Navy Command – Director Navy Acquisition – Chief of Staff

Job summary

The Directorate of Navy Acquisition (DNA) is responsible for delivering some of the Navy’s most complex and strategically critical acquisition programmes, directly supporting the Royal Navy’s operational effectiveness and future capability. Programmes are grouped into Deputy Director (DD) 1* Programme Management Teams according to the capability being delivered: Ships, Support Shipping, Maritime Systems Group, Maritime Lethality Group, Future Support Acquisition, Commando Force and Defence Maritime Services (Next Generation).

DNA sits within Navy Command Headquarters (NCHQ) and plays a central role in delivering the Navy’s War Fighting Ready Plan (WFRP), aligned to the First Sea Lord’s priorities.

The Navy Senior Leadership Team governs progress through the Executive Meta Scrum (EMS), supported by a network of Chiefs of Staff who enable strategic coordination, integration, and delivery across Directorates.

From 2026–27, DNA will transition into the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group as the Maritime Capability Portfolio (MCP), and the role will continue operating at the heart of the organisation.

The Directorate of Navy Acquisition (DNA) is seeking a high‑performing and resilient Chief of Staff (COS) to play a pivotal leadership role at the heart of one of the Navy’s largest and most complex portfolios.

The COS is responsible for driving strategic coordination, governance, and delivery across the Directorate in support of the Navy’s War Fighting Ready Plan (WFRP) and First Sea Lord’s priorities. Operating at a senior level, the role acts as a key interface between Acquisition, Navy Command Headquarters, the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group, and the wider Ministry of Defence.

As the Director’s principal integrator and trusted adviser, the COS ensures priorities are clear, risks are understood, decisions are well‑informed, and the Directorate operates cohesively and at pace.

This is a demanding and high‑profile role requiring strong strategic judgement, exceptional stakeholder engagement, and the ability to operate confidently in ambiguity, pace, and complexity.

We value diversity within our team and operate flexible ways of working; we support all our team members to find the right balance of home and office working that is right for them.

In Navy Command, our civil servants collaborate with their military colleagues in jobs that matter; jobs which often have a direct impact on the quality of the operational capabilities we deliver. Roles can offer great job satisfaction and there are many opportunities to develop and progress both within the Department and across the wider Civil Service.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Reporting to the Deputy Director Defence Marine Services & Portfolio Management Office, and accountable to the Director Navy Acquisition, the Chief of Staff will provide leadership across the Directorate and ensure effective governance, prioritisation, and delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership and Directorate Coordination

• Act as the EMS Lead for Acquisition, coordinating Directorate activity in line with the WFRP and 1SL strategic priorities.
• Identify, assess, and manage key portfolio‑level issues, risks, and opportunities, anticipating internal and external factors that could impact delivery.
• Lead and support the transition of the Acquisition Directorate into the National Armaments Director Group, while maintaining strong links with Navy Command.
• Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and value for money across Directorate activity.
• Lead pan‑Directorate communications, ensuring clarity of priorities and effective engagement with internal and external stakeholders.
• Champion a positive, inclusive Directorate culture, including coordination of Directorate‑level events and responses to People Survey outcomes.
• Provide senior operational and strategic insight into business management activities, including financial planning, workforce planning, and recruitment.

Agile Delivery, Data and Insight

• Lead the coordination and continuous improvement of DNA’s digital and agile delivery tools (Jira), embedding agile ways of working across the Directorate.
• Promote a strong evidence‑based culture, ensuring senior‑level reporting, prioritisation, and decision‑making are informed by data and analysis.
• Rapidly assess emerging issues and make sound decisions in complex, ambiguous, or time‑critical situations.

Mandated and Regulatory Responsibilities:

• Own and oversee Directorate compliance with mandated MOD requirements, to ensure the Directorate operates safely, securely, and compliantly in support of operational capability, including:
• Build strong collaborative relationships across business functions, acting as a senior escalation point to mitigate risk and resolve issues effectively.

Person specification

Experience:

• Significant experience operating in a fast‑paced, complex operational environment, delivering outcomes aligned to strategic objectives.
• Proven experience of leading and coordinating activity across large, multi‑disciplinary teams or directorates.
• Evidence of working confidently with senior stakeholders, influencing at pace, and managing competing priorities.
• Experience operating credibly at senior leadership level, including advising or supporting a senior decision-maker or executive.

Skills and Strengths:

• Strong strategic judgement with the ability to make effective decisions based on complex, incomplete, or ambiguous information.
• Highly developed stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages and build trust across organisational boundaries.
• Delivery‑focused, resilient, and adaptable, with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Ability to set clear direction, role‑model inclusive leadership behaviours, and coach and develop teams.
• Strong analytical mindset, ensuring decisions and priorities are evidence‑based and outcome‑focused.

Technical:

• Confident user of Microsoft Office tools (including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and SharePoint).
• Experience of working with agile delivery tools such as Jira, or demonstrable ability to adopt them quickly.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience working within Defence, Navy Command, or similarly complex public‑sector environments.
• Experience supporting senior governance structures or portfolio‑level delivery.
• Familiarity with Defence Reform, organisational transformation, or large‑scale change programmes.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £72,840, Ministry of Defence contributes £21,101 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

As a civil servant in Navy Command, you will be part of a forward-looking organisation with inclusive workplace policies, excellent career prospects, and a job that makes a difference. This job role is suitable for hybrid working, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, blending a balance of attendance in Navy Command Headquarters (Portsmouth) and working from home as a personal choice.

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.

Other benefits for Navy Command civil servants include:

• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service
• A very competitive pension scheme with 28.97% pension contribution
• Personal & professional development
• Alternative working patterns for many roles
• Access to a confidential, professional support service
• Discount schemes
• Bicycle / season ticket loans
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption leave
• Special paid leave to volunteer up to 6 days a year

In Navy Command we believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference, and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking an apprenticeship as part of your role. An apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through an apprenticeship you will gain professional knowledge, practical experience, and the broader skills required to upskill you in your current role and pave the way for your future career. Most of the training will be ‘on-the-job,’ with the remaining ‘off-the-job’ training often delivered by a training provider. This means minimal disruption and maximum impact. Professional qualifications can be achieved through an apprenticeship and range from Level 2 (equivalent to 5 GCSEs), Level 3 (equivalent to 2 A Levels), and Levels 4 -7, which can give you a foundation degree, a full bachelor’s degree, or a master’s degree. Apprenticeships normally last between 12 months - 3 years, depending on the level of the apprenticeship.

Please note:

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.

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.

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.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history and a statement of suitability.

At sift, you will be assessed against CV and Statement of suitability (750 words) and the following:

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Individuals are advised to tailor their Personal Statement to provide evidence of their individual experience of operated at a senior level to lead teams, influence stakeholders, and deliver outcomes in complex environments.

The initial sift on CV, Job History and behaviours and Statement of Suitability will take place within two weeks of the advert closing date, and interviews will follow in person at NCHQ Portsmouth as soon as practicable after.

During the panel interview you will be asked behaviour-based questions.

At interview, you will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Further information:

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to 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 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

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 : Ryan Sharp
• Email : Ryan.Sharp110@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

20260324-NC-ACQ-ToR-Civ-B1-COS Opens in new window (docx, 86kB)CS Applicant Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1554kB)Candidate Information Opens in new window (docx, 32kB)Defence Internal Brief notice Opens in new window (docx, 43kB)