Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Shrivenham Station About the job Job summary The SEO Defence Simulation Centre (DSC) is the Operations Manager for the Defence Modelling and Simulation (M&S) Office. You will lead the Front Door Function as the point of contact for Defence Simulation and Modelling. You will be responsible for the day-to-day effective and timely operational running of the DSC Catalogue and Front Door Enquiries Function of the DSC, in order to support the objectives of the Defence Modelling and Simulation Office Technical Authority (TA) whose aim is to deliver M&S VfM and interoperability benefits. You are responsible for ensuring the delivery of the products and services provided by the DSC. You will have line management responsibility for the Executive Officer, DSC Catalogue and Data Custodian. Note that the DMSO is a new organisation and the concept of operations is developing as more capability becomes available. This may lead to adjustment of the SEOs responsibilities. This post is advertised for 37 hours per week. Job description Triage of all enquiries into the DSC as the single point of contact for Defence M&S. Review the work priority list twice daily, at start and end of the work period. If required, consult the TA for direction on conflicting priorities. Direct the EO Front Door Assistant work priority. Provide the appropriate interface between Users (Defence, OGDs, Industry, Academia and Allies) and the DSC, maintaining impartiality, ensuring enquiries and engagements are handled in a commercially appropriate manner. Assemble and provide performance/management metrics and benefits tracking in support of exploitation of investment. Attend the appropriate workings groups and meetings to provide DSC input. Maintaining first line of communications (email, website, phone number) with all users of the DSC Catalogue. Responsible for the asset management of the DSC Test and Reference capability in liaison with the Technical Authority Support Team. Maintenance of Records and Databases directly pertinent to the efficient running of the DSC Catalogue service. To include, but not limited to: the Enumerations record Systems Documentation (The Log) Catalogue usage and record of responses Mobile media storage and accountability Follow-up issued media and monitor issue timings for returns Ensure any modifications to models are recorded with the appropriate metadata when returned to the DSC Build and maintain a record (database) of all in-use Defence M&S systems/applications and their formats. In cooperation with the DMSO Technical Authority Support Team. Support to and deputise for the AH DSC during absences and at meetings as required Undertake learning and development and up-skilling as required including continuous professional development in the M&S field. Undertake line management, mentoring and countersigning tasks as required by the role. This role has 1 direct report and 0 countersigning roles. Person specification This is an exiting role in the expanding Defence Simulation and Modelling (M&S) environment. The person filling this role must be prepared to take the initiative, look at the business practices, suggesting improvements, while still providing the required support to the Technical Authority and the Defence Customers. The M&S area is changing frequently and the Defence Simulation Centre is a dynamic organisation adapting to those changes and driving through improvements. The successful applicant must be very comfortable with change and a change agenda. A further tranche of capability and resource is expected. The successful candidate will require a basic knowledge of Defence Modelling and Simulation concepts and terminology and will be expected to attend the MOD Simulation Employment training course; a 5-week, full time attendance course at the Defence Academy Shrivenham. This will be conducted in work time. Selection will be based on the Civil Service Behaviours: Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Leadership Making Effective Decisions Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service Seeing the Big Picture We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form: Leadership Making Effective Decisions Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service Benefits Alongside your salary of £44,590, Ministry of Defence contributes £12,917 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. Highly competitive pension scheme. Flexi-time scheme upon completion of 6 months service or the Line Manager has the ability to adopt flexible working sooner than the 6 month period. With Line Manager agreement move to an alternative Working Patterns (there are 9). 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years service. If by chance you have previously completed service in the Public Sector in the past 5 years, you may be eligible to request 30 days leave immediately. (Evidence will be required). In addition to annual leave you will be entitled to 8 Public Bank Holidays per year. Professional and Personal Development of skills. Minimum of 18 Days Special Paid Leave in a rolling 12-month period for Public Duties commitments (such as a Magistrate). Special Paid Leave for community volunteering up to 12 days a year for Special Constables and 6 days a year for other volunteering. Enhanced parental and adoption leave. Shrivenham has good travel links with free car parking. Other facilities are a Sports & Social facilities, a Gym complex, Stables, a Golf Course and as well as onsite Mess & Retail shops. Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, 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). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements. The post does not offer relocation expenses. External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period. Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed. Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts. Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments. MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights. 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. Selection Process Details This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. This recruitment process will consist of two parts: When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected. A written application containing your experience (a CV and a Statement of Suitability, Personal Statement max 500 words) and 4 Behaviours drawn from the Civil Service Success Profiles. At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours: Leadership At sift and interview, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours/Technical Skills: Making Effective Decisions Communicating and Influencing Managing A Quality Service At interview, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours/Technical Skills: Seeing The Big Picture If your written application is successful, you will be invited to a face-to-face interview where you will be tested against 4 Behaviours. The interview may be held on-line, but in-person is the preferred format. If a large number of applications are received, they will be assessed initially against the Managing a Quality Service behaviour and your CV and Statement of Suitability (Personal Statement). You will then be assessed against the other criteria if you have met the minimum scores. Behaviours are assessed individually with a 250-word statement. The application form will indicate which behaviour is being assessed. We are looking for evidence using the Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) methodology. It is highly recommended you focus by providing one example for each behaviour. We would also advise you to use examples that best meet the criteria, even if they are a few years old, using the STAR methodology. Situation: Briefly describe the background of the situation in which you found yourself. Task: What you were required to do/chose to do. Action: What actions you undertook to achieve the tasks. Make sure to use I, not we to explain how your actions led to results. Result: Use facts and evidence to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience. Please make sure you have consulted the HM Government Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours document (available on Gov.uk) to ensure you have understood the relevant Behaviours at Level SEO. Your experience will be assessed individually through your CV and a 500 word Statement of Suitability (Personal Statement). This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, blending a balance of attendance in the workplace (your permanent duty station which is based on business assessment of where the work is best done) and working from home as a personal choice (if the role is suitable for this). If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post. 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). 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. This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. Apply and further information Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. 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-Resourcingteam3mod.gov.uk. As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to 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. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It 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. Strategic Command is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to improve the way the Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, all posts within Strategic Command Headquarters and in time the wider organisation, are/will be subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities. Throughout, the Commands transformation programme is committed to following the MODs framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Commands personnel and Trade Unions. 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 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. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : Assistant Head Defence Simulation Centre Email : iain.brant101mod.gov.uk Telephone : 03001532639 Recruitment team Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3mod.gov.uk Further information Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: infocsc.gov.uk. Attachments Candidate Information Pack Opens in new window (docx, 31kB) StratCom candidate pack Opens in new window (pdf, 534kB) MOD Candidate Pack 2024 Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail