Personal Assistant to Defence Operational Capability Head

Job summary

We are looking for an organised individual who enjoys problem solving and can enable our team to run efficiently. Defence Operational Capability (DOC) is a small, motivated and inclusive team at the heart of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Our purpose is to ‘assure Defence through independent and impartial analysis of Operational Capability for Chiefs of Staff and Ministers.’ We are looking for a similarly enthusiastic individual to help us continue to provide Ministers with honest, rigorous, and timely assessments of UK military combat power.

DOC was established by the Secretary of State in 1995 and is designed to assure, challenge, and improve Defence outputs, providing an independent internal audit and consultancy function. Our team enjoys privileged access across the Department, working directly to the Vice Chief of Defence Staff and reporting to the Minister of State for the Armed Forces. The team is empowered to engage across Defence, and across wider government when needed.

Our small, close-knit, team is headed by a 1* military officer (currently an Army Brigadier), and a military OF5 (currently a Royal Navy Captain), who are supported by four military OF4/SO1 desk officers. From time to time, we might be joined by a Civil Servant or military officer on secondment. The PA position, working alongside an Army sergeant Co-ordinator, provides essential administrative support to Head DOC and the rest of the team. This will involve, engaging with outer offices and keeping the team’s day to day business on track. While the primary focus for the role is delivering administrative support, the incumbent will be encouraged to contribute to research in support of DOC studies and reviews. Mentoring and experiential based training will be provided to enable the successful applicant to deliver against these tasks.

We are a welcoming and friendly team. We value diversity and champion a working culture that ensures our jobs are accessible to the widest range of candidates. We value and take pride in our different perspectives and actively ensure we help each other perform at our best. We are always looking to provide formal and informal learning and development opportunities to support each other in our professional development.

This position is advertised for 37 hours per week.

Job description

We are recruiting an AO/E1 to primarily act as Personal Assistant to the Head and Assistant Head of the DOC team, providing additional administrative support to the rest of the team and contributing to wider DOC tasks where capacity permits. You will work closely with our team Co-ordinator to organise and support DOC’s business needs. You will look after Head DOC’s diary but also provide routine administrative support to the Assistant Head and the rest of the Team.

DOC is an exciting place to work with unrivalled exposure and access across the breadth of Defence. If you wish and have capacity to do so, you will be encouraged to take up the numerous opportunities to widen your role to assist in research, interviews, and visits. Regardless of your background, you will have the ability to broaden and develop your understanding of MOD from a unique position at the centre of the Department.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Diary Management: You will organise meetings, accepting/declining appointments, deconflicting clashes and ensuring the team is appropriately represented when necessary. You will book external visitors into MOD and support (and sometimes attend) visits to different Military Headquarters and other government departments.
• Forward Planning: You will organise the Head’s diary 2-3 weeks in advance and identify where briefing or preparation time is needed before appointments. The Assistant Head will run their own diary, but you will need to maintain oversight of both to ensure there are no conflicts and important meetings are covered.
• Interview Coordination: You will book and deconflict interviews for DOC reports (upwards of 20 per report) ensuring the necessary team members can attend the correct interviews.
• Outer Office Engagement: You will support wider team engagement across Defence and wider Government, building your network of outer office staff and PAs.
• Meeting Preparation: You will coordinate preparation of papers for meetings when needed and arrange time for pre-briefings beforehand and back-briefings afterwards when required.
• Duty Travel: You will arrange the teams’ travel and accommodation as and when required, ensuring it is recorded in our sharepoint so we keep track of spending.
• Freedom of Information & Parliamentary Business: You will coordinate the timely completion of draft responses to Freedom of Information requests and Parliamentary Questions.
• Administrative Support: You will work with the Co-ord to ensure the overall coordination and coverage of support requirements for the team. You will assist in the on-boarding of new team members and undertake ad hoc administrative tasks as required.
• Research support. Review, summary and comment on existing reports, media articles, academic papers, policy documents and other evidence in support of DOC’s role of providing analysis of Operational Capability for Ministers and Chiefs of Staff.

Person specification

Essential criteria:

• You will be an organised and good multi-tasker and have the ability to work independently.
• You will have good computer literacy, strong written and verbal communication skills.
• You will have a strong attention to detail.
• You will be able to work in a small team, building and maintaining effective relationships with key stakeholders, organisations, and colleagues.

Desirable Criteria:

• Previous administrative experience is desirable.
• Experience in conducting graduate or higher research and analysis.

Training

• You will be required to complete mandatory training and the following specific training relating to the job within three months of taking up the position.
• Freedom of Information Course.
• Microsoft 365 SharePoint Administrator Upskilling Course (If no SharePoint Experience).

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,650, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,010 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%

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.

We will use Civil Service Success Profiles to assess your application. In assessing your application against the success profiles, we will focus on Civil Service Behaviours.

If you are interested in joining the team but are unsure whether you have the ‘right’ professional background, or whether we can accommodate your working pattern, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Candidates will be required to provide a CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience and a personal statement (250 words). In your personal statement, please refer to the Essential and Desirable Criteria, and explain how you consider your skills, qualities and experience make you suitable for the role.

Stage 1: At sift - You are required to submit evidence of CV, personal statement and these Civil Service Behaviours:

• Seeing the Big Picture,
• Making effective decisions,
• Communicating and Influencing,
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together.

Should there be a high number of applicants, the sift will be conducted on the Making effective decisions behaviour and Personal Statement.

Stage 2: Interview based on Behaviours. The Behaviours we will assess in the interview are:

• Making effective decisions,
• Communicating and Influencing,
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together.

Stage 3: We will contact candidates who have been successful at interview. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Successful candidates who do not hold the necessary clearances will be made provisional job offers and asked to undergo our vetting procedures. Once the relevant clearances have been obtained, a formal job offer will be made and start dates can be discussed. Should candidates fail to obtain the relevant clearances the provisional job offer will be rescinded. Candidates should note this process can take several months.

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 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 : Commander Chris MONEY Royal Navy
• Email : christopher.money783@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

EXTERNAL PACK (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)Candidate Information Opens in new window (docx, 32kB)