Rachel Hayward has two overlapping jobs, 'organising' both Cabinet and the Executive Council. Those twin roles are an also a great insight into how government works at the very highest level.
Behind the big names and big decisions are crucial people quietly making sure the machinery of government runs well.
Previously on The House, we've described the secretariat that runs Parliament; overseeing the House, managing its legislation and its various committees.
A similar secretariat quietly keeps order at the two hearts of government (Cabinet and Executive Council). As above, so below (or vice versa).
Twin secretariats; equally vital, similarly invisible, and both staffed with some of the (quietly) cleverest among us.
Listen to the Phil Smith's interview with Secretary to the Cabinet Cabinet, Rachel Hayward.
Multiple hats
Rachel Hayward holds two official titles simultaneously: Secretary of the Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council - two interlinked and overlapping roles.
"They have been held separately in the past," she explains, "I think at one stage a decision was made that there wasn't enough for two people to do - back in the 40s."
That's not the case anymore by a margin. Now there is a team of 25 run by Rachel Hayward. It's a surprisingly small team considering. It's called the Cabinet Office and is within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Exploring Rachel Hayward's twin roles is a useful way to see how government works at the very highest level - both the Cabinet and the little known Executive Council.
But let's begin with location, specifically the room where decisions happen.
The Cabinet room
I chatted with Rachel Hayward about her two roles in the Cabinet room, the place where the Cabinet meets. The Cabinet room is on the top floor of the Beehive, inside that dark cap that crowns the Beehive with menacing fins. That's a floor higher than the prime minister's office.
If you look closely at the Beehive's 10th floor from the outside you can see there are a few windows hidden behind the fins - but they are not windows into the Cabinet room. The Cabinet room has alcoves but no windows. It is in the centre of the building, encircled by the offices that house Hayward's team.
The cabinet room is up in the very top of the beehive, inside that dark brown cap with the menacing fins.
The room is slightly ovoid, and so is the enormous doughnut-shaped table that occupies much of it. The atmosphere here is unusually hushed. …