Head of Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator

Ministry of Defence

On-Site

Expires: Expiring in less than 3 weeks

Health And Safety

Full time

£117,800 per year

Job summary

The rapidly expanding Defence Nuclear Programme presents both a unique opportunity and a significant regulatory challenge. The Head of Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) oversees nuclear and radiological safety and environmental protection across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE), acting as a trusted, independent regulator within Defence.

Operating under the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) Charter, with authority from the Permanent Secretary via the Director General DSA and line management by the Deputy Director General, the Head of DNSR plays a vital role in safeguarding Defence personnel, the public, and operational capability. Through regulation, assurance, and enforcement, the post-holder provides the final line of defence for nuclear safety and environmental protection. The role demands strong leadership across a complex and evolving enterprise, maintaining rigorous oversight of current operations while enabling the safe delivery of new nuclear capabilities. Responsibilities include supporting Defence outputs, assuring programmes within the Defence Investment Plan, and leading reforms following the government’s response to the Fingleton Report. The Head of DNSR engages extensively across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise, collaborating with the Royal Navy, Atomic Weapons Establishment, Submarine Delivery Agency, Directorate of Defence Safety, and key industrial partners such as Babcock, BAE Systems, and Rolls-Royce. The role also requires close cooperation with other government departments, including the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), and statutory regulators like the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Job description

The current responsibilities of the role include:

Setting Defence nuclear regulatory posture in the form of regulations and guidance, seeking assurance from the regulated community on compliance with those regulations and providing assurance of compliance, whilst highlighting areas for improvement.
Authority for making regulatory decisions, including the giving, or withholding permission for activities in the Defence Nuclear Environment which may present a nuclear or radiological risk to the workforce, public or the environment.
Implement Government strategic direction and drive nuclear regulatory reform forward, through integration with the Office for Nuclear Regulation and close liaison with the Environment Agency, HSE and Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Enable operational output through delivery of DNSR’s role in the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Investment Plan.
Playing a leading role in the corporate management and development of regulation within Defence as a member of the Defence Safety Authority Delivery and Management Groups, whilst working closely with other DSA Regulators to ensure a ‘One DSA’ approach and coherent Defence regulation.
Leading and managing a mixed team of some 30 Civilian and Military staff and a long-term Technical Support Contract providing a similar number of nuclear regulatory specialist personnel, with associated delegated financial responsibility.
Acting as Head of the Nuclear Safety Cell in Ministry of Defence Headquarters as part of the Defence Nuclear Emergency Response Organisation. You will also advise on and approve all significant organisational change within the Defence Nuclear Enterprise from a nuclear safety perspective.

Person specification

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

Strong leadership with high levels of integrity to uphold regulatory standards irrespective of level of authority.
Subject matter expert in nuclear safety and safety risk management, ideally with extensive experience of working across safety policy or regulation, and/or development and delivery of safety management systems.
The ability to effectively lead, develop and sustain a highly professional, motivated and skilled workforce during significant change.
Ability to analyse complex data in a timely manner to make decisions, taking accountability for quality outcomes.
A good level of knowledge or experience of either management of the naval nuclear propulsion programme, or nuclear weapon programme. Experience of emergency planning and response activity within a high hazard environment.
Strong communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills, with a demonstrable experience of managing and influencing relationships and an ability to build effective working relationships internationally.
The ability to support technology development aimed at reducing risk and improving safety.

Essential Qualification

Chartered status and hold an honours degree in an appropriate engineering or scientific subject.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £117,800, Ministry of Defence contributes £34,126 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 Monday 8th June 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) explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability 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.

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

£117,800 per year