Defence Business Services (DBS) – Estates Site Manager – Ilford Park Polish Home – Devon

Job summary

A unique opportunity has arisen to join our established group of permanent staff to make moments matter for the people who live at Ilford Park Polish Home (IPPH), Newton Abbot.

Our Mission

• We aim to provide the highest standards of care in a service that is safe, caring, effective, responsive and well led. We strive to provide the best lived experience for the people we support ensuring that people are treated with the utmost dignity and respect. We will keep people at the heart of all we do and deliver care that is centred around the individual so people can live their lives in the way they wish.

Our Vision

• We strive to be recognised by the regulatory body as an outstanding service that is safe and caring and where people are proud to live.

Our promise

• To provide the highest quality of care by knowledgeable and trained staff.
• To respond to residents in a manner which makes each and all of them feel that valued and respected.
• To be responsive to individual needs and provide meaningful occupation.
• To be transparent with “Friends and Family” to keep them informed and meet our duty of candour.
• To provide a positive work environment for staff that values the work they do, is inclusive and respects diversity.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience and offer Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%.

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity for you to join our organisation as the site Estates Manager for Ilford Park Polish Home (IPPH) at Stover near Newton Abbott. IPPH is unique in the MOD property portfolio as a residential care and nursing home dedicated to elderly Polish veterans and their dependents, known locally as ‘Little Poland’.

The IPPH Estates Manager is responsible for delivery of all aspects of Facilities Management, Infrastructure, Health & Safety and Environmental Protection, Physical Security, Internet and telephone connectivity, as well as other associated tasks around the home’s sheltered environment and it’s landscaped grounds.

The role is based at IPPH. Some travel to other DBS sites will be required on an infrequent basis.

For more information about IPPH please access this link Ilford Park Polish Home - GOV.UK

Job description

The role of IPPH Estates Manager sits within the wider DBS Estates team who are responsible for overseeing the infrastructure and facilities management at DBS sites across the UK, ensuring compliance with statutory and internal health, safety and environmental protection procedures and standards.

We are looking for someone who can connect with confidence, enjoys collaborating and has a good eye for detail. Ideally you will have a sound grasp of how safety and environmental considerations' impact on care home activities, however specific HS&EP qualifications are not required because full training will be given.

This job role is primarily site-based at IPPH because it involves daily liaising with staff and contractors within the home and managing all aspects of site health and safety. Therefore opportunities for hybrid working are limited and IPPH would be your permanent duty station. Some travel to other DBS sites will be required on an infrequent basis.

DBS and the Civil Service at large are strongly dedicated to promoting equal employment opportunity irrespective of your race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, civil status, sex, or gender identity. Applications are welcomed and strongly encouraged from candidates of all backgrounds, and we are actively working to establish a diverse workforce across the entire organisation. We are delighted to announce that we are an Equal Opportunities Employer and that we recruit purely based upon the merit of each and every individual applicant.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Head of Establishment’s Estates Representative managing all aspects of non-care related Health & Safety matters including site policy documentation (SEMS), risk assessment, fire safety, emergency planning, and hazard identification, ensuring the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all related procedures, documentation and training to ensure legal and MOD compliance is met.
• Acting as the Estates Fire Focal Point (EFFP) for IPPH and Centurion Building in Gosport, undertaking regular site audits to provide 1LoD. Provide EFFP support to other DBS sites in the Southern Region as required.
• Oversight and control of all infrastructure work undertaken by approved contractors as supported by Defence Infrastructure Organisation and the Regional Prime Contractor.
• Be responsible for the site Environmental Management System, Environmental Risk Assessment and utilities monitoring for the home and the associated sewage treatment plant.
• Managing telephony and Wi-Fi provision across the site, ensuring timely contract renewals by writing business cases in conjunction with DBS Commercial and Finance teams.
• Acting as Branch Security Officer responsible for all aspects for the Physical Security of DBS IPPH.
• Responsible for DBS
• Representing DBS at site Stakeholder meetings, developing constructive relationships, and communicate with Commercial Partners and other external Agencies/Professionals where appropriate to the role.
• Managing Estates-related procurement requests including market testing ensuring best value for money in accordance with MOD financial control systems and procedures.
• DBS Estates lead undertaking all estates tasks as appropriate to the role and providing support and guidance to other DBS sites as appropriate to the role

Person specification

The successful individual will be:-

• Highly organised, with demonstrable communication and IT skills. The role requires initiative, management of priorities and balancing a busy workload to adapt to changing demands;
• Have strong interpersonal skills and relationship management skills with the ability to work flexibly in order to meet stretching deadlines;
• Be an excellent verbal and written communicator;
• Able to work independently and as part of a wider team;
• Have the ability to interact and engage confidently with a range of stakeholders across Defence.

Experience within a care home setting or a HS&EP role is desirable but not essential as full training will be given.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,720, Ministry of Defence contributes £10,927 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 including a flexi-time scheme
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Highly competitive Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• Alternative working practices such as hybrid working
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service
• Ability to roll over up to 10 days annual leave per year
• In addition to 8 public holidays per year you will also receive leave for HM The King’s birthday
• Enhanced parental and adoption leave
• Minimum of 15 days Special Leave in a rolling 12-month period for volunteer military or emergency service reserve commitments
• Special paid leave for volunteering up to 6 days per year
• Employee Assistance Programme to support your wellbeing – a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
• On-site gymnasium (for a small monthly fee for membership of Civil Service Sports Club)
• Loan to purchase a Bicycle (Advance on Salary)
• Defence Sports & Recreational Association (DSRA)
• Access to Defence Discount Service & Blue Light Discount

Allowances

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

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

Employment Hours

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Please use the ‘STAR’ technique when writing your examples to enable you to provide a meaningful and complete example for assessment. For those not familiar with STAR, it is an acronym that stands for:

• Situation
• Task
• Action
• Result.

It is suggested that you make full use of the 250 word-allowance available, ensuring you provide full details of your own actions and how you have fully demonstrated all aspects of the Behaviour at the level of the role applied for. As a guide, approximately 70% of the word-allowance should be used to describe your actions.

Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.

Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.

At application stage you will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Experience:

• CV - This has been asked for to show your employment history, as well as your previous skills and experience, however it will not be scored. Candidates who are selected for interview will be asked questions about experience during the interview.
• Personal Statement - Within your personal statement please include details of how you meet the aspects of the person specification for the role.

At interview you will be assessed against the above (behaviours), PLUS the following:

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving

We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isn’t always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months.

Application sifting to take place: Early April 2026

Interviews are currently taking place via Face to Face and will be conducted: Late April 2026

A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

To assist with your application please find attached -

DBS Candidate Information Guide - Working for Defence Business Services - Arial Nova GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

(26) UK Ministry of Defence: Life , LinkedIn

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (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

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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 : mel poolton
• Email : mel.poolton100@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dbs-enhancedrecruitmentteam@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@MOD.gov.uk in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

Attachments

Defence Civil Servant Offer 2024 Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)