Parliamentary Support OfficerJobsGoPublic

Job summary

This is a unique opportunity for enthusiastic and skilled individuals looking to gain experience working at the heart of Government and Parliament.

The Government Chief Whip’s Private Office and Government Whips’ Admin Unit are part of a small team offering high-calibre support to the Government Chief Whip and the team of sixteen Government Whips. Our objective is to assist the Chief Whip and team of Whips, enabling them to fulfil the role of delivering the Government’s Legislative Programme and other parliamentary business.

Parliamentary Support Officers in the team provide high-level administrative support to the Chief Whip, Special Advisers, the Private Secretaries and to the team of Government whips. The successful candidates need to be confident, have excellent organisational and communication skills and the ability to manage conflicting priorities in a pressurised and fast moving environment. An understanding of Parliamentary procedures is desirable. Political awareness and an interest in current affairs is also important.

Longer than normal hours are worked when the House of Commons is sitting, for which overtime is payable.

Job description

The responsibilities of the roles can flex based on requirements, but the team’s main shared duties include:

Providing high-calibre administrative and organisational support to the Government Whips.

Assisting with the daily office rota of tasks, including the timely distribution of Order Papers, Hansards, and Business statements office-wide.

Assisting the Government Whips with membership and attendance at meetings of Public Bill Committees and Delegated Legislation Committees.

Assisting with the coordination of the All Party Notices, including initial-stage proofreading of draft documents, focusing on ensuring quality control for spelling, grammar, and basic formatting.

Managing the authorised absence system for Government backbenchers.

Analysing the results of Parliamentary votes.

Dealing with general enquiries from MPs, Parliamentary teams across Whitehall, House Authorities and the general public.

Other general administrative and ad hoc duties as directed by the Head of Office.

Preparing the Chief Whip's day folder and all briefing notes for the Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip and Private Secretaries or to the team of Government whips

Providing support to the Diary Manager in their day-to-day role and leading on diary tasks in their absence

Processing ministerial correspondence and managing invitations

Organising travel and accommodation for the Chief Whip and Private Secretaries and other whips as required

Effectively managing the Principal Private Secretary’s diary

Providing administrative and diary support to the Special Advisers

There is an expectation that when the House of Commons is sitting, the post holder will work longer than normal hours, for which overtime is payable. Annual leave is usually taken only during Parliamentary recesses.

Person specification

The ideal candidate for this role is a proactive self-starter, capable of thinking ahead and using their initiative to solve problems before they arise. They would:

Be proactive and able to spot problems and suggest solutions.

Be a good team player, who can also work well independently.

Have strong administrative and organisational skills with an eye for detail.

Be able to prioritise effectively, meet deadlines and work under pressure where necessary.

Be able to quickly establish positive relationships, including with senior colleagues.

Have a keen interest in Parliament and/or current affairs.

A minimum of SC clearance (this can be obtained by the successful candidate after accepting the position).

Additional information:

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Behaviours

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

Communicating and Influencing

Delivering at Pace

Seeing the Big Picture

Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,750, Cabinet Office contributes £9,487 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Learning and development tailored to your role.

An environment with flexible working options.

A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.

A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.

A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

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.

Application process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete behaviour statements. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour, Communicating and Influencing. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Selection process

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

Communicating and Influencing

Delivering at Pace

Seeing the Big Picture

Making Effective Decisions

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – w/c 23/11/2026

Expected interview date/s – w/c 7/12//2026

Interview location - Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment

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 via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing [email protected] stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website

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.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Nabiha Khatun

Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

Email : [email protected]

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service by email at : [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at [email protected]. For further information on the Recruitment Principles and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/.

Attachments

Cabinet-Office-Employee-Offer Opens in new window (docx, 762kB)Cabinet Office Terms and Conditions - External 2025-02-20 Opens in new window (docx, 83kB)