Director of the UKSA, Job Share Partner

Job summary

As Director (SCS2) for the UK Space Agency, you will lead the newly formed UKSA. This brings together staff from DSIT Space Directorate and the current UK Space Agency into a single team responsible for space strategy, policy and delivery.

This will be a directorate within DSIT and will no longer be an Arm's Length Body (ALB). You will oversee the completion of the set-up of the new directorate, which will be a large team of several hundred. You will establish a dynamic, inclusive and cohesive culture in which all staff feel they play a part.

You will be responsible for delivering ministers’ space ambitions within the Managing Public Money framework and the £680m+ annual budget. You will report to the Growth, Science and International Director General, line manage Deputy Directors and play a key part in DSIT’s senior leadership team.

Job description

Responsibilities

Lead across government on space strategy, building on the existing National Space Strategy, Industrial Strategy and Strategic Defence Review and communicating effectively to set a clearly defined long-term direction. Work closely with other key departments with equities in space, particularly the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Develop civil space policy for the areas within DSIT’s responsibility, including economic growth; national security, critical national infrastructure and capabilities; regulatory issues; international partnerships and science. Build trusting relationships with ministers and senior advisers. Provide balanced, evidence-based advice on policy options, considering affordability and deliverability.

Establish effective cross-government governance to ensure coherence and policy and delivery alignment with other departments and Arm’s Length Bodies, notably MOD, Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Department for Transport (DfT), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the intelligence agencies. Chair the senior board which advises ministers on space and act as the lead official at the ministerial forum. Build close relationships with counterparts in departments across government to influence right across Whitehall.

Develop new programmes which deliver ministerial priorities. Ensure these programmes are set up according to government best practice, have sound business cases and offer value for money. Ensure adherence to public sector commercial and programme management reporting requirements and risk management. Work closely with MOD and other departments to ensure alignment of programmes where relevant.

Deliver existing programmes in line with the HMG Managing Public Money framework. Ensure oversight and governance is in place across the full delivery cycle, from designing R&D calls, through grant or contract management, to monitoring and evaluation.

Support the UK’s world-class science base. Work closely with other research organisations, in particular UKRI, and the academic community to deliver cutting-edge science, R&D and innovation. Build relationships across the academic community.

Represent the UK government’s interests internationally at the European Space Agency as Head of Delegation and ESA Council member, ensuring good value for money for the UK’s investments. Lead work with the United Nations and in other multilateral for a and in bilateral discussions with partner nations. Foster strong and productive relationships with other governments and support the government’s agenda in working closely with priority partners.

Sponsor and grow the UK’s space sector. Work closely with industry as a visible and credible representative of government, amplifying successes and opportunities and communicating clearly. Ensure government funding is used in a targeted way which allows the sector to help deliver government priorities. Lead on existing and new government investment opportunities in space.

Own the National Strategic Risk Assessment space risks which are DSIT’s responsibility, including leading on any crisis response required. Advise on issues relating to space as critical national infrastructure, including those related to national security.

Be accountable for the budget (currently c£680m per annum), which includes funding for the European Space Agency, bilateral and domestic programmes. Work within departmental delegations to oversee spend on staff, programmes and contracts. Allocate and track spend efficiently, applying appropriate assurance and regular financial reporting. Lead on spending reviews and business planning on space, acting in accordance with departmental choices and priorities.

Develop a workforce with the right skills and experience to deliver the unit’s wide range of responsibilities. Ensure that activities are closely aligned with ministerial priorities. Manage the workforce inclusively across multiple locations.

Create and foster a positive, inclusive culture in the directorate which celebrates diversity, role models civil service values and fully engages staff who have joined from both DSIT and UKSA. Establish a vision, values and priorities for the unit which sits within the wider DSIT landscape. Provide clear direction to senior staff, role modelling behaviours to ensure the new unit is cohesive.

Key challenges for the role

Shape the government’s approach to a fast-changing, dual use, sector which has general purpose benefits – Work across government to agree a one government approach to space strategy in a rapidly changing sector facing international competition, technological change and rapidly emerging new challenges and opportunities.

Build and strengthen partnerships across industry – engage with UK industry players, including established aerospace contractors and emerging new space startups, to align efforts and co-invest. Develop and implement a plan about how government can support the sector to grow in a sustainable way.

Build and strengthen international partnerships – represent the UK in international bodies like the European Space Agency and bilateral relationships with countries and agencies (including NASA, JAXA agreements).

Deliver complex programmes and maintain operational excellence – Oversee a portfolio of long-duration, technically challenging projects, ensure rigorous programme management to deliver milestones on time and budget, and maintain the confidence of government and industry stakeholders if there are any setbacks.

Manage organisational change– Integrate the UK Space Agency into DSIT, ensuring the organisation is agile, collaborative and outcomes-focused. This should include ensuring integration of internal processes, nurturing talent
including policy, technical and delivery, and ensuring that the UKSA structure and culture is fit for a rapidly growing sector and the expectations of DSIT’s ministers.

Champion the Government'sspace agenda and help promote the social and economic benefits of space to the public.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Strategic leadership: Proven ability to lead in a complex environment and build a team that prizes inclusion and wellbeing, values diversity, and promotes a positive culture both within and outside the organisation.

• Policy and strategic acumen: High degree of comfort working in a broad policy environment that spans economic growth, national security, science and rapidly changing technology, looking to delivery now and shaping the future

• Collaborative approach: Highly collaborative interpersonal approach with commitment to developing a really effective job share partnership

• Stakeholder management: Able to understand perspectives and win the trust of senior stakeholders across government and business, in commercial negotiations. You must show evidence of engaging positively in debate and resolving ambiguities to achieve the best outcomes.

• Programme delivery: Experience of establishing, leading and delivering high-value programmes in a public policy context, including financial acumen. You must be able to adjust priorities swiftly as situations change, enabling the organisation to remain focused on core priorities.

• Engagement and advocacy: Ability to be a visible presence and communicate with credibility and fluency as a key player in the UK space ecosystem, championing the UK as a partner of choice in space.

• Change leadership: Evidence of proactively championing and leading change, achieving innovative new approaches, policies and systems that have added value to the organisation.

• Have or be willing to obtain DV clearance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £100,000, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period. Senior Civil Servant (SCS) staff are expected to aim for closer to 60% of the time at an office or non-home based location over the accounting period.

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

How to Apply

To apply for this post, please submit the following documents on Civil Service jobs later than 23:55, 30th April 2026.

1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. No longer than 2 sides of A4, Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained.

2. A Statement of Suitability (maximum 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities, and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.

As part of the online process, you will be asked to complete a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the characteristics, you will have the option to select ‘prefer not to say’. The diversity information you provide when submitting your application will help us monitor our progress towards the Civil Service becoming an inclusive employer.

The timeline later in the advert indicates the date by which a decision is expected to be made, and all candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Assessment

If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a Staff Engagement Exercise in advance of the final panel interview. This assessment will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, it is designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. Full details of the assessment process will be provided to shortlisted candidates at the earliest opportunity. For further information regarding the assessments please visit - https://scs-assessments.co.uk/ .

Interview

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview with the Director General, Growth, Science and International, Alexandra Jones, Civil Service Commissioner Dr Neil Wooding, plus representatives from the Space Sector across government. This interview will provide a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.

As part of the process there may be assessment of skills either by a presentation or simulated exercise with follow up questions. Full details of the requirements will be given to shortlisted candidates ahead of their interview.

Expected Timeline

We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for assessments or interviews. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates are only indicative and may be subject to change. If you anticipate any difficulties attending, please alert scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk upon application

The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Advert Closing Date: 23:55pm, 30th April 2026

Shortlist: W/C 11th May 2026

SEE Assessment: W/C 18th May 2026

Panel Interviews: W/C 12th June 2026

Security Clearance

Before the appointment of the successful candidate can be confirmed, the Department will undertake background security checks. As part of this, we will need to confirm your identity, employment history over the past three years (or course details if you were in education), nationality and immigration status, and criminal record (unspent convictions only).

This role will require the postholder to have Developed Vetting (DV) clearance, therefore successful candidates will be expected to either hold this or be willing to undertake the DV clearance process once in post. More information can be found here.

Further Information

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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 undergo a criminal record check.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

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 : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/

Attachments

453621 Director of the UKSA, Job Share Partner - DSIT Accessibility Opens in new window (docx, 27kB)453621 Director of the UKSA, Job Share Partner DSIT final Opens in new window (pdf, 12MB)