Chief Information Officer, Defence Intelligence

Job summary

This role reports to the Director Strategy and Enterprise in Defence Intelligence (DI) and is responsible for the provision of effective information technology strategy for Defence Intelligence, and for understanding progress/performance against that strategy. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for the maintenance and smooth operation of current IT systems and transition away from legacy systems, and for cyber security. The Chief Information Officer, Defence Intelligence is accountable to MOD CIO for effective leadership of the Digital Function in DI, and coordination and support to wider functional objectives across MOD.

Dr Naomi Roberts, Director Strategy and Enterprise, Defence Intelligence will be offering an online Q&A session onWednesday 25 February 2026 10:00-11:00to give an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clickinghere. If you have any issues accessing the session, please contact: People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk

Job description

• To oversee the reliable daily delivery of the right information technology products and services to users and to the business that give us advantage over our adversaries;
• To understand the wider technology landscape in use and planned across MOD, wider UK Government and by our partners and allies, and find opportunities to collaborate and integrate;
• On behalf of the Director, to continuously evaluate and evolve DI’s technology and data blueprint which provides the headmarks for multiple multi-million pound delivery programmes, to ensure the blueprint enables us to pull through innovation that will give us advantage; and to understand how the programmes are delivering against the blueprint;
• To advise the Director on investment decisions in technology and data for DI;
• To assure and coordinate cyber and information security for DI;
• To represent DI and provide thought leadership on information technology in MOD, cross government and international forums;
• To lead the digital function within Defence Intelligence, coordinating and cohering with wider digital functional leads across MOD, and delivering priority functional objectives according to the direction of MOD Chief Information Officer;
• To provide oversight of the design and implementation of continuous improvements to our technology, wherever possible using our partners’ and allies’ solutions. It is a highly complex landscape, with delivery through multiple large programmes owned elsewhere.

Person specification

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• Have experience of collective leadership across and between organisations to achieved shared outcomes;
• Be a strategic thinker, with experience of successfully building, leading and implementing a digital strategy at scale;
• Be a trusted technology adviser, and have experience of advising senior colleagues, managing complex situations, and communicating complex technology concepts effectively;
• Have experience of leading and managing digital teams during a period of transformation;
• Be a visible, credible leader and have leadership presence in both internal and external contexts; and
• Have a good understanding of evolving trends in digital and what it could mean for the Defence enterprise.

Technical Essential Criteria;

• Membership of a professional body (e.g. BCS).

Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a strong field of candidates when there is a need to distinguish between candidates. This will be as a second sift, after the essential criteria has been considered:

• Experience of Agile development combined with a detailed knowledge of package software solutions, bespoke build and software integration;
• Experience of implementing cyber security and Data Protection best practice

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £95,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £27,521 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process accessed via the advertisement listed for this role. This should be completed no later than 23:55 Sunday 8 March 2026 and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal:

• A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the person specification.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

External candidates who join the MOD and are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

CIO DI Candidate Information Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 2125kB)