Centurion Building, Gosport, PO13 9XA,
Kentigern House, Glasgow, G2 8EX,
Tomlinson House, Norcross, Blackpool, FY5 3WP,
Innsworth - Imjin Barracks, GL3 1HW.
Job Summary
Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?
Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?
Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.
* Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
* Our Mission – Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.
DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of society.
We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.
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.
DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and have consolidated all activities in Norcross, Blackpool. A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2026.
Come and join the DBS community today!
Job Description
As the Armed Forces and Veteran’s Services (AFVS) Technology Group Assistant Head for Test Management and Data Governance, you are a key member of the Sub-Portfolio and Optimisation staff and will lead and be responsible for testing strategies and data governance initiatives within AFVS, overseeing comprehensive testing processes to support our digital services and ensuring the integrity, quality, and governance of data.
You own the quality assurance and testing (QAT) strategy as part of a broader risk-based approach; are responsible for test improvement and optimisation; potentially promote and advocate for test capabilities internally and outside the government; have responsibility for talent, succession planning and supplier management and make important decisions relating to test within the context of the delivery environment.
You undertake complex work related to the principles and practices of data governance, overseeing: co-ordination with data owners to lead wider data management competencies; the formation, implementation and management of data governance frameworks, policies and standards; implementation and establishment of wider data management competencies within the organisation; and have responsible for understanding and managing the organisational data risks and issues, and co-ordinating with data owners to accept or resolve them.
Applying an “Agile-first” approach, collaborate with the commercial contractor to create, deliver and assure robust test and data governance strategies that will enable the effective delivery of the AFVS Sub-Portfolio and the transformation programme which supports the Service Integration and Management (SIAM) model, and increase the use of augmentation, automation and AI.
Testing Management:
* Develop and implement testing strategies, including functional and non-functional testing.
* Take ownership of the quality assurance and testing (QAT) strategy.
* Manage the testing lifecycle, from planning to execution and reporting.
* Ensure the delivery of high-quality digital services through rigorous testing processes.
* Lead a team of testers and provide guidance on best practices and methodologies.
* Promote and advocate test capabilities internally and externally.
Data Governance:
* Define, implement, and manage data governance frameworks, policies, and standards.
* Identify, catalogue, and monitor essential data assets.
* Ensure ownership of data has been assigned and maintain a clear RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix for all holdings.
* Incorporate data governance into routine processes and support risk management.
* Advocate for better data usage and management within the organisation.
* Enhance data literacy and promote data governance best practices.
Leadership And Collaboration:
* Provide leadership and direction to the data governance and testing teams.
* Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
* Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment of data governance and testing strategies with organisational goals.
* Manage relationships with external vendors and stakeholders.
* Take responsibility for talent, succession planning, and supplier management.
Reporting And Analysis:
* Monitor and report on data governance and testing metrics to senior management.
* Identify and address any issues or risks related to data governance and testing.
* Provide insights and recommendations based on data analysis and testing results.
Person specification
Desirable Experience:
* Proven experience in either or both testing and data governance roles.
* Expertise in functional and non-functional testing methodologies.
* Strong understanding of data governance, data quality, and data integrity principles.
* Excellent leadership and team management skills.
* Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a proven ability to recommend and implement novel solutions whilst maintaining equilibrium.
* Effective communication and stakeholder management skills.
* Familiarity with agile methodologies and project management.
* Experience with data analytics and data visualisation tools.
* Knowledge of relevant regulations and compliance standards.
* Proven track record of designing and implementing successful test strategy and management processes and procedures, encapsulating robust defect management, in waterfall and agile delivery frameworks, and on-premises and cloud hosted environments.
* Broad experience of applying business experimentation to promote rapid learning and option creation. Where appropriate reducing risk and verifying strategies or new processes in discrete user segments or small parts of the organisation before scaling as required to maximise user benefit.
* Broad practical experience of change and project delivery using traditional waterfall and agile approaches; including the implementation of agile practices; and agile at scale.
* Experience of the current Mil HR system (JPA).
Desirable Qualifications:
* NSV Security Clearance
* Extensive use of Microsoft Office 365
* Practitioner Qualification in Testing
* Agile Practitioner, Scrum Master or Product Manager or similar
* Project Management Qualification (e.g Prince 2, APM, Agile)
* Commercial contract management foundation qualification
* Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) foundation level qualification (SAFe for Teams, Leading SAFe)
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Leadership
* Changing and Improving
* Seeing the Big Picture
* Managing a Quality Service
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* DDaT Communicating between the technical and non-technical - Practitioner
* DDaT Functional Testing - Practitioner
* DDaT Data governance - Working
* DDaT Technical Breadth - Practitioner
We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:
* DDaT Communicating between the technical and non-technical - Practitioner
Alongside your salary of £59,690, Ministry of Defence contributes £17,292 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
* An environment with flexible working options Monday-Friday
* 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service (pro rata). In additional to 8 public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The Sovereign's birthday
* Hybrid working where role permits
* An opportunity to be considered for Reward and Recognition - £250-£5000 per year
* Family-friendly policies including - parental leave and adoption leave
* Learning and development tailored to your role
* Professional and personal development of skills
* A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
* Minimum of 15 days special leave in a rolling 12 month period for volunteer reserve commitments
* Special paid leave to volunteer up to 6 days per year
* A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
Allowances
The post does not offer relocation expenses.
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.
External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.
Employment Hours
This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.
Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.
Applications Will Be Sifted On All Success Profile Elements, But In The Event Of a High Number Of Applications, An Initial Sift Will Be Conducted On The Following Success Profile Elements:
Primary: Career - Personal Statement
Secondary: Technical - DDaT Communicating between the technical and non-technical
At application stage you will be assessed against the following:
Experience:
* Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.
* Personal Statement - In no more than 750 words please include details of previous experience and how you meet the requirements for the role along with knowledge and experience of military service and associated veteran issues.
Behaviours:
* Leadership
* Changing and Improving
* Seeing the Big Picture
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.
Technical:
* DDaT Communicating between the technical and non-technical - Practitioner
Behaviours:
At interview, you will be assessed against the following:
* Managing a Quality Service
* Seeing the Big Picture
Technical:
* DDaT Functional Testing - Practitioner
* DDaT Data governance - Working
* DDaT Technical Breadth - Practitioner
In The Rare Case Where Individuals Have Exact Matching Scores, The Order Of Merit Will Be Determined Based On The Behaviour Scores At Interview In The Following Order:
* Technical - DDaT Technical Breadth
* Technical - DDaT Functional Testing
* Technical - DDaT Data governance
* Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service
* Behaviour - Seeing the Big Picture
If Candidate Scores Are Still Exact, The Merit Order Will Then Be Determined On The Sift Score In The Following Order:
* Career - Personal Statement
* Behaviour - Changing and Improving
* Technical - DDaT Communicating between the technical and non-technical
* Behaviour - Leadership
* Career - Job History
* Career - Qualification Details
* Career - Previous Skills
We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isn’t always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months. It is also possible that we may offer similar lower graded role/s to reserve candidates or, if no reserves are appointed, candidates that meet the lower grade criteria in merit order.
Application sifting to take place Late April to Early May.
Interviews are currently taking place via MS Teams and will be conducted Early May to Mid May.
A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs. 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: DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk
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 Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.
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.
To assist with your application please find attached -
DBS Candidate Information Guide - Working for Defence Business Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
(26) UK Ministry of Defence: Life, LinkedIn
DDaT Technical Skills - Framework - https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/skills
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
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.
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).
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.
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).
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 : Derek Swannick
* Email : derek.swannick791@mod.gov.uk
Recruitment team
* Email : DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk
Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@MOD.gov.uk in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/ #J-18808-Ljbffr