are high.
• Outstanding relationship-building and influencing skills, with the personal credibility and presence to engage confidently with the most senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrable experience of advising very senior leaders on prioritisation, risk and delivery within complex governance and accountability structures.
• Significant experience of leading and developing high-performing teams, with a track record of maintaining standards and team wellbeing under sustained pressure.
• Excellent written communication skills - able to produce concise, authoritative briefings, submissions and correspondence for the most senior audiences.
• Relevant experience of working at a senior level in a demanding Private Office, or comparable environment (e.g. Chief of Staff, senior leadership or secretariat position).

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Cabinet Office contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the Department and wider Civil Service.

It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes:

• • 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays and one privilege day to mark the King's birthday.
  • A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
  • Flexible working patterns including part-time or term-time working and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours;
  • Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
  • Childcare benefits (policy for new employees as of 5 April 2018): The government has introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers, so please check how the policy would work for you here;
  • Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
  • The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable);
  • Occupational sick pay.

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.

Application process:

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process, outlined below. This should be completed no later than 23:55pm, Monday 11th May 2026.

A CV (max 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.

A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.

Failure to complete both sections of the online application form (CV and Statement of Suitability) will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.

As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for more information.

Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with us via: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Shortlist

Your application will be acknowledged when it is received. A panel, including the hiring manager, will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the ‘Person Specification’ section. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application. The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which a decision is expected to be made, and all longlisted and shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Interview

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to attend a panel interview, in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. We will be assessing against the success profile Experience and Behaviours at interview.

If selected for interview, you may also have the opportunity to speak to Gem Walsh, Director General for Gov Comms, or a senior member of the team, to learn more about the role and organisation. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process.

Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates. You will be required to prepare a presentation for the final interview. You will be given the subject in advance of the interview day.

If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies in the Civil Service requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without the need for a new competition.

Indicative Timeline

We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for assessments or interviews. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, in order to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates may be subject to change.

The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Advert Closing Date: 23:55pm Monday 11th May 2026.

Shortlist: Week commencing 25th May 2026.

Interview: Week commencing 8th June 2026.

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service at: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the ‘assistance required’ section in the ‘personal information’ page of your application form to provide information we should be aware of that will enable us to support you further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Reserve lists

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitable vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview.

Further information

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility here.

Current Civil Servants (all contract types) will need to ensure that they are still employed as a civil servant at the point of starting in the relevant new post. If their contract ends (e.g. end of FTA contract or resignation) at any point during the recruitment/onboarding process for the advertised role, they will no longer be eligible and may be withdrawn.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

Civil Service Commission Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. 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; scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk and more information can be found at www.civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

Attachments

459067 - PPS to Perm Sec for Gov Comms CIP pack V6 PDF Opens in new window (pdf, 727kB)