Assistant Principal Officer

The Role

Assistant Principal Officer is a senior managerial grade in the Civil Service and is a critical leadership role in implementing government policy in the economic, financial, international, environmental and/or social arenas.

While the responsibilities and key deliverables for the role of Assistant Principal Officer in the Civil Service will vary depending on the sector and Department/Office in which the vacancy arises, they generally include:

• Policy and strategy formulation on complex issues.

• Shaping fiscally sustainable policy solutions to promote economic and employment growth and effective social policies.

• Engaging effectively with diverse audiences and stakeholders including Ministers, senior civil servants and the wider political system, including on cross-governmental issues.

• Providing high-quality budgeting advice and ensuring delivery against fiscal targets.

• Planning and organisation of significant programmes of work in a pressurised environment, within tight deadlines.

• Leading, managing and developing staff to achieve high levels of performance.

• Participation in and leadership of cross-cutting projects to deliver whole-of-Government objectives.

• Providing leadership, strategic direction and innovation in advancing the reform agenda, including the delivery of action plans under Civil Service Renewal 2030 and Better Public Services 2030.

• Representing Ireland’s interests at EU and international level.

Please note that the above list of responsibilities is not exhaustive.

Selection for the position of Assistant Principal Officer 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 and 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.

Essential Entry Requirements

Candidates must, on or before the closing date of Thursday, 18 June 2026:

Have significant management experience at an appropriate level, including leading teams and managing stakeholders; and

Have significant experience of some or all of the following:

• People management

• Project management

• Managing budgets

• Delivery of programmes

• Strategic and change management; and

Demonstrate that they possess the key skills and capabilities identified for effective performance at this level as set out at Appendix 1. These include:

• Building Future Readiness

• Leading & Empowering

• Evidence Informed Delivery

• Communicating and Collaborating

In the case of those candidates who express an interest in an Irish-speaking position as functional bilingual, such candidates must achieve the required level in the Irish language, i.e. demonstrate a minimum Level B2 on the Europass self-assessment framework.

Desirable

• A third-level educational qualification in a relevant discipline(s) commensurate with the role.

Eligibility may not be confirmed until the final stage of the process. Therefore, candidates who do not possess the essential requirements on or by the dates specified, and proceed with their application, are putting themselves to unnecessary effort and expense and will not be offered a position from this competition.

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 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. An invitation to tests, interview or any element of the selection process is not acceptance of eligibility.

The Selection Process

The selection process for this competition will comprise a number of elements. 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 multi-stage selection process. The number to be invited forward at each stage will be determined from time to time by publicjobs.

More detailed information will be made available to the relevant candidates if they are invited to progress through the process.

publicjobs will not be responsible for refunding any expenses incurred by candidates.

Successful candidates will be placed on a panel from which future vacancies may be filled.

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

Please Note

This competition is being conducted in conjunction with an interdepartmental promotional competition for this grade for eligible serving civil servants. Existing eligible civil servants are permitted to apply and to sit the selection tests, interviews, etc., only once even if applying for both competitions.

Irrespective of which streams you have applied for, you may only sit the various stages of the selection process once. The scores you achieve will carry across both streams for which you applied, and for which you come under consideration.

Stage 1: Online Assessment

The initial stage of the selection process will be online assessments. 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 workplace or college which may have firewalls or other security technology in place, may cause 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 Assistant Principal Officer assessments. A link(s) to the actual online assessment(s) 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: 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 provides 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, 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, therefore, it is in your own interest to provide a detailed and accurate account of your qualifications and experience in your application.

The onus is on candidates to complete the application form fully and accurately.

In competitions involving large numbers of candidates, applicants may be ranked on the outcome of their online assessment tests and shortlisted in accordance with their ranking.

Applicants must successfully complete and achieve a sufficiently high ranking to be considered for advancement to the next stage of the multi-stage selection process.

The number to be invited forward at each stage will be determined from time to time by publicjobs.

Stage 3: Interview and Practical Exercise

The final stage of the selection process will consist of an interview based on the Assistant Principal Officer Capability Framework and an additional Practical Exercise which will take place alongside the main interview.

The additional Practical Exercise will assess key skills and capabilities relevant to the Assistant Principal Officer role, for example analysis, presentation and written skills.

Further details will be provided in advance to candidates invited to attend the final stage.

Please note it is anticipated that the final stage of the selection process will be held in person at the publicjobs office, Chapter House, Abbey Street, Dublin 1.

Making a Complaint under Section 8

A candidate may believe there was a breach of the Commission’s Code of Practice by publicjobs that may have compromised the integrity of the decision reached in the appointment process.

The complaints process enables candidates to make a complaint under Section 8 to publicjobs in the first instance, and subsequently to the Commission for Public Service Appointments on appeal if they remain dissatisfied.

Following a Section 8 complaint process, either publicjobs or the CPSA may find that the recruitment and selection process in question has not adhered to the standards set out in the Code of Practice.

In such cases, publicjobs and the CPSA may make recommendations to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.

The CPSA cannot instruct publicjobs to reverse a decision taken during an appointment process.

Any candidate wishing for an investigation into a decision regarding their application as part of a selection process should request a Review under Section 7, as outlined above.

The complainant must:

• Outline the facts they believe show that the process followed was incorrect.

• Identify the aspect of the Code they believe has been infringed.

• Enclose any relevant documentation that may support the allegation.

A complaint may be dismissed if the complainant cannot support their allegations by setting out how publicjobs has fallen short of the principles of the Code.

The Informal Complaint will consist of a desk-based examination of any available information relating to the recruitment process.

The outcome of the Informal Complaint will be communicated to the requester in writing.

• An Informal Complaint must be made within five working days of notification of the decision and will normally take place between the candidate and a representative of publicjobs who played a key role in the administration of the selection process.

• Where a candidate remains dissatisfied following such informal communication, they may adopt the formal procedures set out below.

A Formal Complaint must be made within five working days of either the notification of the selection decision or the notification of the outcome of the Informal Complaint.

Any extension of these time limits will only be granted in the most exceptional circumstances and will be at the sole discretion of the Chief Executive.

• The candidate must address their concerns in writing to the Chief Executive (via email to ceomailbox@publicjobs.ie or in writing to Chief Executive Officer, publicjobs, Chapter House, 26/30 Abbey Street Upper, Dublin 1), outlining the facts that they believe show an action taken or decision reached was incorrect.

• The Formal Complaint will be investigated by a person who is completely independent of the selection process.

• The outcome of the Formal Complaint will generally be notified to the candidate within 25 working days of receipt of the request for review. If the investigation does not produce a decision within this time, publicjobs must keep the candidate informed of the status of the review and the reasons for the delay.