Executive Governance Officer

Role overview

This position sits within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and helps keep the department’s sub-committee structure running effectively. The post supports four main thematic sub-committees — People & Operations, Risk, Delivery and Finance — which report to the Executive Team.

The role is important for maintaining smooth, consistent governance practices and supporting strong assurance and informed decision-making. It also contributes to ongoing improvement by spotting ways to simplify processes, raise the quality of papers and outputs, and strengthen adherence to service-level expectations.

The role is based across Bristol, Darlington, London, Manchester and Wolverhampton, with remote interview arrangements noted in the recruitment process. The employment arrangement is full-time and remote.

What you will do

Working with the SEO lead, you will manage the full administrative cycle for sub-committee business. This includes organising meetings, planning agendas and forward looks, distributing papers according to agreed deadlines, and producing clear minutes that accurately reflect decisions, actions and key points raised.

You will keep action logs up to date, make sure tasks are clearly captured, monitor progress, and follow up regularly on outstanding updates. The role also involves tracking attendance, maintaining reliable records, and helping improve engagement and compliance with governance standards.

In addition to secretariat duties, you will coordinate diaries for meetings and important governance milestones, supporting alignment between committees and senior stakeholders. You may also step in for the SEO when needed to ensure continuity and uphold governance quality.

You will work alongside private offices, PMO teams and other secretariats to support consistent administrative practice across the department. The position is delivery-focused and calls for excellent organisation, strong attention to detail and the ability to handle several priorities in a busy environment.

Person specification

The successful candidate will bring proven experience in delivering high-quality administrative support, especially minute-taking and action tracking. You should be well organised, able to prioritise effectively, confident when dealing with senior stakeholders, and comfortable adapting to changing demands.

Application and selection

The recruitment process is split into two stages and will assess Success Profiles behaviours and experience.

Stage 1: Sift

• Lead behaviour: Managing a quality service
• Working Together
• Delivering at pace
• There is a 250-word limit for each question.
• Applicants are advised that assessors may not read responses in sequence and may differ between answers, so each response should stand on its own.
• If a large number of applications is received, an initial sift may be completed using the lead behaviour only. Those who pass may move to a full sift or directly to interview.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours assessed: Working Together, Managing a quality service, Delivering at pace
• Experience questions will be based on the person specification in the job description.

Sifting is expected during the week commencing 20/07/26. Interviews are expected during the week commencing 27/07/26 and are currently planned to take place remotely by video call, although this may change.

Application guidance and requirements

Before applying, candidates must review the department’s career-site information covering security clearance, nationality rules, right to work, the Civil Service Code, recruitment principles, CV declaration, sponsorship, salary and grade, existing civil servants, conflict of interest, location and flexible working, internal fraud database, appeals and complaints, and fixed-term appointment rules for external candidates, existing civil servants including loans, secondments and MHCLG employees.

The department notes that artificial intelligence may be used to support an application, but all examples and statements must be truthful, accurate and drawn from the candidate’s own experience. Applications may be withdrawn, and internal candidates may face disciplinary action, if plagiarism or misrepresentation is identified.

Security and nationality

Security clearance is required. For both the National Office and London Office, the stated level is BPSS plus CTC. Successful candidates must also complete a criminal record check and satisfy all security requirements before appointment. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

The role is broadly open to UK nationals, Irish nationals, Commonwealth nationals with the right to work in the UK, eligible EU/Swiss/Norwegian/Icelandic/Liechtenstein nationals and family members with settled or pre-settled status or a valid EUSS application, certain individuals with limited or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible for EUSS by 31 December 2020, and Turkish nationals and certain family members who have gained the right to work in the Civil Service.

Civil Service and employer information

The Civil Service Code sets out the behaviour expected of civil servants. Recruitment is by merit and open competition in line with Civil Service Commission principles. The Civil Service promotes diversity and equal opportunity, and supports the Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria. It also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants at risk of redundancy who meet the vacancy requirements.

The department’s wider diversity and inclusion approach is aligned to the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. Once the vacancy closes, the advert will no longer be available, so saving a copy is recommended.

Contact and further information

Job contact: Sarah Thew — Sarah.Thew@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team: recruitment@communities.gov.uk

If any part of the process is unclear or you need extra information to complete your application, you should contact the Resourcing team. Candidates may also appeal at any stage if they believe there has been a procedural irregularity or an infringement of Civil Service equal opportunity principles.

Benefits and additional information

The salary is £36,169, and the department contributes £10,478 toward membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Additional benefits include tailored career pathways, flexible working, the MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, and Cycle to Work schemes.

The role is delivery-oriented, highly collaborative and focused on reliable governance support for senior decision-making. It requires someone who can remain organised, accurate and responsive in a fast-moving environment.