Something for the weekend: Some individuals may view peeking behind the doors of Buckingham Palace as more of a tourist outing than a potential job perk, but the royal household is now recruiting for a new private secretary to serve Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal (pictured), offering a lucrative pension benefit to help nab the right candidate.
The chosen private secretary will be based at Buckingham Palace and will lead the household for The Princess Royal Anne, Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter. Although the online job posting does not detail an exact starting salary, it does reveal that the selected applicant will receive a 15% non-contributory pension scheme as part of their employee benefits package.
The new private secretary, who will manage official staff at Gatcombe Park as well as household employees, will be tasked with duties such as advising and supporting The Princess Royal in all matters, accompanying her on overseas trips and supervising the planning and execution of her official programme. This includes managing budgets and correspondence.
To receive the job offer, applicants will need to be educated to degree level or equivalent, have experience at a senior level and have a good knowledge of current affairs. Her Royal Highness will also need a private secretary with a well-developed understanding of the UK’s political, economic and geographical infrastructure, as well as know-how on the British constitution and media. Ideally, the winning candidate will also have a military background.
The royal household also has high expectations for the selected candidate's personal skill-set. The job advert reads: “As well as strong cultural sensitivity and diplomacy, excellent judgement will be key to this role, along with exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. You will have credibility at a senior level, internally and externally and have a flexible and resourceful approach to a busy programme of work.”
The private secretary will also be required to work at both a strategic and operational level, have outstanding drafting and presentation skills, strong administrative and organisational skills and be able to disseminate large volumes of information easily.
Those who wish to apply for this exclusive permanent position have until 20 May 2018 to submit their CVs, with interviews to be arranged for July 2018. Buckingham Palace predicts the start date of the post to be in November 2018.
Here at Employee Benefits, we think this sounds like a regal opportunity for the right candidate, especially with such an inspiring place of work as Buckingham Palace. We imagine getting parcels delivered to the office may have to be a thing of the past, however…
