Deputy Director Counter-Terrorism, UK and Crisis Operations

Job summary

This role leads a mixed military and civilian team responsible for developing policy guidance and providing military advice on operations in the UK and worldwide. It manages the Defence contribution to the cross-Government CONTEST counter-terrorism strategy and oversees MOD’s global crisis response. Working alongside a military counterpart, the post ensures that MOD can rapidly establish teams to respond to emerging crises. The role reports directly to the Director of Operational Policy.

Job description

UK operations

• Work with the Home Office, the intelligence agencies, and other government departments to support civil authorities when Defence capabilities are required. This includes supporting the government’s response to flooding, wildfires, and other emergent scenarios.
• Work closely with UK authorities to counter terrorism within the United Kingdom, including managing crisis response.
• Provide policy advice and oversight on military operations in the United Kingdom to senior Ministry of Defence officials and officers.

Counter-Terrorism

• Lead Defence’s contribution to HMG counter-terrorism efforts overseas, including policy development and operational responses.
• Work with Government Departments to deliver cross government CONTEST strategy, including direct support to the Gulf of Aden Counter-Terrorism Senior Responsible Owner (CT SRO).
• Work with Agency colleagues, partner nations and operational headquarters to manage overseas CT operations, responding to policy developments and evolutions.

Crisis Response

• Provide crisis management leadership – delivering short notice, fast paced, cross-government activity (typically working with No.10, Cabinet Office, and the FCDO, amongst others) to establish options, balance risks, make decisions and manage consequences.
• Develop training and preparations for the MOD civilian crisis response cadre, recruiting and developing volunteers to bolster the crisis team during operational responses.

Overseas Operations

• Lead and manage specific overseas operations at the strategic level, providing high quality policy advice to Defence Ministers and senior officials.
• Work with regional teams, the Permanent Joint Headquarters and other government departments to develop and maintain overseas operations to deliver key Defence and government outcomes.

General

• Deputise for the Director Operational Policy and Director General Policy when required, for example at Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) meetings or the Joint Intelligence Committee.
• Be an active member of the Senior Leadership Team on the direction and running of the Operations Directorate. You will be expected to lead one or several workstrands on areas such as diversity and inclusion or learning and development, and to engage actively with staff.

Person specification

• Outstanding policy professional with a range of policy experience in national security.
• Proven track record of strategic thinking and experience in translating strategy and policy into successful delivery.
• Strong leadership skills demonstrated in complex and dynamic environments, with the ability to inspire, engage, and motivate diverse teams.
• A proactive, driven, and energetic problem solver, consistently focused on achieving delivery outcomes.
• Highly developed political awareness, and personal gravitas coupled with excellent oral communication skills with a proven ability to present complex issues simply and effectively.
• Sound judgement with highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills, and a proven ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong experience of working with Ministers and conveying complex information to enable decision-making at speed.
• Proven ability to work in crisis and lead others through it.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £86,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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 Civil Service Jobs portal. This should be completed no later than 23:55 on Sunday 1 November 2026 and will involve providing the two documents which are weighted equally:

- 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 clearly evidence 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.
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.

We will be offering an online Q&A session on the Friday 16th 15.00-16.00 to provide an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clicking here. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. If you have any issues accessing the session, please contact: Mohammad.Doha100@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 Civil Service Commission - Recruitment

Attachments

Deputy Director Counter-Terrorism UK and Crisis Operations Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 210kB)