Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Deputy Honours Secretary
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Job summary
The Honours and Awards team sits within Public Bodies, Appointments and Honours (PBAH). It leads the administration of Honours nominations across Arts & Media, Sport, Economy, Community & Voluntary Service and Public Service, and the King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS). The Honours system has two rounds per year: New Year and Birthday. The team delivers each element of the process according to the cycle, working closely with Cabinet Office, independent committees and senior Civil Servants.
The team is looking for an enthusiastic self-starter, who thrives in a fast-paced environment with excellent collaboration skills and attention to detail. The successful candidate will assist in managing the Honours process and helping the department meet the challenge of achieving greater diversity in the twice yearly Honours list. The honours process is run to a strict timetable with an immovable deadline when DCMS has to submit all its potential honours candidates to Cabinet Office/Independent Honours Selection Committees. This post will give you an excellent overview of DCMS policy areas and the opportunity to work with senior colleagues.
Job description
Reporting to the Honours Secretary, assisting them with the bi-annual honours selection process on behalf of the Department and with the opportunity to deputise for the Honours Secretary.
- Utilising the case management system to accurately log new nominations from the public and stakeholders.
- Using strong written communication skills to draft a large number of clear, concise, and impactful summaries (citations) for successful nominations within agreed cycle timelines.
- Monitoring the shared inbox for incoming nominations, queries and requests for comments on candidates and responding to these in a timely manner, escalating where appropriate.
- Dealing with a range of queries from stakeholders, in addition to members of the public, other government departments and handling ministerial correspondence often working to strict deadlines.
- Acting as the main point of contact for honours coordinators in the policy teams, building effective relationships.
- Generating diversity statistics to support the creation and publication of honours lists.
- Collaborating with the other Deputy Honours Secretaries to produce accurate guest lists for the annual Royal Garden Parties by liaising with members of the public and Buckingham Palace.
- Contributing to development of internal processes and systems, including case management software, Google Workspace/Microsoft 365 and AI.
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Person specification
The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that desirable skills will only be used in the event of tied candidates:
Essential requirements:
- Excellent organisational skills, with a demonstrable ability to prioritise a busy workload effectively, managing competing demands to deliver high-quality outcomes.
- Have strong collaboration skills and experience of working in a team, with the ability to build and manage relationships with diverse stakeholders.
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing, with high levels of attention to detail.
- Show initiative and be able to effectively use and apply IT skills to improve processes.
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Desirable Skills:
- Strong digital skills, with experience using digital office suites, such as Microsoft 365 and databases to track, log, or manage information accurately.
- Experience working in customer facing roles
Information session
We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Annabel Malkin and Rachel Knight, and will take place on:
Tuesday 21st July 12:00 - 12:30
The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.
Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.
Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to resourcing.team@dcms.gov.uk
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
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