About the job

Job summary

The purpose of the role is to develop a long-term programmatic strategy for the Defence Housing Estate. Working as part of the DIO Accommodation senior leadership team you will ensure the implications of and factors influencing Project Sycamore are integrated into wider Accommodation Strategy and Modernised Accommodation Offer as well as the Military Housing Site Review Programme (MHSRP).

You will be responsible for leveraging and increasing a mixture of technical, administrative and project skills across the business through technical advice, guidance, direction, and upskilling of Managers. There are new and increasing demands across the enterprise – alongside the requirement for a long-term strategy for the housing estate, there’s a drive for proactive asset management and low carbon solutions; and MOD expectations are increasing; infrastructure needs to be reliable, compliant, and fit for purpose. The post holder will build capacity in line with the direction of the organisation including the DIO Operating Model and wider Departmental strategies including Modernised Accommodation Offer. You will provide an essential point of contact for Ministers, Permanent Secretary, and other senior officials.

Job description

Leadership and Management:

• Responsible and accountable for Team performance, conduct and development. Developing and communicating clear service deliverable goals, directing performance and promoting continuous improvement. Develop training strategies and implementing solutions in accordance with the DIO Leadership Code.
• Lead the Team in an open and transparent manner, ensuring individuals have the appropriate levels of delegation and effectively monitoring and managing delegations in line with departmental levels/controls and standards.
• Responsible for demonstrating a personal commitment to DIO's Leadership Code and enabling and supporting the Team to successfully demonstrate the activities within the DIO's Leadership Code.
• Accountable for ensuring the Team are appropriately staffed with the right skills and capabilities to deliver the DIO outputs in accordance with the DIO Command Plan, with objectives set for all staff, and reporting completed as per the timescales mandated for each grade. Ensuring that individuals are appropriately rewarded in accordance with the departmental guidance.
• Develop an environment where a High Performing Team culture can develop, promoting diversity and inclusion across the business area. Supporting the MOD People initiatives to engage staff and drive continuous improvement within the business.

Strategy Development:

• Develop and draft long term programmatic strategy for Defence Housing Estate. This will be shaped by Military Housing Site Review Programme and Project Sycamore but will also require a long-term strategy on: Commercial; Accommodation Requirement and Plans: Disposal, Investment (Enhanced target standard, Net Zero, Minimum Energy Efficiency); Operational Usage.
• Establish prioritisation for investment; balanced against enduring commitment to APL and operational requirements
• Establish commercial approach with the current, and any new, commercial housing partners.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Accountable for the effective management, briefings, interfaces and relationships with Ministers, Senior Officials, DIO functional areas, FMC, Single Services, Other Government Departments and external consultants on the strategy to provide reassurance and ensure cross departmental buy in.
• Work as part of DIO Accommodation senior team to ensure that implications of a long-term strategy are fully understood and integrated into wider Accommodation strategy, Modernised Accommodation Offer, and spending plans.
• Responsible for effectively managing and coordinating communication to the public and press on matters relating to the strategy which may impact the reputation and integrity of the organisation.

Person specification

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• Excellent leadership skills with an ability to create and present a clear vision and set direction, that motivates and empowers others to work towards a common goal. You will also need to demonstrate when you have been able to build and lead high performing, dispersed teams, in a complex and matrixed environment, adapting your leadership style where appropriate.
• Experience in making difficult decisions using evidence-based approaches and knowledge to provide accurate, expert and professional advice to a variety of senior stakeholders.
• Proven experience of senior stakeholder management in a political, pressured environment with evidence of building credible and respected relationships, especially at board level. You must also demonstrate your effective negotiation and influencing skills with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• A proven track record of developing and implementing long term accommodation strategies at a high level.
• Evidence of operating in an environment that attracts significant stakeholder interest, a high customer focus and an ability to successfully collaborate at all levels.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process accessed via the advertisement listed for this role. This should be completed no later than 23:55 on Tuesday 2nd April 2024 and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal:

• A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages) explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role. 

Both documents are weighted equally in their scoring, so it's important to consider this when uploading your application. Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. 

The vacancy holder will also be offering an online Q&A session on Tuesday 26th March between 10:10 - 10:55 to provide an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clicking here. Please note, this is not part of the formal assessment process. 

For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.

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.