Senior Personal Assistant

Job summary

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

This is a rewarding and high‑impact executive assistant role at the heart of a fast‑paced private office, providing proactive support to two director generals across the organisation. You support our principals to operate effectively, make sound decisions, and deliver key priorities at pace through high‑quality diary and inbox management, general administrative support, and effective coordination of activity.

As a senior personal assistant, you are a trusted partner, acting as a central point of contact between private office, CPS teams locally and nationally, and key external stakeholders, including other government departments. The role goes well beyond traditional administration. You will manage complex diaries and correspondence, anticipate competing priorities, and exercise sound judgement to ensure that our private office runs smoothly and that our senior leaders’ time is used to best effect.

Working closely with the Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPPs) diary secretary, private secretaries and colleagues across the organisation, you will help support the Director Generals (DG's) by creating a reliable rhythm and secretariat support. You will also support and facilitate internal and external meetings and events, ensuring that the DG’s, and other CPS senior leaders, including the DPP, are fully prepared and well briefed.

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

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a trusted support position, enjoys problem‑solving, and takes pride in enabling others to perform at their best. In return, you will gain unique insight into senior decision‑making, exposure to a wide range of issues, and the opportunity to develop your experience, skills and confidence in a professional, high‑profile and supportive private office environment.

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 before starting in this role. The start date is expected to be 8-12 weeks after the application deadline.

Job description

Please note this job title is subject to change due to organisational change

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.

Person specification

To be eligible to apply, you need to have:

• 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.
• working knowledge and experience of MS Office Tools.

It is desirable that you have the below experience but this is not required to apply:

• Experience of working in a private office, senior leadership office or similarly high‑profile environment.
• Experience of supporting senior leadership diary and secretariat activity, briefings or ad‑hoc projects alongside core administrative responsibilities.
• Experience of arranging travel and accommodation in line with organisational policies and value‑for‑money principles.

Behaviours

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

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

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,100, Crown Prosecution Service contributes £9,299 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Join the Crown Prosecution Service and find your purpose.

Why we work for the Crown Prosecution Service

The Crown Prosecution Service is passionate about ensuring that we're a top performing organisation and a great place to work. We're a committed equal opportunities employer, creating a culture where you can bring your whole self to work, and individuality is truly appreciated.

This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our staff networks covering disability, faith and belief, LGBTQI+, race, social mobility alongside our mental health first aiders programme and wellbeing sessions.

The Crown Prosecution Service commits to offer its employees the following experience.

• You can do impactful, purposeful work that’s making a difference to your local communities.
• You are able to learn and grow, with access to the right opportunities and resources.
• We care about your wellbeing.
• We want you to feel valued, trusted and included.

We also offer the following range of benefits:

• Civil Service contributory pension of up to 28.9%
• 25 days’ leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years
• £350 each year to spend on personal development
• lawyer training programme for all new prosecutors
• an extra privilege day to mark the King's birthday
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• flexible working including flexitime, and a family friendly approach to work
• Cycle2Work scheme, employee savings.

Diversity at the Crown Prosecution Service is about inclusion, embracing differences and ensuring our workforce truly reflects the communities we serve. We want you to feel that you belong and can thrive, whatever your background, identity or culture. As a Disability Confident employer, we're happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments and improve your recruitment experience. If you'd like any reasonable adjustments made to our recruitment process, let us know within your application or contact daisy.gabriel1@cps.gov.uk.

The Crown Prosecution Service has fixed rates for its Executive Officer grade – a developing rate (the starting salary) and a spot rate (the maximum salary). Applicants typically join us on the developing rate and, after completing a 15-month development period, move to the spot rate if your line manager confirms you’re performing the role to a satisfactory standard.

If you’re joining the Crown Prosecution Service on a lateral transfer from another government department, you should contact us about the impact on your salary and the implications of any time you’ve already spent at that grade before applying or accepting an employment offer. Your salary may be adjusted if your location changes when you join us. This adjustment also takes into account any existing allowances that may have previously been consolidated into your basic pay – there’s no guarantee that you can retain these when you transfer.

We want to ensure our employees can thrive at work and home and offer a range of support to achieve a balance. This includes flexibility of working hours, flexibility to support caring responsibilities and a flexible approach to deployment. We offer a hybrid working policy. You must spend at least 40% of your contracted hours over a four-week period at court, in an office or another official workplace depending on business need and the kind of work you're doing.

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.

Recruitment process

The recruitment process consists of an online application, interview and assessment. These are expected to take place on 30th March 2026 at 102 Petty France, London.

A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact daisy.gabriel1@cps.gov.uk.

You should keep this date 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.

Assessment

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

Behaviours

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

1. Making effective decisions
2. Delivering at pace
3. Communicating and influencing

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

• 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.
• working knowledge and experience of MS Office Tools.

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.

Interview/Assessment

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/Level 2 in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 4 behaviours at interview / assessment stage:

1. Making effective decisions - interview and assessment
2. Delivering at pace- interview and assessment
3. Communicating and influencing - interview
4. Seeing the big picture - interview

Essential Experience- assessed at interview and assessment.

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.

Strengths

Strengths are tested at interview stage - the strengths tested are not shared before the interview.

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. Therefore, 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 Clearance, for which you must have a current valid UK address.

If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form, nationality and immigration questionnaire and a 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 Clearance level, you have to be able to meet the residency requirement in the Cabinet Office guidance. For the Crown Prosecution Service they are:

• Security Clearance – 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 our private office 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.

Feedback

We only provide feedback if you attend an interview or assessment.

Fraud check

The Crown Prosecution Service provides a Fair Processing Notice to all new applicants after they’ve been successful at interview. These candidates are informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details – name, National Insurance number and date of birth – are checked against the Internal Fraud Database. We won't employ anyone included on the database unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.

The Strategic Resourcing team in the Crown Prosecution Service will, on behalf of the vacancy holder, inform applicants when they are refused employment because of their inclusion in the Internal Fraud Database.

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.

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 : Daisy Gabriel
• Email : daisy.gabriel1@cps.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : strategic.resourcing@cps.gov.uk

Attachments

CPS Terms and Conditions Opens in new window (docx, 255kB)NEW CPS Personal Statement Guidance 2023 Opens in new window (docx, 269kB)Senior Personal Assistant (1) Opens in new window (docx, 54kB)