About the job

Job summary

Do you want to join Defence and play your part in supporting our armed forces to operate effectively?  

Each year a third of the Defence budget is spent on Support. The Defence Support Organisation sits at the heart of providing support to the UK's Armed Forces. We provide logistic and engineering services to UK Armed Forces at home and abroad and have a broad remit spanning from planning to operational delivery. 

We offer an inclusive, encouraging working environment providing opportunities for you to thrive in your role and progress your career. Our core values are Respect, Trust, Understanding and Kindness as we passionately believe these will enable both a diverse workforce and ultimately high performing teams. 

We are looking for enthusiastic and motivated individuals who will embrace these values and proactively demonstrate the principles of inclusion within the organisation. 

This Grade 7 role is eligible for the MOD Digital Skills Allowance (DSA). The successful candidate can apply for the DSA, which provides an annual non-pensionable pay increment of £5,100, £10,200 or £15,300. Skills will be assessed by an annual MOD moderation panel against the Senior Data Architect role described in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework. DDAT Capability Framework.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Welcome Message from Richard Puttick, CIO of Defence Support.

Would you like to be an integral part of one of the largest digital transformations in UK Government, and play a leading role in modernising our Defence Support processes and systems to face a rapidly changing world? 

Our focus is to transform service delivery through the provision of cutting-edge enterprise solutions, delivering improved outcomes for our users. We architect, design, integrate and govern coherent digitally enabled capabilities for the Support function, which accounts for over £10Bn of MOD annual expenditure. We are looking for people who can help change the Defence Support enterprise for all Defence users, from industry partners to front line operations globally.  If you are capable, curious and experienced, have experience with enterprise architecture, and a digital, data, technical or cyber background, and you want to make a difference to Defence, this is your opportunity to grasp an exceptional challenge. 

As a member of the Defence Support (Def Sp) CIO you will be leading the data architecture team creating appropriate data architectures and roadmaps to satisfy digital solutions. You will engage with and provide appropriate advice and guidance to multiple stakeholders and be responsible for determining the best approach for delivering effective data across Defence Support.

As the data lead in the Def Sp CIO team, you will deliver business and digital direction to the CIO data team, key stakeholders and the wider workforce. This requires demonstrably strong leadership to develop and maintain relationships with an operationally focused and specialist stakeholder community. There will be a high degree of collaboration with key programmes and other organisations in MOD, partners and suppliers, to ensure that Defence Support’s goals can be met through influencing and co-opting as well as directing. 

You will ensure a structured approach is taken so that enterprise architecture data principles become a permanent feature of projects, with a clear line of sight from strategy to delivery. 

This position involves data governance and assurance, master data management, data quality and ownership management, data security and data archiving monitoring, and checking data flows to ensure data service levels are met.  

This position is one of substantial influence and requires an individual with the appetite for intellectual challenge who is prepared to deliver leading-edge solutions while maintaining an operational focus.  You will have experience in enterprise and solution architecture with a strong background delivering enterprise data solutions in a large-scale, complex organisation. 

 Responsibilities 

• Leadership of the Def Sp CIO Data Team 
• Delivery of the Def Sp component of the MOD Data Strategy 
• Production of the Def Sp Data Blueprint 
• Production of the Def Sp Data Catalogue  
• Driving exploitation of existing and new data capabilities to deliver business simplification and maximum business value 
• Assessing and verifying new technical solutions in the data domain 
• Understanding and assessing the opportunities from emerging data technologies to provide challenge on different ways of working 
• Acting as a champion for data-driven innovation and keeping connected to technology leaders in the marketplace, as well as the wider MOD’s innovation and data teams 
• Defining data governance and assurance activities 
• Establishing Def Sp Data Quality Services 
• Defining data quality assurance and reporting activities 
• Setting appropriate data service performance metrics 
• Acting as a role model in leadership across the MOD, inspiring about our work, confident in our engagement and empowering our teams 
• Actively working across Government to share best practice 
• Producing data service design documentation for major initiatives 

The successful applicant will need to quickly gain a knowledge of the Defence Support working practices and provide a significant contribution to the digital community within MOD. 

Person specification

Highly Desirable Criteria 

 Experience of managing business requirements, solution recommendations, high and low-level designs, in the data domain

• Experience of data modelling and management
• Experience of operational change in large-scale, complex, digital environments
• Demonstrate managerial and leadership skills
• Experience of delivering transformational change programmes 
• Ability to work with vendors on potential solutions and assessments
• Strong communication skills; ability to brief with confidence
• Articulate business, technical, commercial, financial and security risks  

Desirable Criteria 

• Previous experience of data service reporting 
• Experience of Data security and governance procedures 
• Experience of applying Information and Data Standards 
• Ability to demonstrate strategic thinking and problem-solving ability 
• BCS Membership 

DDaT Snr Data Arch - Key Skills that the role requires can be found in the below framework, please ensure you align any relevant experience in your CV.

Data architect - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk)

Although you may not currently have all the technical skills, we are able to provide appropriate training.  

Qualifications  

Either a degree in a STEM related subject or equivalent practical experience.  

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,670, Ministry of Defence contributes £15,570 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, Experience and Technical skills.

Sift  and interview will be conducted based on experience, success profiles and technical skills detailed in the advert.

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours: -

• leadership 

• seeing the big picture

• communicating and influencing

• working together

• making effective decisions 

At interview, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours:

• leadership 

• seeing the big picture

• communicating and influencing

• working together

• making effective decisions 

This Grade 7 role is eligible for the MOD Digital Skills Allowance (DSA).  This Grade 7 role is eligible for the MOD Digital Skills Allowance (DSA).  The successful candidate can apply for the DSA, which provides an annual non-pensionable pay increment of £5,100, £10,200 or £15,300.  Skills will be assessed by an annual MOD moderation panel against the Data architect - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk)

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: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

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.

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.