HEO OC Shorncliffe SP Unit - Shorncliffe

Job summary

Do you want to play a key role in supporting Defence operations and delivering essential services across a busy military estate?

We are looking for a proactive and adaptable individual to lead the Shorncliffe Support Unit at Sir John Moore Barracks, Folkestone. This is a varied and rewarding role at the heart of station delivery, providing leadership across people, infrastructure, security, compliance, logistics and business support functions.

You will work with a wide range of military and civilian stakeholders to ensure the effective running of the station and support the operational readiness of units based across the Firm Base. Leading a diverse team, you will coordinate competing priorities, provide advice to senior leaders and help ensure the delivery of safe, compliant and effective support services.

This is an excellent opportunity to develop your leadership and operational delivery experience while making a direct contribution to Defence outputs in the South East.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

As Officer Commanding Shorncliffe Support Unit, you will play a central role in ensuring the effective delivery of support services across Sir John Moore Barracks and the wider Defence community. You will lead the coordination of people, infrastructure, security, logistics and business support activities, helping to create a safe, compliant and operationally effective environment.

Working closely with military and civilian colleagues, you will act as a key advisor to senior leaders, providing direction, oversight and assurance across a broad range of station functions. You will build strong relationships with stakeholders, contractors and partner organisations to ensure services are delivered effectively and priorities are aligned.

This is a varied leadership role requiring sound judgement, resilience and the ability to balance competing demands in a fast-paced environment. You will lead and develop a diverse team, drive continuous improvement and ensure that governance, compliance and risk management requirements are met.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Leading the delivery of personnel, administrative and business support functions across the station.
• Providing oversight of security, information management, data protection and compliance arrangements.
• Coordinating support services and infrastructure activity to ensure the effective operation of the military estate.
• Managing stakeholder relationships across Defence, industry partners and local support organisations.
• Leading assurance activity and preparing the organisation for inspections, audits and regulatory assessments.
• Maintaining governance arrangements, managing risk and ensuring compliance with relevant policies and processes.
• Overseeing the management and accountability of equipment, stores and other assigned resources.
• Line managing and developing a mixed military and civilian workforce, fostering a culture of inclusion, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Providing clear advice and recommendations to senior leaders to support informed decision-making and operational effectiveness

Person specification

We are looking for a confident and adaptable leader who can build strong working relationships, influence stakeholders and deliver high-quality outcomes in a complex operational environment. The successful candidate will be comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy, balancing competing priorities and responding effectively to changing demands.

You will be able to analyse information, exercise sound judgement and provide clear, evidence-based advice to support decision-making. Strong organisational skills and attention to detail are essential, as is the ability to maintain oversight of a broad and varied portfolio of responsibilities.

The role requires excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to establish credibility and work effectively across military, civilian and external stakeholder groups. You will be collaborative in your approach, committed to delivering excellent customer service and focused on achieving positive outcomes.

As a leader, you will foster an inclusive and supportive working environment, developing individuals and encouraging continuous improvement. You will demonstrate integrity, accountability and professionalism, ensuring that governance, compliance and risk considerations are embedded in decision-making and delivery.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong leadership and people management capability, with experience of motivating and developing teams.
• The ability to build effective relationships and work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders.
• Sound judgement and the confidence to make decisions within delegated authority.
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise competing demands and deliver results under pressure.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• A proactive approach to problem solving and continuous improvement.
• A commitment to inclusion, collaboration and professional standards.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,720, Ministry of Defence contributes £10,927 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%

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and working from home as part of a non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. All office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to site capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of office attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this and other flexible working arrangements may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Applications will be assessed against the Experience and Behaviour requirements outlined in this advert.

At application stage, candidates will be assessed against the following:

• A CV detailing their employment history, skills and experience.
• A Personal Statement (maximum 500 words) demonstrating how they meet the essential criteria for the role and providing evidence of their suitability for the position.
• Behaviour: Leadership.

During sift, applications will be assessed against the Behaviour Leadership and the Experience requirements evidenced through the CV and Personal Statement.

Should a high volume of applications be received, the sift will be conducted against the lead behaviour only.

Candidates successful at sift will be invited to interview.

At interview, candidates will be assessed against the following:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

In addition, candidates will be assessed against relevant Strengths aligned to the requirements of the role.

Further information regarding the interview process will be provided to candidates invited to interview.

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.

There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all DCS candidates that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations such as a high volume of applications, seasonal demand, or peak periods, the employer may wish to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both DCS and non-DCS applicants.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.
Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.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 : Billy Nutt
• Email : billy.nutt100@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk.

Attachments

Defence Internal Brief notice Opens in new window (docx, 43kB)Defence Civil Service Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)Candidate Information Pack Opens in new window (docx, 31kB)ARMY Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 273kB)