Chief Operating Officer, Defence Intelligence

Ministry of Defence

On-Site

Expires: Expiring in less than 4 weeks

Flexible

£81,000 per year

Job summary

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) leads DI’s policy and secretariat functions, ensuring compliance with statutory obligations, effective parliamentary engagement and communications, and support to oversight bodies and inquiries. The COO oversees DI’s governance structures, providing advice to the senior leadership team on corporate assurance and chairing the DI Management Board.

The role directs DI’s international engagement, shaping strategy, managing key alliances and partnerships, and coordinating multilateral programmes with MOD, UK partners and global counterparts. It also provides senior leadership of DI’s places portfolio and strategy, guiding major transformation programmes and managing infrastructure across the international estate.

The COO leads DI’s business management and corporate functions, ensuring operational effectiveness and overseeing budgets, workforce, environment, health and safety, security and commercial processes.

Job description

The current responsibilities of the role include:

Policy

Servicing the requirements and requests of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, the Investigatory Powers Commissioners Office (IPCO) and other Commons’ or Lords’ Committees, including providing support to DI Seniors at evidence sessions, submission of our quarterly and annual reports, successful engagement with Committees’ reports, reporting breaches and maintaining compliance.
All Secretariat responsibilities, including Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Ministerial and public correspondence, media engagement and disclosure to enquiries and courts.
Lead responsibility for Ministry of Defence (MOD) for the operation of the provisions of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, including warrant applications on behalf of Defence, authorisation of activity, compliance and assurance, and Bulk Personal Data approvals.
Work closely with Legal Advisors (LEGAD) to ensure seamless legal-policy support to DI and intelligence-related operations across MOD, including on use, sharing and disclosure of intelligence.
Provide support to Public Inquiries and Court Hearings, liaising across Defence and coordinating the release of documents that may have National Security sensitivities into the public domain and ensuring witness support.

Governance

Lead the DI Executive Board and DI Management Board secretariat. Co-chair the DI Management Board and the Strategic Workforce Panel, which distributes DI’s recruiting allocation.

Engagement

Develop and oversee the strategy and delivery of DI’s International Engagement Programme, ensuring alignment with the MOD and Cyber and Specialist Operations Command’s (CSOC) international strategic objectives, including senior-level international engagement strategies.
Lead DI’s international policy, including the development and management of legal agreements, data and intelligence-sharing arrangements, and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs).
Oversee key multilateral international partnerships, including NATO, the Five Eyes alliance (FVEYs), AUKUS, and other partnerships.
Support NATO intelligence activities and contribute to the FVEYs Intelligence Board, which facilitates intelligence collaboration between the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Act as the Senior Responsible Owner for Line of Effort (LOE) 3 within the HEZUK Programme, ensuring successful delivery of objectives to enhance collaboration with international partners.

Places

Shape and drive the strategic direction of Defence Intelligence’s (DI) Places strategy, including leading high-profile programmes.
Ensure seamless alignment with and support for the broader Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) Places strategy, contributing to the delivery of Defence-wide objectives.
Lead on all infrastructure-related matters across DI’s international estate, ensuring it is fit for purpose and supports operational needs.

Business Management

Overseeing all people and financial business operations including commercial, authorising business cases, Annual Budgetary Cycle planning, Spending Review proposals and the setting of requirements.
Leading the security and Health, Safety and Environment and Security teams and liaising with other Defence business areas on accommodation issues.
Ensuring DI has robust business continuity and resilience plans.

Person specification

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

Proven experience of operating within complex policy environments, particularly in an international context.
A strong track record of building, leading, and developing high-performing policy, governance, and/or engagement functions within a fast-paced operational organisation.
Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire professional teams through periods of organisational transformation, delivering measurable and positive outcomes.
Extensive experience in fostering collaboration and building effective partnerships across organisational boundaries to achieve shared strategic objectives.
An understanding of the evolving political, strategic, and legislative landscape, with the ability to anticipate and address its impact on organisational governance, risk, and operations.
Experience of workforce and budget management.
Experience working in the field of national security, intelligence, and/or Defence, with a strong understanding of the associated challenges and opportunities.

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 and/or relevant qualifications in programme leadership and management.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £23,465 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 no later than 23:55 Sunday 15 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) providing tangible examples that demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for the role.

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

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Contact point for applicants

Salary range

£81,000 per year