Head of Policy & Secretariat

Job summary

The Head of Policy and Secretariat represents the Permanent Under Secretary’s (PUS) policy and civilian adviser interests within the Army, as well as supporting the Army’s Director Resources in representing the PUS’s interests as Accounting Officer.

Sitting at the centre of the Army, they are the day-to-day lead interface between the Army, Ministers, PUS’s office and Military Strategic Headquarters and the Department of State machinery and business. They ensure Army policy, Parliamentary, Ministerial, Freedom of Information and wider correspondence activity is handled with pace, accuracy and sound judgement. Requiring strong political awareness, excellent judgement and the ability to translate complex Army issues into clear, evidence-based advice for senior decision-makers this role is critical to Army activity.

The post holder also provides an important source of counsel and challenge to the senior leaders across the Army on the conduct of Army and Departmental business from a policy and secretariat perspective. This includes standing attendance at senior boards including the Army Board, Executive Committee of the Army Board, the Army Performance and Risk Committee and the Army Employment Appeals Board.

A key leadership role, heading one of the Department’s largest and busiest secretariat functions, overseeing a high-volume portfolio of Parliamentary Questions, Ministerial correspondence, Freedom of Information requests and wider casework, often under statutory deadlines and public, Parliamentary and reputational scrutiny. The successful candidate will need to grip complex operational delivery, prioritise effectively under pressure, build resilience across the team and ensure that requirements are met within finite capacity.

Job description

• Leading the Army’s response to high profile and high-volume Parliamentary Questions, Ministerial Correspondence, Freedom of Information requests and correspondence handling for Army Command within statutory, Departmental and Government targets.
• Providing advice to Ministers and Other Government Departments (including No. 10) about all aspects of the Army and its contribution to the delivery of Government policies and MOD plans.
• Providing evidence-based policy advice to the Land Operations Command, aligned with wider Army, MOD and Government priorities.
• Advising the Army leadership, Executive Committee of the Army Board and its sub committees regarding Ministerial, Parliamentary, presentational and reputational handling.
• Representing Ministerial and Accounting Officer perspectives as an executive member of the Army Employment Appeals Board.
• Leadership, management and development of the Policy and Secretariat team, including the Army Historical Branch (c25 FTE).
• Functional leadership of the Policy, Strategy and Parliamentary Profession in the Army, setting standards for policy advice, secretariat delivery, professional development and resilience across the community.
• Manage a budget of c£50k for the commissioning of legal advice (both from Government Legal Department and outside Counsel).

Person specification

• Exceptional policy capability, with a proven ability to provide clear, evidence-based and politically aware advice on complex and sensitive issues.
• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, well-structured submissions on complex issues and to mentor junior team members to develop the same capability.
• Excellent senior leadership capability, with the ability to motivate, develop and inspire a high-performing team operating under sustained pressure in complex and demanding environments.
• Strong judgement, resilience and grip, with the ability to prioritise competing priorities in a high-volume and fast-moving environment.
• Highly effective communication and influencing skills, with the confidence and credibility to engage, advise and challenge colleagues at very senior levels, including Ministers, senior military officers and senior civil servants.
• A clear understanding of how central Government operates, including the relationships between Ministers, the Permanent Secretary, senior officials, Parliament, and Departmental delivery bodies.

Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a strong field of candidates when there is a need to distinguish between candidates. This will be as a second sift, after the essential criteria has been considered:

• Understanding of how the Ministry of Defence operates.
• Experience of Parliamentary Business, Freedom of Information, Ministerial correspondence, media handling or other high-profile casework environments
• Experience of leading improvement, prioritisation or recovery activity in a high-pressure operational policy, secretariat or corporate services function.

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 Sunday 11 October 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.

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 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 : 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

Head of Policy Secretariat Candidate Information Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 232kB)