About the job

Job summary

The Ministry of Defence employs over 50,000 Civil Servants. Within that, the Army Top Level Budget (TLB) employs around 8,000 MOD Civil Servants located at over 300 locations. Ours is a diverse workforce, with roles ranging from trainers, human resources, teachers, and psychologists to storekeepers, financiers, project and programme managers, and policy secretariat staff. There are many different functions and professions delivering key outputs for the Army.

 The British Army is undergoing the most radical transformation in the last 20 years; through its ‘Future Soldier’ programme, the Army is driving modernisation and reform to ensure that it is fit for the challenges of the future. The Army is thinking differently about emerging threats, how to deal with them and the structure and equipment that is needed to succeed. If you want to be a part of this and work within the Civil Service Operational Delivery Profession to enable the Army to achieve this, then read on. 

 Functional leadership is at the heart of the Army’s operating model which sees both Military and Civil Service experts providing leadership and assurance around their relevant areas of responsibility. These functional experts provide a fundamental role supporting and enabling the Army to develop its strategies and goals for the future and deliver their current outputs. 

 One of the Army’s most critical functions is the Business Management Function. This function delivers the strategic planning, management and delivery of all Workforce and Business Services critical to the Army’s ‘whole force’ organisation of over 100,000 made up of employees from across the Regular Army, Reserve Army, Civil Service and Contractors. In addition, it is charged with driving an agenda of continuous business improvement and reform to enable the Army to operate efficiently and effectively within the Defence enterprise.

 The Business Management Function is currently under review with the aim of transforming the business services and capabilities it provides in addition to ensuring that those within the function have the knowledge and skills they require to deliver a professional service. As a function that forms part of the Civil Service Operational Delivery Profession (the largest of all Government Professions), the review is also seeking to align to the ODP profession career pathway and extensive Learning and Development offer to aid progression and development of its talent to achieve a sustainable Civil Service function for the future.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Based at Andover in the Army Headquarters (one post) or the Headquarters of the Field Army (one post) you will support the Senior Business Manager to deliver and oversee change through collaboration with colleagues from across the Finance, HR and Commercial professions to deliver strategic planning, management and delivery of all corporate workforce and business services to some of the Army’s most senior leaders.

 As an experienced manager you will be the focal point overseeing and delivering the day-to-day outputs associated with Workforce Services in two key parts of the Army’s organisation through the leadership of a small team of Civil Servants at Andover (for the Army HQ position)  or a team dispersed across Andover, Bulford, and York (for the Fd Army position)  that undertakes:

•  Workforce and resource planning (with some financial management oversight responsibilities) to meet the Army’s Strategic priorities and Command Plan, including support to workforce change, transformation and efficiency programmes and initiatives.
• Workforce advice and guidance to employees and their managers to enable high levels of engagement, attendance and performance and to grow and nurture talent and skills.
• Workforce financial management (including pay, allowances and reward) governance, assurance and compliance supporting executive level boards and performance reporting drawing from insights, data and MI.
• Improvements to the culture and lived experience of the workforce, including performance management, reward and recognition processes.
• Application of a structured change management approach and methodology in support of continuous improvement striving to develop and achieve excellence in support of business services and capabilities. 

Person specification

These roles require confident, creative and strategic leaders with a record of success.

They will have the ability to bring together expertise and practical delivery focus that drives results and be a role model for excellence in inclusive and professional leadership across the Business Management function. Ideally you will have experience of workforce services and/or business administration and an awareness of financial and HR practices. In your personal statement please provide evidence of how you demonstrate:  

 Essential

• Excellent oral and written communication skills to provide and receive complex, sensitive and often controversial information to stakeholders in support of decision making (particularly through business case development and implementation).
• Ability to navigate uncertainty and engage, influence and negotiate with a wide variety of senior stakeholders effectively, including delivering difficult messages.
• Capability to coordinate multiple workstreams and plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust business and resource (including finance) planning requirements accordingly.
• Strategic thinking – ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise and take decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be several courses of action.
• Manage a quality service whilst delivering continuous improvements or change to improve business processes or services.
• Be able to respond to sudden unexpected demands, prioritising your work and that of others.
• Leadership/line management skills to support, develop and motivate a team, ensuring effective delivery and a positive working culture.

 

Desirable

• Experience in a Human Resources role.
• Experience of planning or managing large scale change initiatives.
• Management of a team which may be geographically dispersed.  

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,080, Ministry of Defence contributes £11,631 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

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

At application your CV (Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience) and Personal Statement to provide a statement of suitability (word limit 1000) will be scored on how you meet the essential criteria for the role alongside the following two Civil Service Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

 At interview you will be tested on the following Civil Service Behaviours:  

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

An initial sift based on the lead behaviour of Leadership may be held if a large number of applications are received. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sift is expected w/c 10 Jun 24 with interviews w/c 17 Jun 24. 

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 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.

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

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.