About the job

Job summary

The Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) is a part of the Ministry of Defence responsible for the procurement, in-service support, and disposal of the UK’s nuclear submarines. Our work is of unparalleled strategic importance nationally and internationally, ensuring the security of the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent, and delivering some of the most technically complex programmes in defence.

Here you’ll find a community to belong to – whether that’s alongside project teams with a shared vision or as part of an employee network of like-minded individuals. We believe that, by celebrating different backgrounds and perspectives, together we’ll achieve the extraordinary.

Discover more about our work:

We offer 25+ days’ holiday, flexible and hybrid working, enhanced parental leave schemes, shopping discounts, and an exceptional employer pension contribution of around 27%, to help work, work for you.

For security reasons this role is open to sole UK nationals only. A ‘sole UK national’ refers to an individual who holds citizenship solely in the UK, without dual citizenship or nationality from another country. We’re unable to offer visa sponsorship.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you have been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained, or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, and we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months.

Job description

Are you an experienced leader with strong interpersonal skills? Are you excited by the opportunity to shape and define the delivery of some of the biggest and complex defence programmes in the UK today? The Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) are currently seeking enthusiastic and driven Operational Delivery Leader to join our team at Bristol.

Working in our Supplier Management team, you won’t just be a part of our mission—you’ll be at its core. Working with some of our key suppliers (Rolls Royce, BAE Submarines and Babcock), you will find yourself travelling frequently between our contractor sites in Bristol, Barrow-in-Furness, Derby and Devonport. You will take lead managing contractors and performing interventions to get the best from the team.

As part of our Key Supplier Management team, you will be expected to collaborate and meet regularly with stakeholders to come to the best decisions for the business, whilst demonstrating your ability to adapt in a fast-paced working environment. You will take the lead with your allocated supplier, conducting improvement work and site visits to ensure that risks are mitigated, and that work is being completed efficiently. When dealing with key suppliers directly, you will be expected to work independently and use your individual skillset to combat these issues head on.

At the SDA, we don’t just offer a job—we offer a journey. We’re deeply committed to your professional growth, providing a wealth of training and development opportunities to help you navigate a rewarding career path with us. Immerse yourself in our vibrant community that champions learning, innovation, and quality. Connect with like-minded individuals, exchange ideas, and celebrate diversity through our extensive range of staff networks.

We champion a balanced approach to work at the SDA. Regular in-person attendance is required to promote the benefits of face-to-face collaboration (approximately 3 times a week) alongside flexibility of hours to support work-life balance. Initially, you may be expected to attend more frequently to familiarise yourself with the site, team, and projects you will be working on in more detail. There is also the expectation to travel to other sites (Bristol, Barrow-in-Furness, Derby and Devonport) on regular basis, of which your expenses will be paid for from your primary workstation.

What you’ll be doing

• Accountable for the development of specific strategy and plans, ensuring implementation of relevant policies across the team and wider business, contributing to the governance and reporting of the Operational Delivery, and to ensuring that key messages and initiatives are cascaded through the SDA community.
• Accountable for leading on elements of specific initiatives and representing and providing advice to other, Industrial Partners, Delivery Teams and MoD organisations as applicable, to ensure that processes and standards are implemented, delivered, and maintained, and are coherent and MoD Business Units
• Leads the setting of governance requirements to ensure operations and logistics policies and business processes are followed by our suppliers
• Sets the medium and long-term priorities for the team 
• Accountable for implementing improvements to current working methods to increase supply chain effectiveness and shares experiences and leads continuous improvement activity. 
• Able to provide coaching and/or identify training requirements for their staff. Able to identify training course gaps to the training providers.

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Experience of developing and implementing strategy and leading large multi-Function, multi-experienced teams through changes that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery of outputs to the customer. 
• Experience of delivering continuous improvement and leading suppliers through change
• Experience of senior stakeholder and relationship management 
• Experience of managing suppliers and delivering customer service 

In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:

• Stakeholder Management Expert
• Continuous Improvement to Optimise Support Expert
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £66,800, Ministry of Defence contributes £18,036 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

Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:

1. Pre-sift - We will check that you meet any essential or eligibility criteria that are listed in the Person Specification section of this advert. On your CV, please clearly show how you meet the essential criteria.
2. Sift - Your CV will be assessed against the following categories, using a simple numerical scoring system: Key Achievements; Relevant Experience; Applied Knowledge and Skills

Please follow our guidance on CV writing for best chance of success.

3. Interview - If you're invited to interview, you'll be assessed against the Sift categories listed above, as well as the Technical Competences and Behaviours listed in the Person Specification section of this advert. When two (or more) candidates are on equal interview scores, positions will be offered based on the scores assessed at interview, in this order – 1st) Technical competence, 2nd) CV Review, 3rd) Behaviour one, 4th) Behaviour two.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Offering at a lower level
If you’re not successful at interview, we may offer you a role at a lower level if this is a match for your skills and experience. If this applies to your application, you’ll be scored against criteria for the lower-level role and offers will be made in merit order. If you accept this position, you’ll be able to take advantage of opportunities to develop your career as part of our team.

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

Open to UK nationals only.

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.