Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Bridge Road, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 1AF Abbey Wood, Bristol, BS34 8JH HMNB Devonport, PL2 2BG 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 UKs nuclear submarines. Our work is of unparalleled strategic importance nationally and internationally, ensuring the security of the UKs continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent (CASD), and delivering some of the most technically complex programmes in defence. At least one of four nuclear-armed submarines, supported by smaller attack submarines, is on patrol at all times: 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. At the SDA, we strive to Support, Deliver and Aspire and put out values at the heart of our recruitment process. We believe that everyone should feel comfortable to be themselves and be supported to do their best work. As part of a diverse and inclusive workforce, our team will find a community to belong to. We believe that, by celebrating different backgrounds and different perspectives, together well achieve the extraordinary. Job description Join Us and Shape the Future: Project Professional Apprenticeship Scheme Are you ready for an exciting journey with the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA), an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence that plays a pivotal role in securing the UK's continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent? If you are a talented and motivated individual, we invite you to be part of our Project Professional Apprenticeship Scheme, where you can become a key player in the most technically complex programmes in Defence. Why Choose SDA's Project Professional Apprenticeship Scheme? Unparalleled Impact: Contribute to the security of the UK's continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent and work on projects of strategic importance, nationally and internationally. Structured Learning: Undergo a comprehensive apprenticeship gaining technical and leadership skills while working towards an Associate Project Manager Level 4 Standard (ST0310) qualification through an external provider. This two-year scheme, (24-months, including end point assessment). will develop your knowledge and understanding of how our projects are delivered, gaining an insight into project management and project control tools and techniques including scheduling, risk management and cost analysis. Career Development: Our Project Professional Apprentices are at the heart of our delivery. You will experience structured career development throughout the two-year apprenticeship gaining the technical and leadership skills to shape the future of the organisation. Our apprentices are primarily based in the SDA locations above, during the scheme you will be given the opportunity to undertake work-based training placements in various Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) establishments across the UK that focus on nuclear safety. We cover the costs of accommodation, travel, and subsistence for detached duty away from your permanent duty station. All apprentices will come in at Security Check (SC) but will be given the opportunity to undertake Developed Vetting (DV) during year one of the scheme to open up wider DNE placements in year two. To support your development, youll also be provided with Mentoring and Buddying opportunities, outreach activities, engagement with seniors, equipment familiarisation visits and networking opportunities. Responsibilities To provide support to Project Delivery staff across the business assisting with project activities and developing yourself. Youll be involved in the following: Developing and documenting components of projects as required by the Project Team. Planning, scheduling and risk management. Monitoring progress and reporting. Compiling data to support business cases, and customer presentations. Building and maintaining a network of internal business contacts and peers to share and gain knowledge and identify opportunities to learn and develop. Building awareness and understanding of how the Project Delivery function works including the roles of the different sub-functions and how the SDA functions work together to deliver projects. Diverse Opportunities: Choose your preferred location Abbey Wood, Bristol, Barrow-in-Furness, or HMNB Devonport in Plymouth. Flexible working: future ways of working allows you to agree a hybrid working pattern that is flexible and family-friendly. Guaranteed Future: Upon successful completion, secure a permanent role in Project Delivery sub-function specialisms such as Project Support, Risk Management, Planning, Scheduling and Estimating. On successful completion of the apprenticeship scheme (which includes a gateway review and end point assessment) you will be appointed a permanent role within SDA. 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. Please note that due to the classification of work in some areas of SDA, we are only able to accept applications from people who hold sole British nationality. You must have the right of abode in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the EEA (including other countries determined within the EEA or those with bilateral agreements), for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning. Following completion of all pre-employment checks candidates can expect to start employment in October 2025. (Please note: If all your pre-employment checks have not been completed in time for you to start your employment in October 2025, it may not be possible to offer an alternative start date) Anticipated start date will be early October pending security checks. Person specification Essential Criteria: Your CV must show that you have 5 GCSEs at grade 9 to 4 (or equivalent) including English Language and Maths; A or AS levels equivalent to 48 UCAS points, or predicted grades that you will achieve before October 2025. Formal certificates must be provided within three months of signing the contract. Failure to provide this will result in your contract being withdrawn. Please see the guide for acceptable equivalents What qualification levels mean: England, Wales and Northern Ireland - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-level) and (https://scqf.org.uk/media/e5pjypw4/qccb-web-oct-2019.pdf) for Scotland. Evidence of the above qualifications will be required as part of your pre-employment checks before a formal offer can be made. This is a Fixed-term Appointment as a SDA Project Professional in the Submarine Delivery Agency. Your responsibilities will be as described in this job advert. The reason why you are appointed for a fixed period is due to being an apprenticeshi p. This post will therefore begin on your appointment and in 2 years. You should be aware that when your Fixed-term Appointment at MOD comes to an end, arrangements will be made in line with the FTA policy. If you are a permanent MoD civil servant and are found successful for an advertised Fixed-term Appointment (FTA) you should move into the post under a Temporary Transfer (for up to a maximum of 23 months). At the end of the posting you will return to your previous MoD Business area. If this posting is at a higher grade, your promotion will be temporary, and you will return to your substantive grade at the end of the Temporary Transfer. If a Temporary Transfer cannot be agreed between all parties then a transfer on an FTA contract is possible, read the FTA and Change of Work Location in the UK policy for further information. If you are transferring to MoD from another government department (OGD) you should join the MoD on an inward loan. At the end of the loan you will return to your home (OGD) department. If a loan cannot be agreed between all parties then a transfer on an FTA contract is possible, read the FTA policy for further information. Qualifications Your CV must show that you have 5 GCSEs at grade 9 to 4 (or equivalent) including English Language and Maths; A or AS levels equivalent to 48 UCAS points, or predicted grades that you will achieve before October 2025. Formal certificates must be provided within three months of signing the contract. Failure to provide this will result in your contract being withdrawn. Please see the guide for acceptable equivalents What qualification levels mean: England, Wales and Northern Ireland - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-level) and (https://scqf.org.uk/media/e5pjypw4/qccb-web-oct-2019.pdf) for Scotland. Evidence of the above qualifications will be required as part of your pre-employment checks before a formal offer can be made. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Changing and Improving Working Together Communicating and Influencing We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form: Working Together Benefits Alongside your salary of £25,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £7,242 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. You will receive learning and development opportunities tailored to your role A generous benefits package including market leading employer pension contributions of around 21% of your salary (not including any personal contribution) 25 days holiday 1 additional day every year you work up to 30 days. SDA benefits also include: flexible working after 6 months in the business, depending on academic requirements MOD Discount Schemes Health and Wellbeing support family friendly initiatives and so much more. Take a look at our SDA Benefits Wheel (see below), to find out more about what we have to offer and our SDA Employee Value Proposition for an insight into why the SDA should be your next career choice, click here Discover My Benefits Please follow the link to visit the Discover My Benefits site which showcases the benefits and discounts offered when working as a civilian for the MOD. https://discovermybenefits.mod.gov.uk/civilian/ 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. 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. 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 employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local 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). DBS 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. 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. 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. At sift, you will be assessed against your Statement of suitability, CV and the following: Behaviours : Working together Experience Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability. (750 Word count) Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience 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. If your application is successful during the sift stage, you will be invited to come to Abbey Wood Bristol for a group activity assessment, followed by an interview. However, the order of this could be subject to change on the day for any extenuating circumstances. The anticipated date for the interview/assessment is planned for early March 2025. At interview, you will be assessed against the above behaviours. Behaviours : Working Together Communicating and influencing Changing and Improving 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. Defence Nuclear Enterprise CS_Behaviours_2018-DE&S-branded-V6 Because of the classification of much of the role, all posts will be open to UK Nationals only. Further information on Nationality Requirements is attached below. Nationality Requirements - Further Information for Candidates 1. This post is classed as Reserved as per Civil Service Nationality Rules Section 3. In accordance with these rules, only UK nationals may be employed in reserved posts in the Civil Service1 (Paragraph. 3.1). UK National Definition 2. The definition of a UK National can be found at Paragraphs. 1.4-1.8 of the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Dual Nationals 3. As per Paragraph. 1.41 of the Civil Service Nationality Rules : 4. Candidates with dual nationality are in principle eligible for employment in the Civil Service provided that they meet the requirements in relation to one of their nationalities [i.e. UK National]. They may not be eligible, however, for employment in certain reserved posts where additional nationality requirements are imposed. Additional Restrictions for Reserved Posts 5. As per Paragraphs. 3.10-3.11 of the Civil Service Nationality Rules : 6. departments and agencies are entitled to impose additional requirements in reserved posts if this is considered necessary. This could include, for example, requirements as to the residency of the applicant or the nationality of one or both parents of the applicant. 7. If you are a Dual National who possesses UK Nationality and wish to check your eligibility for the post, please contact our recruiting team at the details below. Please be advised that we will not be able to provide a justification for our decision for security reasons. 8. Irish nationals and Commonwealth citizens are also eligible for employment in reserved posts if they were in the Civil Service at 31 May 1996 or before, or were appointed from a recruitment scheme with a closing date for receipt of applications before 1 June 1996. (Paragraph. 3.1) Please note offers of employment are subject to achieving satisfactory pre-employment and security checks. These include an Occupational Health Assessment and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). As part of this you will need to confirm your identity, employment/education history, nationality and any criminal record (unspent convictions only). The level of security needed is Security Check (SC ) and you should usually have been continuously resident in the UK for 5 years immediately before clearance action commences. If you have lived overseas or travelled extensively during this period, it may affect the length of time to obtain full security clearance and this may affect your offer of employment. It is essential that ALL requests for information are completed fully and timely, as incomplete information may result in significant delays. Offers of employment are also subject to candidates achieving acceptable grades where predicted. If you are a permanent MoD civil servant and are found successful for an advertised Fixed-term Appointment (FTA) you should move into the post under a Temporary Transfer for up to a maximum of 23 months. At the end of the posting, you will return to your previous MoD Business area. If this posting is at a higher grade, your promotion will be temporary, and you will return to your substantive grade at the end of the Temporary Transfer. If a Temporary Transfer cannot be agreed between all parties, then a transfer on an FTA contract is possible, read the FTA and Change of Work Location in the UK policy for further information. If you are transferring to MoD from another government department (OGD) you should join the MoD on an inward loan. At the end of the loan, you will return to your home (OGD) department. If a loan cannot be agreed between all parties, then a transfer on an FTA contract is possible, read the FTA policy for further information. 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. No application can be accepted after the closing date. 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. 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 : Lis Carter Email : SDA-PD-Earlycareersmod.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : DBSCivPers-AMOmod.gov.uk Further information Applicants should monitor their Civil Service Jobs application centre regularly for updates. Some of MoDs Terms and Conditions of Service (TACOS) changed from 3 February 2014. Those TACOS changes applied to Broader Banded and Skill Zone staff who were new recruits to MoD or who were appointed to a post on substantive promotion, progression or advancement. On the same basis, the TACOS for Departmental Retained Grades changed with effect from 01 September 2014. All employees joining MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a 6-month probation period (unless otherwise advised) effective from the employment start date. 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/. Complaints Please be aware that the selection and interviewing of applicants is the responsibility of the Recruiting Line Manager (RLM) and not the Defence Business Services (DBS) Resourcing team. DBS do not play any part in the selection and interview process. Therefore, if you wish to discuss your feedback, or you are dissatisfied with your markings, you should in the first instance raise this with the Recruiting Line Manager of the vacancy. 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: Complaints Management Team, Defence Business Services, Oak Building Mail Point 6109, MOD Abbey Wood North, Bristol, BS34 8QW 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 Cabinet Office Fraud Checks Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant whose details are found to be held on the IFD will be refused employment Civil Service Recruitment Principles Please see the link below for the civil service recruitment principles. https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-principles/ To find out a bit more about what its like working for MOD, visit the Civil Service Careers Website https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/departments/working-for-the-ministry-of-defence/ Please see the MOD Privacy Notice link below which describes how we will use your personal data, explains your rights and gives you information you are entitled to under Data Protection legislation. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-privacy-notice/mod-privacy-notice Attachments Defence Civil Servant Offer Letter External Opens in new window (pdf, 333kB) MOD Privacy Policy Notice Opens in new window (docx, 34kB) 20241126 - PD AppGrad - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 2606kB) Apprenticeship Funding Criteria Opens in new window (pdf, 134kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail