About the job

Job summary

Do your peers think of you as someone who sets and maintains high standards?  Are you known for your relentless attention to detail, your self-motivation, your time management and your ability to prioritise a workload for yourself and your colleagues?

Dstl is part of the Ministry of Defence and is one of the principal government organisations dedicated to science and technology, delivering really important defence and security needs for the benefit of the UK and its allies.  We have an exciting role that would suit an experienced Quality System Manager.

The Quality System Manager role is pivotal to ensuring that Dstl’s quality management system meets the needs of our ISO9001 certification as well as our governance and accessibility standards. This role is primarily located at Porton Down in the Chief Executive Office, working as part of a team within Risk, Assurance and Governance to deliver effective quality process management to Dstl.

The Quality System describes the policies and business processes which demonstrate Dstl’s approach to conducting business activities in a consistent and repeatable manner. The Quality System Manager supports the efficient and effective operation of the organisation through maintaining, and improving the Quality System.

We need someone to join our dedicated, professional team who can take ownership of the day to day management of the Quality System helping to ensure Dstl delivers efficiently and effectively in a safe and secure environment. If that’s you, we would like to hear from you.

Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.

We particularly welcome female and ethnic minority applicants and those from the LGBTQI community, as they are under-represented within Dstl at these levels.

Job description

In this role you will:

Lead the delivery and prioritisation of the Quality System workload.

For example, you will:

• Develop, maintain and improve the Quality System for the benefit of the organisation ensuring policies, processes and procedures are clear, accurate and accessible to all Dstl employees
• Maintain the Quality System host platform, collaborating with Digital colleagues to ensure continuing fitness for purpose and implementing improvements to meet changing organisational needs.
• Collaborate, support and assist Process Owners and Stewards to deliver effective quality and process management in accordance to the Business Process Governance Framework
• Manage priorities and deliver requested changes to published information in a timely manner.
• Manage and maintain the process review cycle through collaboration with Process Owners and Stewards
• Work with colleagues to improve process governance standards
• Foster good relations, advocate diversity & inclusion, through proactive engagement with stakeholders and/or appropriate fora.

Safety:

• Pro-actively support safe working practices, appreciating the need for colleague welfare is the top priority for Dstl. You will take responsibility for working safely and report on any practices, no matter how big or small, to mitigate any potential risks. 

Person specification

We are looking for someone who has:

• Experience and knowledge of ISO 9001:2015;
• Self-motivation, skills in time management and good attention to detail and dedication to maintaining standards
• Ability to engage with a diverse range of stakeholders and who can build effective relationships
• A methodical and structured approach when reviewing changes and updating information
• A strong team working ethos  
• The ability to prioritise a busy workload and can set timescales and expectations

If you are a current Dstl employee you must ensure your line manager is aware of your application and the potential situation regarding release dates, if successful and a start date is not agreed it could result in the job offer being withdrawn.

Important Information:

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. For some roles Developed Vetting will also be required, in this case you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Individuals within DSTL who hold dual nationality and currently hold the required clearance level may apply. If found suitable for the role further security discussions will need to take place before a formal offer can be made.

Location/Working Pattern:

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office/lab/range (on site) and home-based working.  This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the workplace, subject to on-site estates capacity.  Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another MOD workplace, 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).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,970, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £9,712 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.

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

Sifting will take place shortly after the role closes with successful applicants being invited to attend a face to face interview at Dstl Porton Down.

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

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

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.