Head of Directors Office

Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service pension

25 days annual leave

Bank holidays + Privilege Day

Staff discount portal

Career development support

Diversity and inclusion

Employee Assistance Programme

Flexible working

Job summary

Department for Transport (DfT) in Birmingham seeks a Head of Directors Office to lead a fast-paced, high‑visibility function. You will act as a senior point of contact for two Directors, shaping priorities and directing a small PA team to support decision-making.

You will manage critical stakeholder relationships, ensure timely actions, and enable executives to focus on priority issues while developing leadership capabilities within the team.

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• Regularly assess Directors' priorities and manage action lists to keep focus on key issues.
• Triages emails, correspondence and meeting invites for Directors with the Diary Manager.
• Build high quality relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.
• Line management responsibility for 1 x EO Diary Manager and 3 x EO Personal Assistants.

Skills

Senior-level support

Deadline management

Decision making under pressure

Job description

Salary: £35,663 - A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Contract Type: Permanent - Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

About the role

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.

Key Responsibilities include, but are not 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.
• You will build up an excellent understanding of the Directors priorities and work closely with the Diary Manager to the Directors triaging emails, correspondence and meeting invites that come into their individual mailboxes.
• 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 have line management responsibility for 1 x EO Diary Manager and 3 x EO Personal Assistants, who support the two Directorate's Deputy Directors.
• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary.
• 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.

About you

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.