Chief Operating Officer - MAB

Ministry of Defence

London, UK

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 4 weeks

Flexible

£81,000 per year

Job summary

MAB HQ operates with a considerable annual budget and is supported by a diverse workforce of civilian and military personnel, both in the UK and overseas. The HQ team, primarily based in London, brings together Regulars, Reservists, Civil Servants, and Contractors in a collaborative, blended model where expertise and experience are valued above rank or title.

As Chief Operating Officer, you will play a pivotal role within the Senior Leadership Team, acting as a key advisor to the Commander MAB. You will lead, inspire, and manage elements of the HQ’s multi-disciplinary team, driving excellence across a range of critical functions. Initially, your responsibilities will include overseeing corporate policy, compliance, assurance, operating risk, resource planning, finance, governance, and health, safety, and environment (HS&E).

This is a dynamic and evolving role where your strategic insight and leadership will ensure the HQ operates effectively and efficiently as it navigates a period of significant transformation. You will be instrumental in developing and delivering a forward-looking governance and portfolio programme to modernise MAB for the challenges of the 21st century.

Job description

The current responsibilities of the role include:

Act as the business management and corporate policy advisor to the Commander on higher formation facing issues.
Corporate business and governance lead for MAB with responsibility for support to business planning (annual Command Plan, Annual Budgetary Cycle (ABC) process), Spending Reviews, and Quarterly Performance Reporting; risk management and assurance; Health, Safety and Environmental Protection (HSEP); and approving certain activities and expenditure on the Commander’s behalf.
Supporting the development of MAB’s future strategy and underpinning capability pathway. Lead the continuous improvement of MAB’s assurance assessment such that it continues to strive for substantial assurance, with a readiness to remedy issues and promote new ways of working as necessary. Providing iterative and practical advice that is in line with other developments within the Headquarters to promote coherence.
Lead a comprehensive risk management process to identify, mitigate and monitor the risks inherent in all elements of MAB.
Undertake line management, mentoring and countersigning tasks as required by the role.
Play a full part as a member of the leadership team of MAB and liaison with higher formation HQ and the Senior Civil Service leadership of the Department, including through pro-active engagement in recruitment, training development and mentoring; acting as a role model and champion to the Civil Servants at the HQ and their contribution to the wider MAB Group.
Support and lead, as necessary, the ongoing change initiatives within the HQ and wider organisation to drive efficiency and transparency.
Lead on wider MAB Group Whitley Committee issues and on Trades Union consultations as required.

Person specification

A proven track record of senior leadership, with the ability to build high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams and develop talent; and proven success in leading in an environment of ambiguity and change.
Exceptional judgement and political acumen, with the ability to navigate and deliver in a fast-paced, complex, and multi-stakeholder environment.
Significant experience in designing and delivering organisational governance and assurance frameworks, including performance, compliance, and risk management.
Demonstrable expertise in resource planning, financial management, and budgetary oversight within a complex organisation.
The ability to engage confidently and credibly with senior civilian and military officials, influencing across organisational boundaries to deliver strategic objectives.

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 on Sunday 15th February 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.

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

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