About the job

Job summary

The DBS Head of Financial, Procurement and Civilian People Services role is part of the Operational Delivery Profession and is responsible for leading the DBS Financial, Procurement and Civilian People Services team, including leadership of around 700 staff, to deliver a range of shared services to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider-Defence community.

Job description

The DBS Head of Financial, Procurement and Civilian People Services is a key leadership role within DBS with responsibility for leading a diverse range of services within Defence and helping shape our organisation for the future. We are passionate about delivering outstanding services and a market leader in our field, delivering high volume HR, payroll, financial and procurement services for Defence. You will share our passion for continuously improving our user experience and be excited to bring your delivery expertise and ability to transform services to DBS.

You will also be a key figure in our Executive Leadership Team, playing a full role in shaping the development of our services and of the organisation more widely.

Person specification

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• A track record of strong leadership in a shared service environment and/or large-scale operational delivery.
• An inspiring, confident and thoughtful leader with a track record of building, developing and continuously improving high performing, diverse and inclusive operational teams.
• Excellent communication skills with an ability to establish and maintain influential relationships with stakeholders at all levels across Defence and externally.
• Experience of successfully leading and managing transformation and change. In particular, experience of creating a culture of continuous improvement and challenging the status quo, transforming and simplifying processes to deliver in radically different ways and ensuring that employees and users are engaged in the changes.
• An ability to use data, digital technology and insight to identify opportunities to improve the customer experience of large-scale services.
• The ability to work effectively as part of an Executive Leadership Team, lead corporate initiatives across DBS and continuously improve our inclusive and customer-focussed culture.

Benefits

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process accessed via the advertisement listed for this role. This should be completed no later than 23:55 Sunday 4th February 2024 and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal:

• A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages) explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role. 

Both documents are weighted equally in their scoring, so it's important to consider this when uploading your application. Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. 

For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.

Expected timeline

Expected sift date – Monday 12th February 2024

Expected interview date –Thursday 29th February 2024

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.