Deputy Director Communications and Engagement, Security​

Job summary

Demands on Defence are rising with growing global uncertainty and threat. Managing how we tell that story, to the public, our partners, our allies and our adversaries is part of how we manage the growing demand. Communications can and should have an effect. So we are looking for someone to lead one of the most exciting areas – our Security team.

This role will be one of three Deputy Directors in the MoD’s Communications leadership team. The Deputy Director Communications and Engagement (Security) will have specific oversight of the Security pillar of the Defence Communications Strategy, which includes ensuring we highlight how the UK Armed Forces make us secure at home and strong abroad. You will be responsible for devising the strategy, overseeing planning for its delivery, evaluation of the outputs and replanning to assure delivery of the objectives.

You will lead a dedicated team shaping the Security pillar of the Defence Communications Strategy to align with the Defence Plan, Government Policy, and the Government Communications plan. In addition to this strategic focus, you will develop the Department's Communication Campaign Plans and plan day-to-day communication activities.

This post is open to civilian and military communications professionals, in which a successful military candidate can take this post up in uniform.​

Job description

The current responsibilities of the role include:​

• Providing oversight and strategic direction to the Security Pillar in the Communications and Engagement Team including ensuring strategy, evaluation through managing quarterly evaluation sessions, planning and first level accountability to the Minister for the Armed Forces.​
• Providing the strategic overview of all our communications on how we keep the UK secure at home and strong abroad: from our approach to communicating about all military operations to our support for Ukraine; from our Nuclear Deterrent to the innovative ways in which we are defending ourselves. ​
• Providing oversight, support and improvements for at least one functional area of communications, such as Internal Communications, Digital Communications, or Strategic Communications and Insight. ​
• Providing leadership to a Civilian team, as well as the Military staff in the Central Communications team as 1st Reporting Officer, ensuring the appropriate development support is in place.​
• Playing an active part in the senior leadership of communications including, but not limited to, the policy, finance, HR and management of the team. ​
• Subject to review, the postholder is currently responsible for the management of the contract with the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), which provides defence focussed news to the Armed Forces and General Public and also provides a welfare TV and Radio service to deployed personnel, being one of the main levers for internal communications to thousands of deployed personnel and their families.

Person specification

• Proven ability to engage confidently and credibly with senior leaders and/or military officials, influencing across organisational boundaries to deliver strategic objectives.​
• A demonstrable deep understanding of the Armed Forces and/or security issues. ​
• Extensive Communications experience at Board level, and a proven track record in building and leading communications teams in complex organisations. ​
• Proven leadership skills and experience in motivating, empowering and continuously improving teams to meet challenging deadlines while delivering work to the highest standard. ​​
• Demonstrable experience of supporting and building systematic resilience in communications teams operating in fast pace, sensitive and high-profile environments. ​​
• Proactive and delivery focused, with an adaptable approach to delivering multiple concurrentworkstreams in environments where there are high levels of ambiguity and change, with the abilityto re-prioritise when needed. ​

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £98,500, Ministry of Defence contributes £28,535 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 than23:55 on Sunday 19 April 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. Strong examples should focus on what you did, how you did it, and the impact of your actions.

Both documents are weighted equally in their scoring, so it's important to consider this when uploading your application. Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.

Simon Enright will be hosting an online Q&A session on Wednesday 15 April at 14:30pm - 15:15pm to provide an overview of the role and answer any questions you may have. You can join the session by clicking here.

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

SCS1 Candidate Pack_Deputy Director Communications and Engagement, Security Opens in new window (pdf, 2124kB)