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Job summary

Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?

Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?

Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.

• Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
• Our Mission – Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.

DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

DBS is part of the The National Armaments Directorate (NAD) Group which is at the heart of delivering and sustaining the UK’s defence capability. Bringing together organisations responsible for developing, procuring, supporting and modernising Defence equipment, infrastructure and services, the Directorate works closely with industry, international partners and academia to ensure the Armed Forces have the capabilities they need to deter threats, protect the nation and succeed on operations. NAD drives innovation, operational readiness and value for money while supporting economic growth and strengthening the UK’s defence industrial base

Come and join the DBS community today!

https://youtu.be/gUw0ToaRGgk

Job description

This is a campaign predominantly for our Financial, Procurement & Civilian People (FPCP) Operational Teams. To enable the delivery of these services we use a flexible resourcing model to respond to changes in demand to ensure continuity of business-critical services to MOD therefore, roles may also be available within our other operational area: Armed Forces and Veterans Services (AF&VS).

We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce with a diverse group of backgrounds.

DBS currently have various exciting opportunities within our organisation. Our teams are highly committed to employee engagement and customer service. We will fully up-skill you in the service you are on-boarded into with opportunities to develop yourself professionally.

FPCP roles vary, they include but are not limited to Recruitment and On-boarding, Pay, Performance & Recognition, Finance Invoices and Revenues, Business Change, Working Patterns and Leave or Exit Services. This position offers hybrid working; a combination of working in office and working from home.

AF&VS in Blackpool administers the Compensation Schemes for Serving Personnel and Veterans, provides Welfare and support to Veterans, their dependants, bereaved families and beneficiaries of the pensions and compensation Schemes and assists with transition from service to civilian life. An ongoing multi-million-pound Transformation Programme will transform the way Veterans Services are delivered and how customers will access our services.

AF&V roles will vary and include working within one of our operational teams in the following areas: Operational Delivery, Complaint Resolution, Assurance, Policy. This role is office based however, DBS are working hard to improve our access to, and use of, digital technology, empowering our people to work remotely.

We have full-time, part-time, job-share and flexible working positions available. We will work with you and be as accommodating as possible when agreeing your working hours however the final decision will be based on business needs.

The Higher Executive Officer (HEO) is responsible for leading operational delivery activities, ensuring the effective delivery of services, continuous improvement of business processes, and achievement of organisational objectives. The post holder will provide leadership, manage risks and resources, use data and insight to inform decision-making, and drive high-quality customer-focused outcomes.

The role contributes to the delivery of business priorities through effective operational management, stakeholder engagement, team leadership and continuous improvement activity in line with Civil Service and Operational Delivery Profession standards.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Delivery

• Lead and coordinate operational activities to ensure delivery of services against agreed performance measures and service standards.
• Manage and prioritise workloads, ensuring resources are deployed effectively to meet business requirements.
• Monitor operational performance and take appropriate action to address emerging issues, risks and opportunities.
• Ensure compliance with relevant policies, legislation, governance requirements and organisational standards.

Leadership and Management

• Provide visible leadership within the team, promoting a culture of accountability, inclusion and continuous improvement.
• Support team development through coaching, mentoring and performance management.
• Foster collaboration across teams and professions to achieve organisational objectives.
• Contribute to workforce planning, succession planning and capability development activity.

Customer and Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Act as a key point of contact for operational matters, resolving complex issues and escalating where appropriate.
• Ensure customer needs are understood and reflected in service delivery improvements.
• Promote a customer-focused approach across all operational activities.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve operational processes, customer experience, efficiency and productivity.
• Lead or support improvement initiatives using evidence, lessons learned and best practice.
• Encourage innovation and continuous learning within the team.

Data, Performance and Assurance

• Analyse operational data and management information to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
• Produce reports, recommendations and briefings for senior leaders.
• Ensure appropriate assurance mechanisms are in place and contribute to audits, reviews and governance activities.
• Use evidence-based decision making to support delivery and policy implementation.

Decision-Making Responsibilities

The post holder is expected to:

• Make informed operational decisions within delegated authority.
• Exercise judgement in managing competing priorities.
• Escalate significant risks, issues or resource constraints appropriately.
• Recommend improvements and solutions based on evidence and analysis.

Person specification

Essential Experience

• Experience of managing operational delivery activities or services.
• Experience of using data and performance information to drive improvements.
• Ability to build productive stakeholder relationships.
• Experience of managing competing priorities and delivering results within deadlines.
• Understanding of governance, risk management and service standards.

Desirable Experience

• Operational Delivery Profession membership or engagement with ODP learning.
• Experience of delivering business improvement or change initiatives.
• Experience of line management and performance management.
• Relevant operational, leadership or management qualifications.

For positions in the civilian payroll team, candidates would desirably need to demonstrate experience of working in a payroll team/environment and have an understanding of gross to net payroll calculations incorporating tax, national insurance and pension contribution collection

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving

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).

• An environment with flexible working options Monday-Friday
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years' service (pro rata). In addition to 8 public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for the King's birthday
• An opportunity to be considered for Reward & Recognition.
• Family friendly policies including parental leave and adoption leave
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• Professional and personal development of skills
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Minimum of 15 days special leave in a rolling 12 month period for volunteer reserve commitments
• Special paid leave to volunteer up to 6 days per year
• 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.

Allowances

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

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.

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

Employment Hours

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

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.

Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.

Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.

Applications will be sifted on all Success Profile elements, but in the event of a high number of applications, a sift will be conducted on the following success profile elements: Primary: Personal Statement, Secondary: Leadership

At sift, you will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours

• Leadership

Experience

• Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history and previous skills and experience.
• Candidates will be required to provide a Personal Statement in no more than 500 words.

At interview, you will be assessed against the following Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and improving

In the rare case where individuals have exact matching scores, the order of merit will be determined based on the behaviour scores at interview in the following order:

1. Leadership
2. Communicating and Influencing
3. Changing and improving

If candidate scores are still exact, the merit order will then be determined on the sift score in the below order or priority:

1. Personal Statement
2. Leadership
3. CV

We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isn’t always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months.

Application sifting to take place early August

Interviews are currently taking place via MS Teams and Interviews will be conducted mid August

A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs.

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: DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk.

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.

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.

To assist with your application please find attached -

DBS Candidate Information Guide - Working for Defence Business Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

(26) UK Ministry of Defence: Life , LinkedIn

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

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 : resourcing partners
• Email : DBS-ResourcingPartner@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@MOD.gov.uk in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

Attachments

MOD Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)Defence Internal Brief notice Opens in new window (docx, 43kB)Candidate Information 2025 Opens in new window (docx, 31kB)