About the job

Job summary

We are seeking a Higher Executive Officer within the Security Policy and Operations (SPO) – Trade and Strategic Exports Policy (TSEP) area of the Ministry of Defence Head Office. SPO is the part of the Ministry of Defence that provides both policy advice to Ministers on security and operational matters and strategic direction to our Armed Forces.

TSEP is a growing team working at the heart of Defence policy, central to developing and delivering advice on a wide range of critical policy issues. Working closely with senior leaders to set direction on strategy for export campaigns, we advise Ministers on how Defence capabilities and international partnerships should be used to achieve UK’s national security objectives.

Sitting within TSEP is the Partnerships Office for Strategic Defence Exports (POSDE), a new flagship office delivering the UK’s novel government-to-government offer in defence exports – Defence Partnerships.

This role provides vital contributions to SPO output, and is an integral part of our policy teams, linking with colleagues across Whitehall to ensure consistency with the National Security Strategy and working alongside military colleagues to deliver policy and military advice to Ministers.  

These positions are advertised at 37 hours per week. Regular attendance in MOD Main Building in London will be required, with some home working possible.

About Security Policy and Operations (SPO)

The MOD’s key responsibility is to protect the security, independence, and interests of the UK, at home and abroad. SPO is central to delivering this. The SPO Headquarters organisation consists of around 700 civilian and military staff.

SPO officials work directly with Ministers to define the objectives and context for military operations by the UK’s Armed Forces. SPO delivers advice and direction as a combined Department of State and Military Headquarters. It shapes Defence relations with other nations and international security organisations. It leads the MOD’s counter-terrorism policy and Defence’s contribution to UK security policy, working with Government colleagues to implement it. In all these areas, we ensure the MOD is accountable to Parliament and the public.

Job description

This role sits within the newly forming Partnerships Office for Strategic Defence Exports (POSDE), and will form a critical part of developing the strategic direction of this new office and delivering the Office’s novel Defence Partnerships product. This new flagship office is being implemented and developed through the calendar year, so the successful applicant for this post will have significant responsibility for supporting the establishment, development and delivery of the Office and its Defence Partnerships product.

The successful candidate will play an important role in the delivery of Defence Partnerships, and will initially play a supporting role in various nation state relationships piloting the Defence Partnerships product. The successful candidate will develop country-specific expertise on these areas, whilst also developing subject matter expertise in helping to develop key nation state relationships and exports strategy. In time, the successful candidate will ideally progress to an owning role in certain nation state relationships, and assist in the triage process for determining which relationships are elevated to Defence Partnerships.

The post sits within the Strategic Issues area of TSEP and will be given exposure and opportunity to support wider strategy development and problem solving. This team is close knit and overlapping, so the candidate will have the chance to get involved a wide range of issues.

Exposure to seniors and ministers will be high, given the profile of both the Partnerships Office and the nation state relationships, so the successful candidate will develop strong skills in dealing with a range of stakeholders across MoD.

Person specification

We are interested in candidates with experience of:

• Policy development, ideally in a public sector role;
• Working with senior stakeholders in a decision support role;
• Drafting briefings, reports and advice notes to senior stakeholders;
• Working in the armed forces or a security related role;
• Working with Parliament and/or Ministers.

Essential Skills

The people we look for will have skills in the following areas:

• Ability to produce regular, high quality briefs (often at short notice), on complex and evolving subject matter;
• Sound judgment and analytical skills, ability to make evidence based decisions and identify risks;
• Resilience, being comfortable working in a fast paced environment.

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 and Experience.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. We will assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

At Sift:

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

At Interview

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing

Applicants will also need to:

• Complete an online CV template to include job history, education and qualifications, and previous experience and skills. The CV will not be scored.
• Provide a personal suitability statement of 500 words on how they meet the essential / desirable criteria, why they are interested in the position, and what skills and strengths they would bring to the team.

Should we receive a large number of applications for this vacancy, sifting will be conducted on the following behaviour/s, as well as a personal suitability statement:

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

At interview, applicants will be asked to provide examples of all the Success Profiles behaviours listed above.

Please note, feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Strong candidates if unsuccessful for this post may still be considered for other similar roles. A reserve list will be held for 12 months, and reserve candidates may be contacted about similar roles during this time.

If any applicant is not found appointable at the advertised HEO grade, but the panel considers them suitable for a similar role at a lower grade, they may be asked if they wish to be added to a reserve list for roles which may become available in the organisation at the lower grade.

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 developed vetting (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.