Northern Ireland Civil Service grades explained

The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) has a ladder of grades: AA (administrative assistant), AO (administrative officer), EO2 and EO1 (executive officers), SO (staff officer), DP (deputy principal), then Grade 7, Grade 6 and the Senior Civil Service from Grade 5 upwards. Each grade has its own pay scale, the same across every department, and a move to the next grade normally means applying for a post at that grade.

The ladder in order

The grade names in NICS pay documents are AA, AO, EOII, EOI, SO, DP and Grade 7, followed by Grades 6 and 5 and the Senior Civil Service scales above them. EOII and EOI are the executive officer grades that most job adverts call EO2 and EO1. The pay for each is in NICS pay scales, and the same scales run across every department.

Grade	Full name	Top of the August 2025 scale
AA	Administrative assistant	£25,796
AO	Administrative officer	£28,094
EO2	Executive officer 2	£31,097
EO1	Executive officer 1	£34,231
SO	Staff officer	£38,990
DP	Deputy principal	£49,515
Grade 7	Grade 7	£64,469

What the lower grades do

The entry points are AA and AO. The Department of Finance’s most recent AO recruitment notice that I could check described permanent administrative officer posts for roles across all government departments. I could not find an official list of duties for AA, and the work at AO differs by department, so the job advert and its job description are what count.

EO2 is the first executive grade. The Department of Finance’s 2025 notice for about 500 EO2 posts said EO2s deliver public services and described duties such as leading a team, serving customers directly, assessing benefit claims, processing applications, and helping deliver services and projects. The salary on that notice was £30,458. EO1 is the grade above, with a higher pay scale (the August 2025 scale starts at £33,542). Check the advert for the duties of a particular post.

Staff officer, deputy principal and Grade 7

These three sit between the executive grades and Grade 6. Staff officer tops out at £38,990, deputy principal at £49,515 and Grade 7 at £64,469 on the August 2025 scales, so each step up is sizeable. The grade titles do not match the ones used in the rest of the UK Civil Service, which goes from EO to HEO and SEO before reaching Grade 7. The HEO and SEO roles guide covers the GB grades, in case an advert compares them.

NICS grades do not map one to one onto GB grades. GB does not use the staff officer and deputy principal names, and NICS has two executive grades, so compare the job description and the pay scale.

Grade 6 and the Senior Civil Service

Grade 6 tops out at £77,904 on the August 2025 scale. The Senior Civil Service scales begin with the assistant secretary pay scale (Grade 5), which runs from £88,268 to £97,070. Deputy secretaries are Grade 3, on a scale from £113,060 to £123,946. Annual leave is also better at the top: Senior Civil Service staff get 30 days on entry, while other staff get 25 days until five years’ service and 30 after that.

How promotion works

Promotion into a higher NICS grade normally means applying for a vacancy or a competition at that grade. Recruitment competitions for AO and EO2 have been advertised for around 500 posts at a time, with applications handled through the NICS recruitment website. The advert says who can apply.

Applications are assessed against the criteria in the advert. The Civil Service success profiles and behaviours guides cover how applications in the wider Civil Service are assessed, and they are a starting point, though a NICS competition sets its own criteria. For applying a grade above your own, see applying for a job above your current band or grade.

Within a grade, pay moves along the scale points. The August 2025 scales have three points at each grade from AO to Grade 7 (AA has one), so how and when you move depends on the rules in your terms and conditions.

Where to see the current vacancies

NICS jobs are advertised through the NICS recruitment website, and the Department of Finance publishes news of the big competitions. The how to apply for NICS jobs guide walks through the process.