About the job

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 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the Northwest, and have consolidated all activities in Norcross, Blackpool. A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2026. 

Come and join the DBS community today! 

Job description

As part of DBS Digital, Information and Technology (DIT) Information Governance Team you will play a key role in ensuring that DBS is able to maximise the use of Information Management tools to deliver our services.

As part of the DBS Information Management Team you will perform a critical role for DBS providing specialist advice on Information Management (IM) issues internally within DBS to ensure best practice is reflected in DBS processes and practices for the handling of information assets.

Your role will be to support the SEO on standardising the DBS approach to Microsoft Office 365 applications, customising the MOD approach to meet DBS needs and communicating out to staff through the available tools by championing the use of IM tools within DBS.

Managing a team of information management officers to deliver customer requirements and multiple projects in an agile manner, you will demonstrate strong leadership and communication skills and also be able to demonstrate the ability to research and exploit existing, new and emerging information management tools to be able to provide DBS staff with efficient and effective solutions.

You will be key in ensuring that your team delivers ‘the right information, to the right people at the right time’ ensuring the necessary controls are in place and reviewed as required.

This is a small but extremely busy team, where collaboration, team work, drive and determination are essential to the role.

Main Responsibilities:

• Deliver effective Information and Records Management (electronic and paper) to ISO 15489 standards (compliance with MOD JSP441 policy framework)
• Manage the overall provision of timely, secure access to accurate records for a range of operational and strategic purposes
• Support in the communication of the policy framework to guide DBS employees in the management of their records and helping them through the life cycle of the data (capture, store, locate, retrieve, and dispose of information), supporting users in their use of IM systems.
• Assist business areas across DBS with the implementation of retention and disposal schedules
• Respond to internal information management queries across DBS in a timely manner
• Constantly review, and explore the development of innovative ways for managing all the Microsoft Office 365 (O365) electronic records, information and data assets of DBS
• Monitor information activities to ensure statutory compliance and adherence to MOD / DBS policy, ensuring that relevant strategies, policy standards and best practice are applied correctly by conducting Information Management Assurance checks and reviews to an agreed compliance schedule.
• Develop methods to review and audit DBS SharePoint data holdings providing reports to O365 Admin staff and management information for senior leaders.
• Promote use of O365 across DBS, supporting the Principal Data Protection Advisor in influencing and developing amongst all staff the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for the effective practical application of records and information management and compliance with MoD information protocols.
• Enable O365 capability/usability across DBS. Using an agile approach this will involve business engagement and the plan, design and build of SharePoint team sites (or other digital solutions) applying appropriate access permissions and metadata.
• Define and communicate standard DBS data management structures, to ensure consistency of information retrieval, combination, analysis, pattern recognition and interpretation, throughout DBS.
• Coach and mentor direct reports and team members, providing support and assistance to enable effective teamworking.
• Provide advice, guidance and troubleshooting for legacy IM systems
• Deliver DBS wide training on O365 applications and their uses.
• Review, plan and move information assets from outdated platforms such as InfoPath and SharePoint Designer to their O365 counterparts.

Person specification

We are looking for talented individuals who are used to working in a high-profile, high demand delivery space. It is desirable that you have a background in administration of Microsoft Office 365 applications or reviewing information life cycles. To either hold or be willing to work towards qualifications in relation to Information Management.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,290, Ministry of Defence contributes £9,528 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, Ability 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, an initial sift will be conducted on your Primary: Behaviour - Leadership. In this instance the remaining elements will be tested at interview. 

At application stage you will be assessed against the following:
Ability Tests: 

• Numerical Test
• Verbal Test

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing 
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions

Experience: 

• Personal Statement - In no more than 500 words, please detail your experience of the following: Microsoft Office 365 Administration, Delivering bespoke training & Customer/People engagement 

At interview you will be assessed against the above behaviours

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. Behaviour - Leadership
2. Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
3. Behaviour - Making Effective Decisions
4. Behaviour - Seeing the Big Picture

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

1. Experience - Personal statement
2. Behaviour - Leadership
3. Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
4. Behaviour - Seeing the Big Picture
5. Behaviour  -Making Effective Decisions

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 is scheduled to take place on week commencing: 14/01/2024
Interviews are currently taking place remotely via Ms Teams and will be conducted at the 22/01/2024

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

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 Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

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)

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.