21062 - Deputy Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor


Company:	Ministry of Justice
Salary:	£49,325 - £53,081
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London, SW1H 9AJ
Working pattern:	On-site
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	13 Aug 2026
Closing date:	28 Aug 2026

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Summary

Deputy Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor at the Ministry of Justice – 2x Roles

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Private Office and Parliament Directorate

Want to see how government really works? Join a team at the heart of ministerial decision-making, where every day brings new challenges, direct exposure to Ministers, and the chance to develop skills that will serve you throughout your career. We'll support you with active development opportunities and the chance to work flexibly in a team that values your contribution.

The Private Office and Parliament (POP) Directorate is recruiting for a SEO Deputy Private Secretary. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion.

The ministerial team at MoJ lead on a range of high-profile policy areas, and this is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of that work.

Location:

Successful candidates will be based at 102 Petty France, London.

About the role

The roles are based in the Lord Chancellor’s office in the Private Office and Parliament (POP) Directorate. It is a busy and interesting place to work – it is the interface between Ministers, the rest of the Department and Whitehall.

Working within a busy, dynamic and friendly team, the successful candidate will be a credible source of advice to the Lord Chancellor. We are looking for someone who can build effective relationships, enjoys problem solving, and is confident supporting ministers.

What you’ll do: On a day-to-day basis, you will lead on a portfolio, ensuring that correspondence and advice are boxed in a timely manner, and providing expert support to the minister on a range of issues across their portfolio. You will collaborate with policy, Parliamentary and other Private Office colleagues, making sure that the minister is looped in on emerging issues in the right way, at the right time. You will make sure that they are fully briefed ahead of meetings, providing accurate readouts so that actions can be appropriately followed up. You will also be expected to support the Private Secretary and deputize for the G7 Head of Desk when required.

What we’re looking for: You will need to have strong inter-personal skills, as you will be one of the go-betweens for the minister and the rest of the department. You’ll need to be highly organised and have the ability to make effective decisions at pace. This is a public-facing role, in which you will represent the department in front of external stakeholders and to other government departments.

These roles will cover the Courts and Victims and Constitution desks in the Lord Chancellor’s office.

Why join us: This is an exciting time to join the POP directorate and we are keen for someone who is willing to learn in this busy atmosphere. We are a friendly, collegiate directorate. We have a range of corporate workstreams that make POP a fun and exciting place to work. We provide support to all private secretaries so that they can thrive and succeed in what can be demanding and fast-paced roles.

Skills and Experience

We are looking for someone who has experience of:

Essential:

Working within a fast-paced environment

Ability to handle sensitive information and make sound decisions under pressure.

Confidence in engaging with senior officials, Ministers, and external stakeholders. Clear written and verbal communication is vital.

You will be comfortable with working independently, be resilient and are able to adapt your working style to address both reactive and proactive tasks.

Desirable:

Prior exposure to ministerial or senior official support roles.

Understanding of parliamentary processes

Experience of line management and developing those within a wider team

About the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing over 90,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £10 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.

Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Ways of Working

This role is available on a full-time basis.

Due to the nature of this role the successful candidate will be expected to primarily work from the office in 102 Petty France.

Please note that this role may require working extended hours for which a Private Secretary allowance is payable.

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 requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.

We may consider the possibility of making the successful applicant permanent at the end of the loan assignment, should headcount and budget restrictions allow. This will be reviewed at the end of the loan period and is not guaranteed.

We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity

Salary

Existing Civil Servants will have their salary calculated in accordance with the Department’s pay on transfer / pay on promotion rules.

Security Clearance

This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role. You can find more information by reviewing the information held in the following links:

United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The vetting charter - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In addition, there is a minimum UK residency requirement set by the Cabinet Office which is dependent on the security level required for the role.

This role requires SC and to be eligible to apply for this role you should have been present in the UK continuously for the past 5 years.

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