Senior management are quite good to staff. middle management, depending on your division, can be capable and genuinely look out for you, but some are just here till retirement i.e. simply deadweight. And even worse they might think they're very smart and their opinion matters but actually they hold up the process and bring no value to the table whatsoever.

There are ministry-wide events and activities you can go for, but again depending on your role you might be too busy to go, especially for policy work. You can definitely come at 9 and leave at 5.30 (I'm referring to those who have little work to do and not those who are efficient); no one would openly criticise you for it. At most it'll just be reflected in your appraisal (low grade).

Wrt your 2nd qn, the job posting would either indicate AM/M or M/SM. Your final rank depends on a combination of factors - I can only think of a few as I'm not in HR - but these would be your last drawn salary, your last drawn pay, the budget set aside for the new staff and whether they is a vacancy at tbe SM level. I haven't heard of any working levek staff getting bumped up to the next level if the job posting clearly indicates they're looking for someone at the lower level. But it could be possible if you're a good negotiator and an outstanding candidate, and they're desperate to hire.