Administrative Officer Specialist

Introduction

The Civil Service is at the heart of Irish society. Everything we do impacts our country, and most importantly, our people. We are a robust and trusted institution, which has served the people of Ireland since the foundation of the State. While the challenges which face the Civil Service today are different to those faced at the foundation of the State, our core values remain the same.

The Civil Service is a large complex organisation employing over 50,000 people in approximately 40 Government Departments and offices and a range of other bodies. Every day the Civil Service makes a vital contribution to Irish life. Everything the Civil Service does, from carrying out the work of Government to delivering frontline public services, impacts Ireland in some way.

The Role

The Administrative Officer (AO) is the main graduate recruitment grade for the Civil Service and provides successful candidates with the opportunity to progress to middle management. As an AO, you would have a crucial role in policy and strategy formulation across the spectrum of economic, financial, international, environmental and social issues. Those appointed will have the opportunity to effect real change in the Civil Service and help shape a changing Ireland. You will also have the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the development and implementation of government policy over a period of time.

As the business, economic and social environment becomes more complex and demanding, there is an increasing need to ensure that a wider range of skills is available within Government Departments and Offices. publicjobs is looking for people with the potential to take on high level responsibilities in the management of public services and the analysis of public policy issues, and who possess particular qualifications, skills and capability in the following areas:

1: Energy, Environment and Climate 2: Finance Policy 3: Health Policy Analyst 4: Human Resources

To apply, candidates must satisfy the essential entry requirements specific to the specialist role for which they are applying. Please see page 5 for further details. In addition to having achieved the essential entry requirements, effective AO candidates must demonstrate:

• Excellent communication (oral and written), presentation and interpersonal skills • The ability to carry out research, analysis and problem solving • Experience of effective team-working and the capacity to work in a multidisciplinary environment • The ability to develop leadership capability and lead in your area of expertise • The ability to show initiative while working with minimal supervision • Evidence of working on projects and producing results within budget and specified deadlines. • Evidence of meeting the requirements set out in the Administrative Officer Capability Framework

It is expected that from the outset, newly recruited AOs will be able to make a substantive contribution to the work of the Civil Service. While training is to a significant extent “on the job”, induction and training courses in specific skills and areas of work will be provided to assist you to become familiar with the public sector. Those appointed will have the opportunity to undertake the Graduate Development Programme which will build upon your experience to further develop your expertise, confidence, self-awareness and personal effectiveness to enable you to realise your potential and deliver important outcomes early in your career. It is envisaged that these graduate recruitment opportunities will arise across a range of Departments.

Selection for the position of AO involves a structured assessment process that may take place over a period of time. publicjobs will keep applicants informed as they progress through the selection process. Relevant information on each subsequent stage of the selection process will be provided in advance to those candidates who are invited to progress, to ensure they are equipped to perform to the best of their ability.

Vacancies

Candidates who are successful in this competition, will be placed on a panel, in order of merit to fill current and future vacancies which may arise. As vacancies arise in Government Departments / Offices, in an ‘agency’ of a Government Department or in Garda civilian positions in An Garda Síochána, successful candidates will be drawn from the panel in rank order, according to their performance score at the final stage.

The majority of vacancies that arise for this competition will be based in Dublin, however a small number may also arise in other regional locations throughout the lifetime of the competition.

Successful candidates must be willing to accept a position in Dublin. If you are offered a position (whether you accept or not) you will, in the normal course, no longer be considered for any other vacancy in this competition.

In the unlikely event that a vacancy in a regional location arises, candidates will be contacted to establish their interest in such a vacancy.

It is not expected that appointments will be made from these panels after January 2028.

Summary Conditions of Service

Starting Salary: €41,176 Annual Leave: 25 Days Hours of attendance: 41 hours and 15 minutes gross per week

Please Note:

Qualifications/eligibility may not be confirmed until the final stage of the process, therefore, those candidates who do not possess the essential requirements, by Tuesday 13th October 2026, and proceed with their application are putting themselves to unnecessary effort/expense and will not be offered a position from this competition.

Please note that, given the volume of applications, publicjobs is not in a position to consider or offer advice on the qualifications/eligibility of individuals unless they come under consideration. The onus is on the candidate to ensure they fulfil the eligibility requirements as set out. publicjobs reserves the right to deem an applicant ineligible at any stage if it is apparent that the candidate does not hold the required eligibility/qualifications e.g. from the submitted application form. Candidates who come under consideration following the final selection stage will be required to provide documentary evidence of their eligibility, including qualifications. At this stage, candidates will be required to submit full official transcript(s) proving eligibility, including any semesters completed abroad. Further information may be requested from candidates who come under consideration for a position.

Candidates who are unable to demonstrate that they hold the required qualification(s) by the deadline specified may be withdrawn from the competition at any stage. An invitation to tests, interview or any element of the selection process is not acceptance of eligibility.

While it's not a prerequisite to apply for the competition, where possible, at the application stage, candidates are encouraged to upload a copy of their final overall result (full official transcript(s)) along with their application. When completing the application form, candidates can upload the relevant documents in the qualification upload section. Candidates must not send a copy of their transcripts to the recruitment unit mailbox.

Important Note:

Candidates applying to this competition must ensure that they meet the specific essential entry requirements for their chosen specialist role. Candidates may only apply for one specialist role and must only submit one application indicating the specialist role for which they wish to be considered. The onus is on the candidate to select the correct specialist role.

How to Apply

Applications should be made online through www.publicjobs.ie.

At publicjobs, we have transitioned to a new recruitment platform with the aim of enhancing our services and the candidate experience. The new service will give you more visibility and control of your application.

When accessing our new recruitment platform for the first time, candidates must register as a New User to create a profile (“Register”). To do so, please access the vacancy you wish to apply for on our Jobs Board by clicking on the title of the position. You will be brought to the vacancy where you can click on “Apply” in the right-hand section of our website, or at the bottom of the advertisement.

Candidates who have not previously registered on our new recruitment platform will be required to enter some personal details to continue with their application. Account verification will be required, and you must check your email inbox and follow the instructions to verify your account. Please do not confuse registering (creating a profile) with submitting an application. Candidates who have already registered will have an account and should select ‘Login’ from the top right-hand section of the registration page or through the link at the bottom of the page.

Once registered and after your email address has been verified, you must then access the application form, ensure all sections of the application form are fully completed and submit it.

To do this, you will be required to return to the vacancy you wish to apply for – Graduate Opportunities 2026 Administrative Officer Specialist – on the jobs board on www.publicjobs.ie and click on “Apply”. This time, you should select the “Login” option in the top right-hand section of the Login Page. Your username is the e-mail address associated with your account. Please note that your username and password are case sensitive.

Please carefully note the following instructions. As you progress through the application, at the bottom of every page, there will be an option to “Save and Continue”. The information that you enter is only saved once you click on the 'Save and Continue' button. If you close the browser before clicking 'Save and Continue' or are inactive on the system for 30 minutes or more, you may be logged out of the application form and your information could be lost.

It is imperative that all sections of this application form are completed in full. The mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk *. These fields must be completed before you can submit the application form. You may save the form and come back to it later, however, please note that you must submit the form in order to be considered for this competition as unsubmitted applications will not progress to the next stage.

All sections on the application form Progress Tracker must show a green checkmark before you can apply. Return to any section on the Progress Tracker missing a green checkmark where guidance on the missing information will be displayed. Please ensure all information is correct before submitting your application as no changes can be made after submission. Once you have submitted your application form, you will be brought to a page confirming the status of your application as “Application received”. You can view the status of your application at any time by logging in, selecting your name in the top right-hand section of the page and selecting “View all applications”. At this point you should consider adding @publicjobs.tal.net to your safe senders or contact list within your email account to avoid not receiving emails because a publicjobs email has been blocked.

Only fully completed and submitted applications will be accepted into the competition. The admission of a person to the competition, or invitation to undertake any element of the selection process is not to be taken as implying that publicjobs or any other body is satisfied that such a person fulfils the requirements.

Selection Process

The selection process for this competition will comprise a number of elements. These may include one or more of the following:

• Completion of an online Assessment Questionnaire • Online and/or paper-based assessment test(s) • Shortlisting of candidates on the basis of the information contained in their application against set criteria based on the requirements of the position • An online video interview • Competitive Interview(s) • Presentation/Analysis exercise • Work sample test • Any other tests or exercises that may be deemed appropriate, including language proficiency tests

publicjobs has the discretion to add, remove or amend selection stages and assessments, at any point, as necessary.

Applicants must successfully complete each stage of the selection process, in order to be considered for advancement to the next stage of the multistage selection process. The number of candidates to be invited forward at each stage will be determined from time to time by publicjobs.

Please note: If publicjobs is not notified of any issues you experience in advance of or on the day of your assessments/interview, we will not be in a position to address these after the fact.

Stage 1: Online Assessment

The initial stage of the selection process will be an online assessment. Online assessments may be taken in a venue of your choice, wherever you have access to a computer and a reliable internet connection.

It is important to note that taking these assessments within a secure IT network e.g. a network such as your work or college which may have firewalls or other security technology in place may cause you technical difficulties. You should ensure that you can complete the assessments in a quiet environment where you can concentrate without being disturbed for the duration of the assessments.

It is advised to take the assessments on a device that you are familiar with.

Candidates invited to complete the online assessment(s) will be sent a familiarisation booklet, with more information and preparation guidelines.

It is important to note that the email address you provide when applying must be one that you can access at all times. Candidates will be given specific time windows in which to complete the assessments. A link(s) to the actual online assessments will be sent to candidates’ portals on publicjobs.ie in advance of the test-taking window. Candidates who have not completed all of the online assessments before the deadline will be deemed to be no longer interested in this competition and their application will receive no further consideration.

Your attention is drawn to Appendix 2 ‘Important Information’. If invited to progress through the selection process, a candidate may be required to sit tests in a supervised environment.

publicjobs has no function or involvement in the provision of, and does not endorse, any preparation courses relating to the selection process.

Stage 2: Interview & Exercise

Stage 2 of the selection process requires you to complete a Capability-Based Interview and a Practical Exercise. Further details, including familiarisation material and preparation guidelines, will be provided in advance of this stage, for those invited to progress.

Shortlisting

The number of applications received for a position generally exceeds that required to fill existing and future vacancies. While a candidate may meet the eligibility requirements of the competition, if the numbers applying are such that it would not be practical to interview everyone, publicjobs may decide that a smaller number will be invited to the next stage of the selection process.

publicjobs provide for the employment of a shortlisting process to select a group who, based on an examination of the application forms, appear to be the most suitable for the position. This is not to suggest that other candidates are necessarily unsuitable or incapable of undertaking the job, rather that there are some candidates, who based on their application, appear to be better qualified and/or have more relevant experience. During shortlisting, an expert board will examine the application forms against agreed shortlisting criteria which are based on the requirements of the position. The standard of content of each application submitted may also be assessed during this process. The shortlisting criteria may include both essential and desirable criteria specified for the position and, it is therefore in your own interest to provide a detailed and accurate account of your qualifications/experience in your application. The onus is on candidates to complete the application form fully and accurately.

In the case of competitions that may involve large numbers of candidates, candidates may be ranked on the outcome of their online assessment tests and will be shortlisted in accordance with their ranking. Applicants must successfully compete and be placed highest, to be considered for advancement to the next stage of the multistage selection process. The number to be invited forward at each stage will be determined from time to time by publicjobs.

Next Steps

Should you come under consideration to proceed to subsequent stages of the selection process, further information will be forwarded to you at the appropriate time.

Positions Requiring Specialist Irish Language Skills

The Civil Service is fully committed to fulfilling its obligations under the Official Languages Act. It is intended that any vacancies arising, which require staff to provide a full range of services through the Irish language (Functional Bilinguals), may be filled from this competition. In this regard individuals who have proficiency in the Irish language and who fulfil all other essential eligibility requirements as set out may indicate their interest on the application form.