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.

Please note, for security reasons this role is open to sole UK nationals only. A ‘sole UK national’ refers to an individual who holds citizenship solely in the UK, without dual citizenship or nationality from another country. If successful, you will be required to pass Security Check clearance. You will need to have lived in the UK for the last five years. We are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

Job description

Are you a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer looking to achieve your ambitions and reach your full potential whilst supporting the defence of our nation? If so, we, here at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) are looking for a Quality Assurance (QA) Section Lead to join us in Portsmouth.

You will be joining our Defence Quality Assurance Field Force (DQA-FF), which is the primary organisation within MOD for the delivery of Government Quality Assurance Surveillance (GQAS) during all phases of defence capability acquisition. 

Based in HMNB Portsmouth and managing a team of Government QA Representatives this role provides Engineering Quality Assurance Management in relation to a variety of projects and technologies, with a primary focus on assuring Helicopters and Weapons programmes. We offer a structured training programme to support you to achieve Flight Authorisation.

This is an incredibly rewarding role where you will be empowered to work with a high degree of collaboration to deliver your workload. With a focus on assurance of defence equipment you will spend a lot of your time at defence suppliers in your area of responsibility. This will involve working in an industrial environment and may include periods in confined spaces, in the vicinity of operating machinery or at height. There will be a requirement to work flexibly and for short periods of occasional overnight travel to support work programmes, customer meetings and training.

At DE&S we operate a hybrid working environment. Regular in-person attendance is required to promote the benefits of face-to-face collaboration alongside flexibility of hours to support work-life balance. Initially, you may be expected to attend more frequently to familiarise yourselves with the site, the team, and the position you will be working on in more detail. As well as HMNB Portsmouth, you will also be required to travel to Gosport to meet suppliers as part of your working week.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Clearance (SC). SC must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you have been recruited for. If SC is not obtained or is obtained but with any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you have been recruited for any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. 

Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, the Department reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance is not obtained within 12 months.

What you’ll be doing

• Provide advice, guidance, and support to Delivery Teams on the implementation of quality policy and assuring compliance
• Develop QA surveillance and assurance plans in response to supplier, supply chain and technical risk
• Identify and manage quality related risks, including product related risk, facilitating investigations of equipment faults
• Manage the Quality Assurance Representative Team surveillance to ensure that they meet the contractual requirements
• Support the development of strategy for Government QA surveillance

Person specification

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

• You will hold a relevant HNC (i.e., Level 4 or higher) qualification in a relevant discipline, or have the equivalent experience
• Applied knowledge of quality assurance within the acquisition and supply chain environment, supported by expertise in multiple quality specialist areas including Configuration Management
• Knowledge of technical specifications and ability to read and interpret technical drawings

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

• Acquisition Assurance (Practitioner)
• Acquisition Governance (Practitioner)
• Leadership
• Communicating and influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,500, Ministry of Defence contributes £12,015 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.

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

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.