Chief of Staff

Location: Newport, Titchfield or London

Salary: National £56,020 - £66,043. London £59,311 - £70,634.

Working Patterns: Fulltime, Flexible working

Closing Date: 11:55 pm on 14th January 2025.

The purpose of this role is to effectively support the Director for Operations to ensure success in all her delivery areas. ​

The Chief of Staff plays a critical role in, supporting the senior leadership team to set strategic direction and supporting delivery across Operations Group (Surveys, People and Business Services, Communications and Security), playing a critical role as the link between the Senior Civil Servants (SCS) and Operations group and working collaboratively to support high quality delivery.

We are recruiting a high-calibre individual who is comfortable leading in ambiguity, with a proven track record of supporting multiple projects / work strands at pace.

Job description

This role requires the ability to quickly develop a deep understanding of enterprise-wide and directorate-specific priorities, goals and challenges. The successful candidate will work collaboratively with a broad range of colleagues and senior stakeholders across ONS and wider government to ensure Operations group runs smoothly. ​

The successful candidate will work across operations group and beyond (including cross government). They will successfully shift between big picture strategic thinking to solving practical and operations challenges. They will be someone who can build and maintain strong personal relationships, deliver results, demonstrate excellent judgement, show keen attention to detail, and work proactively and collaboratively with others. Resilience, patience and a commitment to quality are essential. ​

Key responsibilities ​

The successful candidate will be across a wide range of projects and workstreams throughout Operations group and across government. The nature of the Directorate’s work and its criticality to ONS’s strategic delivery means that the post-holder must be a motivated self-starter who can adapt quickly to changing needs. Amongst other things, your responsibilities will include: ​

• Supporting the Director for Operations in her day-to-day activities and wider strategic planning. Acting as a key interface with the wider ONS, UKSA and external stakeholders​.
• Shifting between big picture strategic thinking and solving practical and operational challenges to ensure the Director and her senior leadership team can use their time effectively on high level priority work. ​
• Supporting the senior team to oversee delivery of key functions of the group including workforce planning, business planning and risk management​.
• Line management of 3 direct reports and 6 indirect reports.​
• Effectively engaging with and influencing colleagues, where you have no line management responsibility, to ensure delivery. ​
• Leading the Director’s outer office team.

​This is a unique opportunity to work as part of a high performing senior team in a dynamic, fast-paced and multi-faceted function, which is a key part of a high profile and globally respected organisation​.

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Person specification

We are looking for someone who: ​

• Builds and maintains strong relationships across diverse teams and is adept at managing multiple senior stakeholders. Can act confidently as the main point of contact for important internal and external stakeholders (e.g. executive private offices, other government departments, external organisations and companies). ​
• Strategically maximises efficiency. Plays a critical role in making best use of their principal's time - shielding her from unnecessary distractions and allowing her to focus on high-impact activities. ​
• Strives for excellence with a sharp attention to detail: catches problems/errors early, works effectively at pace, takes decisions / makes recommendations in the face of incomplete data​.
• Excels in running multiple work strands in parallel and thinks strategically to deliver them to a high standard. Able to proactively problem-solve, re-assess priorities and maintain focus on the most critical deliverables and bigger picture: not only what needs to delivered but why. ​
• Self-motivates, can operate with high autonomy and remain calm and resilient under pressure. ​
• Supports and motivates others. Collaborates effectively with colleagues, builds strong relationships, and contributes to a positive team dynamic. Keeps people motivated. Can set direction, influence effectively, articulate a vision and manage performance. ​
• Has demonstrable experience of successfully delivering in a similar role.

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If you have the skills and motivation to help drive forward ONS Operations, we want to hear from you!​