Sovereign Base Area Police – Divisional Commander

Job summary

The Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) are the United Kingdom’s permanent sovereign bases in the Eastern Mediterranean. The two Sovereign Base Areas cover approximately 100 square miles of southern Cyprus and are the home of some of the United Kingdom’s most valuable defence and security assets.

The Bases are a Sovereign State, independent of the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom, with its own laws, Attorney General and Courts system.

The SBA Administration maintains a civilian police force (SBA Police) of 245 officers and 18 civilians, which has primacy for all criminal law enforcement within the bases and the military stations. 241 of the SBA police are locally employed Greek and Turkish Cypriots. All are highly trained and professionally accredited to UK police standards. The four most senior officers are the Chief Constable, the Deputy Chief Constable and the two Divisional Commanders for the Eastern and Western Divisions. These four posts are UK national positions.

The Challenge

The Sovereign Base Areas Police (SBAP) face significant challenges in relation to Counter Terrorism, Public Order, Organised Crime and Counter Corruption. Furthermore, the history and location of the Bases create unique political, jurisdictional and operational circumstances in operating effectively across international boundaries with the Republic of Cyprus, the United Nations Buffer Zone and the Turkish Controlled Northern Areas of Cyprus.

The Administration is seeking to fill the post of Divisional Commander which will become vacant upon the retirement of the incumbent on 21 November 2026.

This is an established MOD post within Cyprus and any Cypriot Nationals will not be eligible to apply as a UKBC (UK British Civil Servant).

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The Divisional Commander is responsible for the operational delivery of policing within the Western sovereign base area. They play a critical command role in all major operations with the British Forces and in those which affect the civil population.

The role requires the Divisional Commander to have been a recently serving Superintendent with a UK Civil Police Force or British Overseas Territory. Senior command experience of armed policing, serious and organised crime, public order, counterterrorism, professional standards and resource management are desirable.

This is a Fixed-term Appointment (FTA) as a SBAP Divisional Commander in the Sovereign Bases Area Police. Your responsibilities will be as described in this job advert. The reason why you are appointed for a fixed period is to ensure currency. The role is refreshed on a 4 yearly cycle, with new incumbents bringing in the latest modern methods of policing, management and operational experience to the Sovereign Base Area. This post will therefore begin on 23/11/2026 and your appointment and end 48 months after that date OR will end on 22/11/2030. You should be aware that when your Fixed-term Appointment at MOD comes to an end, arrangements will be made in line with the FTA policy.

The following is a justification for the unique recruitment requirements put in place for this campaign:

The role requires a currency of UK policing experience which fades over the duration of the FTA. There is not currently a pool of extant Police Officers in posts within the Civil Service to either apply for the role or for the individual to return to following the end of their overseas tour. Therefore, the existing model is that Police Officers from the UK are recruited into a 4-year FTA to support and protect the SBAs and British Forces in Cyprus (BFC).

Candidates are selected from the UK to ensure that individuals possess the most recent operational experience within a UK Police Force. Due to the high level of experience and security needed in these positions, the individuals cannot be recruited from the host country, Cyprus. The four roles in the SBAP are recruited from Police Officers in the UK that are due to retire or are willing to take early retirement from their UK role.

Person specification

The successful candidate will;

Have ‘developed vetting’ security clearance or must pass the clearance process.

Essential Licences:

The candidate must hold a Valid UK Driving Licence

Desirable Qualifications:

Be an accredited College of Policing (UK) strategic public order and strategic firearms commander or must become accredited in those roles

Licences

Hold a Valid UK Driving Licence

Technical skills

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

• We are emotionally aware
• We take ownership
• We are collaborative
• We deliver, support and inspire
• We analyse critically
• We are innovative and open minded

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £79,968, Ministry of Defence contributes £23,166 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%

Discover My Benefits:

Please follow the link to visit the Discover My Benefits site which showcases the benefits and discounts offered when working as a civilian for the MOD. https://discovermybenefits.mod.gov.uk/civilian/

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 Experience and Technical skills.

The sift will be conducted on experience, CV, personal statement and technical skills

The interview will be assessed on technical skills.

We'll assess you against technical skills:

Competency and Values Framework for Policing – Level 3 Values Based Leadership
Candidates will be assessed at level 3 of the Policing Competencies and Values
Framework. In addition to demonstrating evidence of ‘values based leadership’

(please see attached document for information of values based leadership), candidates will be
required to demonstrate evidence against the following competencies:

We are emotionally aware
We take ownership
We are collaborative
We deliver, support and inspire
We analyse critically
We are innovative and open minded.

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.

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.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and 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 mitigation's can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

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 Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

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 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

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 : Deputy Chief Constable – Stephen Ellen
• Email : Stephen.Ellen101@mod.gov.uk
• Telephone : 00 357 9570 6014

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-ResourcingTeam1@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please see Further Information document attached

Attachments

cvfl3 Opens in new window (docx, 27kB)Defence Civil Service Offer (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)20241009 - Further Information - External (2) Opens in new window (docx, 34kB)