About the job

Job summary

At Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), we supply and maintain vital equipment and services for the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Together, we deliver a vast range of essential defence programmes, and strive for what's next. Because it helps keep our military at the top of their game and our nation safe – for today, and tomorrow.

We offer 25+ days’ holiday, flexible and hybrid working, enhanced parental leave schemes, shopping discounts, and an exceptional employer pension contribution of around 27%, to help work, work for you.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you have been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained, or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, and we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months.

Job description

We have an exciting and interesting opportunity to join us as a Munitions Operations Manager, based at one of our Defence Munitions (DM) sites around the UK.

In this role, you’ll be running the operational delivery of Complex Weapons (CW) and General Munitions (GM) activities. You’ll be responsible for the input and development of current and upcoming plans for munitions processing activity to best meet customer requirements, whilst meeting regulatory & safety requirements.

You will provide direct technical support to Senior Explosive Processing Approvals Manager & General Munitions Production Manager, supporting the implementation of DM Safe System of Work (SSOW) to include approvals, contractor processing approvals, and the management control of Information Systems (IS).

As part of the role, you must be willing to attend and successfully pass Ordnance Munitions & Explosives (OME) Awareness and OME Intermediate courses, both to be completed within 12 months of appointment. We are keen to support you in continuing your professional development within this sector and will provide training where necessary. In this post, the ammunition outputs you support go to operations which are critical for defence, so the work you’ll be doing makes a real difference.

You can choose your preferred base location from our Defence Munitions sites:

• Defence Munitions Beith, Ayrshire KA15 1JT
• Defence Munitions Gosport, Hampshire PO13 0AH

The position is 37 hours a week, and you’ll be able to opt into our flexitime system. The role requires a full UK driving license and will involve regular travel to visit other DM sites around the UK. Potential candidates should be aware of the detached duty requirement which may require regular overnight stays.

At DE&S, we champion flexible ways of working. Regular in-person attendance is required to promote the benefits of face-to-face collaboration alongside flexibility of hours to support work-life balance.

What you’ll be doing

• Support the Senior Explosive Processing Approvals Manager (SEPAM) in the development of Safe Systems Of Work (SSOW) for Complex Weapons, General Munitions, and the approvals process.
• Identify future capability requirements, by attendance at Project Safety & Environmental Panels (PSEP), Defence Lines of Development (DLOD’s), and other forums as required, to support production managers to assess resource/infrastructure requirements and their impacts.
• Attendance at CW/GM DLOD’s, analysing requirements and identifying potential solutions.
• Support the review of Management Information (MI) to contribute to Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP).
• Support Assistant Team Leaders with munitions processing and business operations in support of Munition Support Agreements & Non-Explosive Support Agreements.
• Analyse output performance against plan, reporting performance issues and seeking continuous improvement opportunities in output efficiency & effectiveness with sites, in conjunction with the Senior Quality Management lead.
• Review CW/GM business area use of IS, highlighting capability/performance opportunities and applying best practice in a uniform approach.
• Good understanding of Concept, Assessment, Demonstration, Manufacture, In service and Disposal cycle (CADMID).

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Familiar with MS Office 365 suite.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills

It would also be great if you can demonstrate any of the following desirable criteria:

• Experience of working in a Weapons Ordnance Munitions Explosive (WOME) environment
• Experience in planning/scheduling

In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:

• Stakeholder management – Supervised Practitioner
• Continuous Improvement for Optimised Support – Supervised Practitioner
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,800, Ministry of Defence contributes £9,396 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

Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:

1. Pre-sift - We will check that you meet any essential or eligibility criteria that are listed in the Person Specification section of this advert. On your CV, please clearly show how you meet the essential criteria.
2. Sift - Your CV will be assessed against the following categories, using a simple numerical scoring system: Key Achievements; Relevant Experience; Applied Knowledge and Skills

Please follow our guidance on CV writing for best chance of success.

1. Interview - If you're invited to interview, you'll be assessed against the Sift categories listed above, as well as the Technical Competences and Behaviours listed in the Person Specification section of this advert.

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.