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. 

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working.  This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments.  Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.  

Come and join the DBS community today! 

Job description

The Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) is part of the Armed Forces and Veterans Team and is one of three services that make up Veterans Services alongside Defence Transition Service (DTS) and Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans (IPC4V). These services are governed by the MOD’s Holistic Transition Policy as detailed in Joint Service Publication (JSP)100.

Joining VWS offers the opportunity to be part of a professional, committed, energetic team, working in a high-profile, fast-paced subject area that attracts significant media and ministerial attention. You will be required to work at pace to achieve your objectives, support our collective aims and respond to the dynamic environment in which we operate. 
Successful applicants will be provided with training to meet the demands of this role and are expected to maintain up to date and relevant skills and training whilst in post, both guided by Civil Service Required Learning and by independently identifying opportunities whilst in post.

Veterans Services is currently the subject of, and affected by, an independent review, which was commissioned by MOD and Cabinet Office Ministers to ensure the UK Government is providing the right support to the right people in an efficient, value for money way. The recommendations have now been published and are available on gov.uk – The Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). 

The review presents an exciting opportunity to be part of changing what we do and how we do it. You are strongly encouraged to familiarise yourself with the review detailed above and its recommendations to help you understand what changes we are likely to be implementing in due course. Such change may affect the focus and responsibilities of our roles. The successful applicant will be part of that change, which will continue throughout 2024/25.
VWS has a national footprint and is currently covered by our 5 regional centres, which are based in - Kidderminster, Norcross, Centurion, Belfast, and Glasgow. We are recruiting for a Welfare Manager to work from RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire as part of our Midlands and Wales region (Kidderminster).

The successful applicant will be required to provide advice, support and guidance to our clients and their families residing in  Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas. Clients may be Serving personnel, Service leavers, veterans and their families. Support is provided over the telephone, emails and face to face.

A VWS Welfare Manager facilitates access to the support our clients need based on a holistic assessment of the clients’ situation covering, amongst other aspects of life, healthcare, accommodation, finances, employment and wellbeing. They provide information and guidance on Armed Forces Compensation Schemes, War Disablement Pension Schemes and general advice on Service Pensions, as well as DWP benefits.

We work within the MOD and Armed Forces, and partner with other government departments, local authorities, the NHS and trusted charities, helping clients to identify and navigate the support that’s available and streamlining and coordinating their access to it. 

VWS Welfare Managers take pride in providing a high quality, tailored service to clients, addressing their issues by providing appropriate information and guidance and facilitating their access/making referrals to the support they need, whether it be provided by their Service, the MOD, other Government Departments, Local Authorities, other statutory services or the third sector. As a VWS Welfare Manager you will assess, support and maintain contact with clients in line with Veterans Services’ policies and protocols and GDPR, always striving for the highest standard of casework and maintaining meticulous case notes on the Veterans Services’ case management system.

You will also build a sound working knowledge and network of service providers on a national, regional and local basis, becoming an expert in provision in your area. 

You will play a significant role working in partnership with Veterans Services colleagues on casework when required, sharing your expertise to build capacity across the VS team.  

You will play an active part in business-wide initiatives and events. You will be required to work with clients, stakeholders and colleagues by all suitable means, including face to face, letter, email, phone and a range of meeting platforms including Skype, MS Teams. You will have confidence and/or familiarity with MS Office applications, including MS Teams, Word, Excel, One Note and a willingness and aptitude for learning new IT skills.

Travel throughout your designated area of responsibility will be required and a valid driving licence is required. Occasional national travel and overnight stays will be necessary as part of the role to fulfil team training and meeting requirements.

A Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) Welfare Manager is responsible for: 

• Managing assigned case workload, ensuring all work remains within the defined KPIs and targets.
• Ensuring all relevant information is captured on casework management systems professionally and in accordance with agreed processes.
• Promoting Veterans Services to 3rd parties within their designated area, actively developing networks and working relationships internally and externally
• Assessing and providing ongoing holistic support to clients, offering appropriate information, guidance and facilitating access to services/signposting. 
• Engaging with internal and external colleagues and stakeholders as required. 
• Maintaining up to date knowledge of policies, procedures and awareness of provision from internal or external stakeholders
• Conducting client visits within agreed timescales
• Professional and appropriate written or telephone communications to clients within agreed timescales 

You will do this by:

• Providing advice on Armed Forces pension schemes, compensation schemes, DWP benefits, devolved government entitlements, transition and support available from both Veterans Services and 3rd party organisations 
• Informing clients of potential claims, allowances, entitlements and appeals as appropriate.  
• Assisting clients with form filling over the phone, via written correspondence or face to face, as appropriate  
• Ensuring rapid resolution of client queries and 3rd party referrals, meeting KPIs and targets  
• Attending military establishment visits and home visits in line with agreed protocols and guidance
• Coordinating and running welfare surgeries including attending Employment Fairs or other appropriate engagement events. 
• Providing briefings to MOD/In-service colleagues and 3rd party organisations
• Organising workload efficiently, ensuring optimal productivity and cost effectiveness whilst meeting department KPI’s 
• Accurately recording client conversations and meetings in case notes utilising a case management system, in line with both internal requirements and quality standards    
• Escalating sensitive cases such high risk and potential complaints to Regional Welfare Manager where appropriate 
• Ensuring periodic availability if required to work as a Duty Manager on a rotational basis and providing cover across the business.
•  Contributing to the coaching and development of colleagues in Veterans Services as agreed with Line Manager 
• Collaborating with team members and external stakeholders contributing to the Veterans Services knowledge base by sharing information through the relevant channels 
• Proactively engaging and contributing to continuous improvement 
• Undertaking other official duties as directed  

Person specification

As a VWS Welfare Manager you will have the following essential skills/experience/knowledge: 

• Excellent organisational skills and ability to plan workload efficiently 
• Resilience  
• Excellent listening and interpersonal skills 
• Compassionate, empathetic, patient and calm attitude 
• Ability to adapt style and language to client/circumstantial needs 
• Excellent problem-solving skills  
• Ability to prioritise workload under pressure
• Ability to keep up to date on information relevant to client needs 
• Ability to learn quickly 
• Driving licence 

As a VWS Welfare Manager you may have the following desirable skills/experience/knowledge:

• Broad technical knowledge of WPS and AFCS schemes (can be met by on job training) 
• Broad knowledge of DWP benefits and entitlements (can be met by on job training) 
• Knowledge of Defence and/or its welfare and transition processes

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,300, Ministry of Defence contributes £7,641 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.

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 - Managing a Quality Service, Secondary: Experience - Personal statement. In this instance the remaining elements will be tested at interview.  

At application stage you will be assessed against the following: 

Behaviours: 

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Experience:  

• CV : Including Job History
• Personal Statement : In no more than 500 words, please provide information of how you meet the criteria set out in the person specification. You should include evidence using examples from your experience.

At interview you will be assessed against the following: 

Behaviours: 

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Experience:  

•  CV - Including Job History
• Personal Statement - In no more than 500 words, please provide information of how you meet the criteria set out in the person specification. You should include evidence using examples from your experience.

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 - Managing a Quality Service
2. Behaviour - Delivering at Pace
3. Behaviour - Leadership
4. Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
5. Experience - Personal statement
6. Experience - CV

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

1. Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service
2. Behaviour - Delivering at Pace
3. Behaviour - Leadership
4. Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
5. Experience - Personal statement
6. Experience - CV

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 to take place late May 2024

Interviews are currently taking place via Ms Teams and will be conducted Early June 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)  

(26) UK Ministry of Defence: Life , LinkedIn Defence Business Services (DBS) - Armed Forces Veterans Services (AFVS) -

  

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.