DE&S Main office in Abbey Wood, Bristol, BS34 8JH. Infrequent travel to MOD Main Building, London. Occasional UK Travel may also be required. Job Summary Thank you for your interest in the Head Defence Equipment & Support Portfolio Office role: We have a mission to meet the needs of our Armed Forces, both currently and into the future. As part of the team at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) we have the opportunity to play a critical role in ensuring the security of the UK. There are many powerful reasons to join DE&S, and this position offers the opportunity to take on an impactful and challenging role that will contribute significantly to the delivery of equipment to the Armed Forces. Our mission in the Corporate area of DE&S, is to help our people to deliver in an operationally excellent way for Defence. We will do this by working across the whole of Corporate and indeed the whole of DE&S, as one team, with a real service delivery mindset - a focus on continually improving and delivering efficient and effective services. We will understand DE&S needs and Defence priorities, now and in the future - horizon scanning to identify opportunities to make things better and to future proof the organisation, whilst bringing together the right talent, knowledge and behaviours into well-led multi-disciplinary teams to deliver the outcomes our country needs. As the Head of DE&S Portfolio Office, you will play a crucial role in ensuring we continue to evolve the organisation towards our north star of Operational Excellence. The role demands strategic thinking, portfolio management, influencing key stakeholders and the ability to balance the many change initiatives alongside the needs of our mission partners. You will be part of a diverse working community, and this position will be part of the Senior Leadership Group to collaborate, share ideas and support each other. To be successful, you will have experience of managing a project portfolio and providing data analysis to a wide range of stakeholders. You’ll be able to demonstrate your ability to deliver continuous improvements, processes and capabilities, of our people – inspiring them to successfully deliver equipment and support to the UK’s Armed Forces for operations now and in the future. This is an exciting time for DE&S, we hope the prospect of being part of that excites you, and we look forward to your application. Job Description Head of DE&S Portfolio Office has the following areas of responsibility: Develop and deliver a five-year operating expenditure and workforce business plan in line with programme of work, budgetary requirements and the DE&S Plans Framework, moving our current planning to a more professional and industry standard footing. A single business plan will cohere all work in DE&S, allowing us to deploy resource to a balanced and prioritised portfolio that ultimately ensures we are delivering what we said we would for our Armed Forces. Supply all the management information used through DE&S governance to enable maintained alignment of the entire £13Bn DE&S portfolio to the UK Defence Strategic Priorities whilst balancing affordability, capacity and feasibility against firm and forecast demand. Ensure DE&S Portfolio Office plans are aligned to supporting the delivery of the wider DE&S strategy, and ensure plans are aligned to supporting the delivery of our Equipment Plan. Develop and deliver the full scope and performance of the DE&S Portfolio. Translating Management Information into business intelligence to support effective and efficient performance management and decision making, informing prioritisation decisions at DE&S level where conflicts arise. Responsible for Management Information roadmap including how data is collected, processed and displayed. Own the tasking to deliver the provision and ownership of business requirements for data, including arbitrate what data should be collected and what is not collected, how it is collected, at what cadence and how it is presented. Ensure appropriate allocation of resources across DE&S in line with MOD priorities and multiple competing demands. Provision of quality and timely population of data by providing a data quality assurance process, including compliance. Drive the progression of data quality checks, to ensure compliance with standardised toolset, data accuracy and data alignment. The role will provide recommendations, impacts and scenarios based on analysis so that it can be trusted to inform decision making. Head of DE&S Portfolio Office has the following areas of responsibility: Develop and deliver a five-year operating expenditure and workforce business plan in line with programme of work, budgetary requirements and the DE&S Plans Framework, moving our current planning to a more professional and industry standard footing. A single business plan will cohere all work in DE&S, allowing us to deploy resource to a balanced and prioritised portfolio that ultimately ensures we are delivering what we said we would for our Armed Forces. Supply all the management information used through DE&S governance to enable maintained alignment of the entire £13Bn DE&S portfolio to the UK Defence Strategic Priorities whilst balancing affordability, capacity and feasibility against firm and forecast demand. Ensure DE&S Portfolio Office plans are aligned to supporting the delivery of the wider DE&S strategy, and ensure plans are aligned to supporting the delivery of our Equipment Plan. Develop and deliver the full scope and performance of the DE&S Portfolio. Translating Management Information into business intelligence to support effective and efficient performance management and decision making, informing prioritisation decisions at DE&S level where conflicts arise. Responsible for Management Information roadmap including how data is collected, processed and displayed. Own the tasking to deliver the provision and ownership of business requirements for data, including arbitrate what data should be collected and what is not collected, how it is collected, at what cadence and how it is presented. Ensure appropriate allocation of resources across DE&S in line with MOD priorities and multiple competing demands. Provision of quality and timely population of data by providing a data quality assurance process, including compliance. Drive the progression of data quality checks, to ensure compliance with standardised toolset, data accuracy and data alignment. The role will provide recommendations, impacts and scenarios based on analysis so that it can be trusted to inform decision making. Person specification To be successful with your application, you'll need to be able to demonstrate the following 6 essential criteria: Behavioural Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion – Demonstrable visible leadership, with a proactive commitment to diversity and inclusion and demonstrable experience of creating and maintaining a psychologically safe and inclusive environment. Leading through Change - Demonstrable evidence of confidently leading people, challenging cultures and leading change. Being Accountable - Evidence of accepting and responding to challenges from stakeholders and colleagues in a constructive manner Technical Significant experience of dealing with data and conducting analysis at the portfolio level. Operating in a senior leadership role within a large and highly complex organisation. A track record and sound grasp of modern programme and portfolio planning, delivery, digital management systems, and financial and commercial acumen. Essential Qualifications And Registrations Chartered level membership of the Association for Project Management or equivalent. and/or A recognised, relevant Degree-level qualification in Project Management or Business Administration. Alongside your salary of £76,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £22,017 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. Learning and development tailored to your role An environment with flexible working options A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% Selection process details This is an external competition, and we welcome applications from candidates in both the public or private sector. To apply for this post, you must submit the following documents via the application link by 23:55 on 12 January 2025 for your application to be received as complete. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps. A Supporting Statement of no more than 1750 words (font Arial, size 11), outlining how you consider your personal skills, leadership attributes, qualities and experience match all 6 essential criteria on page 10. Applications that exceed the word limit or that are submitted without a supporting statement will not be considered. For assistance with Supporting Statements please do reach out to the recruitment team. After You've Applied Shortlist All submissions will receive an email acknowledgement from upon application. If you do not receive confirmation of receipt of your application 3 working days post-closing date, please contact us at DESHR-SCSRecruitmentmod.gov.uk. The panel will consider the evidence you have provided against the essential criteria set out at page 10 of this candidate pack to determine their shortlist. Staff Engagement Exercise If you are found successful at shortlist you will be invited to attend a staff engagement exercise (SEE). This involves a 10 min presentation to a small group of DE&S employees followed by a Q&A session. Following the SEE the Employee Panel will provide feedback and scores to support the interviewing panel. Interview Shortlisted candidates will be asked to attend a panel interview for an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the essential criteria. Full details of the interview process will be made available to shortlisted candidates. The Panel will consist of Simon Hughes – Director Professions, Policy & PfO, Helen Bates – Commercial Director and Clare Peebles – HRBP Lead. Offer We will notify all candidates of their outcome, as soon as possible after the final interview. DE&S reserves the right to make any offer of appointment conditional upon references and satisfactory conclusion of security enquiries. In the event that you meet the requirements for the role, but you are not offered the position, we will be pleased to retain your application for a 12-month period in case another suitable role arises. 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. 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. 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 : DE&S SLG Recruitment Team Email : DESHR-SCSRecruitmentmod.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : DESHR-SCSRecruitmentmod.gov.uk Further information What do I do if I want to make a complaint? In the unlikely event that you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Commission’s Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint you should, in the first instance, contact DESHR-WSC-PMOCOMPLAINTSmod.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the department you can contact the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners at infocsc.gov.uk.