Appointment details

Civil Service Commissioner for Northern Ireland

Summary

• Organisation: Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland
• Sponsor department: Northern Ireland Office
• Location: Northern Ireland
• Sectors: Public Administration
• Skills: Change Management, Communication, Regulation, Consumer Advocacy
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: Adhoc
• Remuneration: £300 per day
• Length of term: Five years
• Application deadline: Midday on 10 July 2026

Share this page

The following links open in a new tab

Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   18 June 2026

2. Application deadline

   Midday on 10 July 2026

3. Sifting date

   31 July 2026

4. Interviews expected to end on

   21 August 2026

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction from the Minister

Thank you for your interest in the position of Civil Service Commissioner for Northern Ireland.

I am seeking outstanding individuals who can make a real contribution to the Commissioners’ ongoing work and bring expertise and fresh thinking to some of the challenges in the coming months and years. 

The enclosed information will, I hope, answer many of the questions you may have about the role and work of the Commissioners. This position is a statutory appointment and, as such, the work must be undertaken consistent with legal powers and duties.

I will be looking to appoint an individual who can bring vision, influence and good judgement to the role; people who will work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders for the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland.

I welcome applications from all suitably experienced individuals regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation, age, disability and gender/sex. I particularly welcome applications from those with a disability and those from a black or ethnic minority background as these groups are currently underrepresented. I want to encourage the widest possible pool of talent for these important appointments.

I hope that you will feel able to submit an application and, once again, thank you for your interest in this role.

THE RT HON HILARY BENN MP, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

Appointment description

The Role

In addition to safeguarding an impartial and independent NICS, Commissioners have a role in hearing appeals made by existing civil servants under the NICS Code of Ethics, a copy can be found at: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/publications/nics-code-ethics.

The role of Civil Service Commissioner is challenging but a rewarding opportunity that calls for someone with good judgement, resilience and sensitivity who can promote the highest standards in public life.

All Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland are expected to:

• contribute to establishing the overall strategic direction of the work of the Commissioners;
• adopt collective responsibility and decision-making in a way that is open and transparent and in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, regularly placing in the public domain information about their activities and publishing an annual report;
• exercise their role in accordance with any protocols, guides and frameworks they have collectively agreed; 
• adopt and adhere to any government policies and guidelines as required, in particular Information Security, Internet and e-mail usage, data handling and gifts and hospitality policies and procedures;
• in reaching decisions, take into account any relevant guidance issued by the sponsor department; 
• seek to preserve the reputation and independence of the Commissioners and to ensure they do not misrepresent the views or actions of the Commissioners; 
• act at all times in a corporate manner and follow the Seven Principles of Public Life set out by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (see Annex A).

The Commissioners have no executive or managerial responsibility for the day-to–day work of the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners. 

Commissioners are appointed individually by Royal Warrant and sponsored by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).

Organisation description

Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland were first appointed in 1923 and derive their powers from prerogative Orders made by the Secretary of State. They are appointed by the Crown to uphold the principle that selection for appointment to posts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service should be on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.   

The Civil Service Commissioners (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, sets out the principle that “a person shall not be appointed to a situation in the Civil Service unless the selection was made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.” The Order gives Commissioners the responsibility to maintain this important principle, known as ‘The Merit Principle’.

The Order provides for the Commissioners to discharge their responsibilities by:

• publishing and maintaining a Recruitment Code setting out the essential principles and  procedures on which recruitment to the Northern Ireland Civil Service must be based;
• making General Regulations prescribing certain ’Exceptions’ to the principle of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition;
• approving the procedures for appointment through open competition to senior positions in the Northern Ireland Civil Service;
• auditing the recruitment policies and practices followed by Departments and Agencies in making appointments to the Northern Ireland Civil Service, to ensure that they meet the Commissioners’ requirements in regard to the Merit Principle; and
• requiring Departments and Agencies to publish information about their recruitment activity.

Under the terms of the Civil Service Commissioners (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, Commissioners also have the power to consider, and make decisions on, appeals to them under the Northern Ireland Civil Service Code of Ethics which is published by the Department of Finance and Personnel for Northern Ireland. 

Commissioners engage with the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), the Permanent Secretaries Group and individual Permanent Secretaries to explore current issues relevant to the work of the Commissioners and to obtain a greater understanding of any relevant recruitment issues in departments and the wider NICS. The NICS may on occasion canvass Commissioners to chair externally advertised competitions for Senior Civil Service appointments – separate arrangements will be made by the NICS in respect of any such competitions. 

The Commissioners maintain and enhance relationships with their counterparts in London and the Republic of Ireland. They meet annually to share experiences relating to their roles and responsibilities. 

Further information about the Commissioners and their responsibilities can be found on the website at https://www.nicscommissioners.org/. 

Person specification

Essential criteria

An outstanding individual is sought to become a Commissioner; a person who can work as an effective member of a body of Commissioners; forge good working relations with colleagues, senior members of the public sector and with partner organisations; command credibility; make an immediate and powerful impact and promote the highest standards in public life. 

Essential Skills

Candidates for this demanding role will need to demonstrate:

• the ability to take difficult but fair decisions in high profile and controversial circumstances; 
• the ability to work corporately in a diverse team of influential people and build relationships with stakeholders based on integrity, professional conduct and credibility; 
• experience of senior level recruitment or regulation, particularly in supporting ethical standards and promoting rights and equality in a diverse society; and
• a proven record in accountability and reporting frameworks with an exceptional sense of propriety.

The Advisory Assessment Panel will assess your suitability for appointment by comparing the information you give in your CV and personal statement against the essential skills. You should therefore review the essential skills requirements before preparing your personal statement and CV.

Serving Civil Servants or equivalents will not be appointed as Commissioners. Business appointment rules for former Civil Servants will apply to this appointment.

Application and selection process

How to apply

In order to apply, you will need to create an account or sign in. Once you are logged into your account, click on ‘apply for this role’ and follow the on-screen instructions by the closing date of Friday 10 July 2026 at 12 noon. 

The Advisory Assessment Panel reserves the right to only consider applications that contain all of the elements listed below, and that arrive before the published deadline for applications.

For your application to be properly considered by the Panel you must provide:

• A supporting statement of no more than 1000 words summarising your proven ability related to the essential criteria and person specification. Your statement should provide specific and detailed examples to demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria (including what you did to achieve a specific result);
• A full CV (including education and professional qualifications, career history, and relevant achievements and responsibilities); 
• Diversity / Equality Information; and
• Information relating to any outside interests or reputational issues

You will be asked to check and confirm your personal details to ensure that your application is accurate and will also have the opportunity to make a reasonable adjustment request or apply under the disability confident scheme before you submit your application. If you require any adjustments or have any questions about the process, please contact the team at CSC2026@nio.gov.uk.

Completed applications should be submitted by the closing date of Friday 10 July 2026 at 12 noon. Late applications will not be accepted.

Overview of the application process

All applications received by the closing date will be confirmed on the 'Apply for Public Appointments' website and put before a duly constituted Advisory Assessment Panel including an independent member.

The recruitment of Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland is not regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

It is expected that candidates selected at shortlisting stage will be interviewed by the Advisory Assessment Panel in August 2026 but this timescale may change at short notice. Interviews may be held in person in Belfast, Northern Ireland or remotely by video conferencing.

Following completion of the interview process, the Panel will make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who may wish to meet candidates before deciding who should be his preferred candidate. The final appointment will be confirmed by His Majesty the King on the advice of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

If you require any further information about the application process you should contact the competition coordinator by email at CSC2026@nio.gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

MaryJo McKeever – Departmental Official

MaryJo McKeever has no political activity to declare.

Deirdre Toner – Public Body Representative

Deirdre Toner has no political activity to declare.

Raymond Mullan – Independent Panel Member

Raymond Mullan has no political activity to declare.

Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen by ministers to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We collect data about applicant’s characteristics and backgrounds, including information about educational and professional backgrounds so that we can make sure that we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the Government Department managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select ‘prefer not to say’ to any question you do not wish to answer.

The information you provide is not used in the selection process. It will be removed on receipt and is not seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who will be assessing your application. We only use this information to monitor the diversity of candidates we attract and those we appoint.

Disability confident

As a Whitehall department, the Northern Ireland Office has adopted the Department for Work and Pensions sponsored Disability Confident scheme, which has replaced the Guaranteed Interview Scheme or Two Ticks scheme that was widely used in Great Britain.

Disability Confident is a voluntary scheme that supports the Government’s commitment to halve the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people by encouraging employers to think differently about disability and to take positive action to improve how they attract, recruit and retain the expertise of these candidates supporting their journey into leadership roles in public life.

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to help you attend your interview. We aim to create an accessible and supportive experience that allows every candidate to demonstrate their full range of talents and perspectives. You may wish to contact the competition coordinator (see contact details above) about your individual requirements should your application proceed to this stage in the process.

We will also offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria set out in the advert and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme - you must be able to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate relevant skills and experience for each of the selection criteria set out in the essential skills section. This does not mean that all disabled people are entitled to an interview.

The aim of this commitment is to encourage positive action for disabled people, encouraging them to apply for positions in public life by offering them the assurance that, should they meet the minimum criteria as advertised for the positions, they will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities at the interview stage.

It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as an urgent appointment or if we receive a higher volume of applications that far exceeds the number of those expected then we may need to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered. This will include the number of interviews offered to disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job.

If you have a disability and require reasonable adjustments then you may wish to contact the competition coordinator about your requirements at the interview stage should you proceed in the process.

Reasonable adjustments

If you have a disability and require reasonable adjustments to help you attend interview then you may wish to contact the competition coordinator about your requirements at the interview stage, should you proceed in the process.

Principles of public life

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder.

1. Selflessness

Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.

2. Integrity

Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

3. Objectivity

Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

4. Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.

5. Openness

Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.

6. Honesty

Holders of public office should be truthful.

7. Leadership

Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

In the interests of transparency and openness, applicants are asked to consider whether their appointment may give rise to a conflict of interest. All candidates must clearly state any outside interests and reputational issues within their application including any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest which may impact on your ability to perform the role or could not be managed if you were to be appointed.

You should provide information regarding all interests that you, or your immediate family, have that might be construed as being in conflict with the role of Civil Service Commissioner.

As an appointee to a public body, you could find that matters or incidents which did not previously attract attention could become matters of legitimate public interest once the person concerned holds a public appointment. Actual or perceived conflicts might include, for example, a situation where a candidate has interests in an organisation that might benefit from a contract with the Civil Service Commissioners or there may be issues in your personal or professional history (including any convictions or bankruptcy) that could, if you were appointed, be misconstrued, cause embarrassment to Ministers or the Commissioners or cause public confidence in the appointment to be jeopardised. It is important that you bring them to the attention of the Advisory Assessment Panel and provide details of the issue(s) in your application.

In considering whether you wish to declare any issues, you should also reflect on any public statements you have made, including through social media and blogs. Due Diligence will be carried out on any publicly available information and shared with the Advisory Assessment Panel and Ministers. At interview, the panel will explore whether you may have any business, financial, political or personal interests, or any past public statements or associations that could be an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest and if so, how these could be managed or mitigated before they make a recommendation on the appointment.

A potential conflict will not necessarily preclude an individual from appointment but candidates must be prepared to have this explored during the recruitment process and before an appointment is confirmed.

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

The Office of the Civil Service Commissioners is located in Erskine House, Belfast and meetings will normally be held in person at this location or in the Greater Belfast area. Some elements of home working will be required. Candidates may wish to note:

• the expected time commitment is approximately 4 days per month - given the variable nature of workload, candidates may wish to note that required days are scheduled on the basis of business need. 
• successful candidates must be reasonably flexible as time commitment may fluctuate between months and increase in some months as a consequence of recruitment work or additional casework due to demand for Chairing competitions in addition to core Commission business; and
• the term of office will be for a period of five years from the date of appointment.  

This competition will be used to fill one position and may be used to fill other vacancies that arise within the next 24 months.

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

The position attracts a daily remuneration of £300. 

Pension and redundancy

This position is not pensionable.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

If you feel that you have any complaint about any aspect of the way your application has been handled, we would like to hear from you. In the first instance please e-mail the competition coordinator at CSC2026@nio.gov.uk.

Complaints must be received by the competition coordinator within 1 calendar month from the issue or after the campaign has closed, whichever is the later. Your complaint will be acknowledged within 2 working days of receipt and answered as quickly and clearly as possible; at the most within 20 working days of receipt. If this deadline cannot be met we will inform you why this is the case and when you can expect a reply.

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

Your personal information will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. You will not receive unsolicited paper or electronic mail as a result of sending us any personal information. No personal information will be passed on to third parties for commercial purposes. 

When we ask you for personal information, we promise we will:

• only ask for what we need, and not collect too much or irrelevant information;
• ensure you know why we need it;
• protect it and insofar as is possible, make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn't;
• ensure you know what choice you have about giving us information;
• make sure we don't keep it longer than necessary; and
• only use your information for the purposes you have authorised 

We ask that you: 

• give us accurate information;
• tell us as soon as possible of any changes; and
• tell us as soon as possible if you notice mistakes in the information we hold about you. 

Our data protection policy is in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. Information held electronically, including your contact details and the monitoring information which you provide will be held for at least 2 years.

If you would like your details to be removed from our records as soon as this recruitment exercise is complete, please inform the competition coordinator via the email address provided above.

Attachments

• Candidate Information Booklet

Contact details

If you require any further information about the process, you should contact the competition coordinator by email at CSC2026@nio.gov.uk.