About the job

Job summary

The Dstl Strategy Team lead the development of Dstl’s Corporate Strategy and strategic stakeholder relations. Dstl Strategic Stakeholder Relations Manager is responsible for implementing the strategic Ministry of Defence (MOD)/Other Government Department (OGD) stakeholder engagement strategy/plan in support of delivering the Dstl Strategy.

They will work closely with the Dstl Strategic Stakeholder Relations Lead and in doing so will need to understand the strategic priorities of these key stakeholders and communicate Dstl’s strategic position to them. They will be critical to maintaining effective relationships with these stakeholders.

Working closely with colleagues across MOD Defence Science and Technology (DST) and Dstl, this role will ensure that the strategy/plan is delivered in a coherent manner and that business intelligence from engagements is captured and shared as appropriate. They will also ensure that mechanisms exist to capture Science & Technology (S&T) impact from across the organisation on a routine basis, and at all levels of classification.

Reporting to the Strategy Advisor and in support of the Head of Strategy, the Strategic Stakeholder Relations Manager will work collaboratively across Dstl to support the design and delivery of a range of targeted and high profile senior stakeholder visits and activities.

This role will have a home base at a main Dstl site but with frequent travel (expected three days per week) to MOD Main Building, OGDs and Dstl partner/supplier locations. 

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:

• Support the development of and implement Dstl’s strategic MOD/OGD stakeholder engagement strategy/plan.
• Understand stakeholder priorities, challenges and opportunities for S&T exploitation and impact, and any risks for Dstl and the S&T ecosystem
• Support the delivery of targeted stakeholder visits to Dstl, drawing on the breadth of Dstl capability and bringing together virtual teams, working closely with the Strategic Campaign Planner.
• Communicate S&T impact for cross-Whitehall initiatives.
• Support the alignment of the S&T portfolio with strategic MOD/OGD demand forecasts.
• Engage with the Delivery and S&T Capability areas of Dstl to redefine the Customer Engagement Framework and associated processes to ensure that routine industry and customer engagement supports wider strategic positioning efforts.
• Drive the implementation of safe and secure ways of working and ensuring colleagues know that their safety is paramount and comes ahead of everything.
• Drive a positive safety culture whereby everyone is empowered to report their concerns, no matter how small, and to stop work where they feel it is unsafe.

Person specification

We are looking for someone who has:

• Experience navigating large and complex organisations, including gaining access to key stakeholders and successfully managing strategic relationships for longer-term benefit.
• A strong MOD and cross-government network at senior levels (1* and above) and associated understanding of stakeholder communities.
• An ability to deliver all aspects of planning and demonstrate progress.
• Experience of influencing senior stakeholders in support of achieving organisational goals.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
• Experience of successfully leading virtual teams.
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written), and an ability to describe the impact of S&T to non-specialists.

Leadership:

As a leader in Defence you will help shape, role model and bring to life the ‘One Defence’ mindset that will enable us to deliver our vision and strategic objectives. Your leadership style must be inspiring, confident and empowering. Working at every level of our organisation to break down silos, unite teams and create a culture that is trusting, collaborative, innovative, diverse and inclusive. Enabling us to deliver with pace and agility through the skills, commitment and empowerment of our employees and military colleagues.

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.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £55,014, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £14,853 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.

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.

Sift will take place on 29th January 2024. Successful candidates will be invited to attend either an online interview via MS Teams or face to face interview at one of our Dstl sites on 8th February at Portsdown West, Fareham or 15th February at Porton Down Salisbury .

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

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.