Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location DMS Whittington, Lichfield About the job Job summary As the Chief Operating Officer (COO), you will be responsible for the delivery of core business operations and administration of running the Defence Medical Services (DMS), and for the provision of the Headquarters' Business Management and support functions. A key member of the leadership team, and Head of Profession for the Operational Delivery profession in the DMS, the COO will play a crucial role in driving integration, operational excellence, and modernisation of business services. You will also ensure the overall performance, risk and financial position of the Defence Medical Services is effectively managed and reported through the appropriate governance forums and management boards. You will drive and maintain business management functions, develop strategies to improve management practices and increase efficiency and productivity in business operations across the organisation. During a period of intense, ongoing change for Defence Medical Services, including delivery of significant change programmes, this post will support the ongoing improvement of the services it is responsible for, providing support to optimising business outputs across the wider DMS. Job description 1. Support of Director Generals Defence Medical Services Management Function Supporting the Director, assist in the governance and assurance of Head Quarters activity through Holding to Account and performance monitoring and improvement regimes, including people, performance and financial management. Advise the Director General and Defence Medical Services (DMS) Leadership Team on Business Plan development, supporting its alignment to DMS priorities and resource plans, to balance risk, exploit opportunity and deliver efficiency. This will also involve advising on people capability planning supporting delivery of an optimised DMS workforce that meets savings and efficiency targets, secures critical skills and talent, and enables organisational change Provide management information and data to drive insight and action into areas for action or improvement across the business area, with respect to People, Finance or Performance, through coordinating and executing effective Management Boards and other governance structures across the DMS (including ensuring effective implementation of Directorate governance). Champion the Climate Change and Sustainability agenda, working closely with the business area and Director General to ensure that objectives are being achieved. Provide senior oversight and sign off (approvals) to the Parliamentary Questions and other Parliamentary business in the DMS. Manage the increasing secretariat demand relating to ministerial interest in medical matters, particularly those pertaining to Recruitment and Retention of Armed Forces Personnel. Provide leadership and direction to execute an effective internal and external communications strategy, including a communications campaign to support the delivery of the Defence Medical Functions strategy and long-term plan. 2. Drive operating coherence across the Headquarters and all other Directorates to deliver Defence Medical Services outputs. Establish, maintain, enhance, and assure corporate standards and behaviours, ensuring confidence in the effectiveness, safety, and propriety of activity. Responsible for the setting of organisational KPIs and their on-going performance monitoring and operational delivery of them. Drive continuous improvement through development, application, and assurance of policy across areas of responsibility including: corporate governance, assurance, risk management, corporate communications and secretariat functions. Improve operating efficiency by enabling and directing the Business Management Centre of Excellence to drive exploitation of synergies, end-to-end process harmonisation, automation, digital tooling, and optimisation of service delivery across the business. Define and implement the policy and strategy for developing the profession within DMS, setting, and communicating professional standards. 3. Working with the UK Strategic Command to set and maintain professional standards, develop capability, and assure effectiveness of the function. Develop and implement a plan to develop professional skills in the Operational Delivery profession for all teams associated with Business Management activity. Create a culture of change and improvement across the DMS, contributing to Departmental activity to drive ongoing efficiency and quality improvement in ways of working and processes. Convey the Director Generals vision, strategies and goals clearly, ensuring everyone is aligned and informed. Person specification The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria: A proven track record of operating in a number of senior leadership roles, focused on managing corporate services, performance improvement and organisational development, within a complex organisation. A passion for achieving organisational excellence and demonstrable experience o f creating and contributing to a culture of innovation, risk management and long-term improvement as well as evidence to how you have been able to deliver positive organisational change. An ability to create and present a compelling vision and set clear direction, that motivates and inspires others to work towards a common goal with ability to manage people through change. You will also need to evidence your ability to build and lead diverse high-performing teams in a matrixed environment. Excellent communication skills with demonstrable evidence to how you are able to influence and resolve conflicting situations with a variety of senior stakeholders, especially at Board level. Proven experience of senior stakeholder management in a political, pressured environment with evidence of building an effective network of working relationships, gaining credibility to command the trust and confidence of senior officials. Experience in making difficult decisions using sound judgement, evidence and knowledge to provide accurate, expert and professional advice and the ability to defend this to, and challenge, senior stakeholders. Benefits 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% Things you need to know Selection process details To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process by no later than 23:55 on Sunday 26 th January 2025 and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal: A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages ) explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, against the essential criteria. Both documents are weighted equally in their scoring, so it's important to consider this when uploading your application. Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupportmod.gov.uk. The Vacancy Holder will also be offering an online Q&A session on Monday 20th January between 14:00 - 14:30 to provide an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clicking here. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise. As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above. Security 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. 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 : SCS Recruitment Team Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupportmod.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupportmod.gov.uk Attachments SCS1 Chief Operating Officer Defence Medical Services Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 2296kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail