Defence Business Services (DBS) – People Team Strategic Workforce Planning and Governance Lead (SEO)

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 our customers and UK 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 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

Come and join the DBS community today! 

Applicants should note that DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and will consolidate all activities in Blackpool. This means that existing DBS staff will move from both Walker House (Liverpool) and Cheadle Hulme in the late Summer of 2023 and initially relocate to Tomlinson House (Norcross). A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2026.

There is, however, an expectation that all DBS staff, irrespective of their agreed duty station, will travel to other DBS and/or MOD site(s), as required, to complete necessary training and to participate in team or additional collaborative activities – detached duty terms may apply. Terms of transfer have been negotiated for DBS posts and employees relocating in the North West. DBS also supports Flexible Working, which can be discussed in more detail at interview.

What do the Finance and Corporate Services (F&CS) Team do?

This team are responsible for all corporate enabling functions across DBS; including:

• Managing the DBS budget and ensuring financial policies and assurances are in place.
• Delivering a communication, marketing and media handling service for DBS.
• The co-ordination and delivery of people engagement and management plans (including health & wellbeing and reward & recognition) enabling the timely and successful delivery of the DBS People Approach.
• Management of the DBS estate to ensure appropriate working environments are provided with full compliance with required policies such as health and safety.
• Clienting and Commercial Management.

The advertised role is an essential support and delivery enabler in the DBS People Team.

People are at the heart of DBS, and as such developing and maintaining a positive and robust Employee Lifecycle is the driver behind the DBS People Team. This aspiration will be increasingly important as DBS transforms, and its People are reskilled, upskilled or, indeed, relocated to ensure that DBS is an organisation fit for our future purpose within Defence.

This role is a key enabler within the DBS People Team. The postholder will focus on driving and embedding excellent Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) processes and behaviours across DBS. This will ensure that DBS has the right resources, capability and talent in the right place at the right time to deliver our organisation’s short, medium and long term priorities – a particular challenge as DBS is an organisation which is transforming and reshaping to ensure that it contributes to emerging Corporate Service Modernisation (CSM) requirements and to ensure that we take full advantage of digital and technology developments.

In collaborate with our HR Business Partners, DBS has made great SWP progress – we fully understand our current workforce and capability requirements; but, we now need to drive SWP forward and ensure that we:

• Identify the future DBS workforce requirement – the size, shape, skills and capabilities required to deliver future business goals, based on our wider business planning agenda – including inflight and planned business change activities; and,
• Develop actions to address any identified gaps using recruitment (working with the DBS Resourcing Partners and Enhanced Recruitment Team to achieve this), talent development, capability building and wider strategic people interventions to transform the workforce.

We also need to develop a more effective relationship with the DBS Resources Team – to ensure that SWP is a key component of our strategic financial planning and the DBS Business Change Team – to ensure that we fully understand the impact change is/will have on the DBS workforce.

The role also leads on People governance, assurance and reporting across the People Team (supported by the HEO Governance and MI Manager). Key focus will be:

• Annual Delivery Plan Reporting;
• Board Reporting (Corporate Board/Management Board/Enabling Board etc.)
• People Risk Management and Reporting;
• DBS Employee Relations/Whitley Secretariat;
• Fraud Assurance Reporting; and,
• People MI

This role also has responsibilities for Learning and Development (L&D) in DBS; but this is current led by the HEO Capability Manager.

The People Team operate an agile resourcing model with all team members, where required and following discussion/agreement, leaning into to provide support across the People Approach portfolio. This enables opportunities for team members to build experience across the entire Employee Lifecycle and HR Operations environment.

Role Responsibilities

This role will:

• Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP): in conjunction with SWP SMEs across Defence, HRBPs and DBS business area leads, shape and grow SWP capability and processes across all DBS business areas, ensuring DBS provides timely and robust bi-annual SWP returns to Civilian HR (Head Office) and contributes to strategic Finance reporting regarding workforce.
• Governance, Assurance and Reporting: provide Governance and Assurance oversight of existing DBS People related processes, ensuring DBS adheres to the relevant MOD and Civil Service policies and processes
• Learning and Development (led by the DBS Capability Manager): support the DBS L&D Team identify and prioritise capability requirements, schedule and deliver a comprehensive annual L&D programme, which optimises the output from the central DBS L&D budget.
• Other grade appropriate People Approach and Employee Experience tasking as required.

Further post specific responsibilities can be found on the attached terms of reference.

Applicants must have experience in:

• Effective leadership to enable effective risk, financial and resource management.
• Leadership and management of people and a commitment to improving the Employee Experience, including (but not limited to) strategic workforce planning.
• Flexibility and willingness to work across functions within the team to ensure overall team success and the timely delivery of required outcomes.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills including drafting of written briefs, board updates, reports, and communications.
• Ability to effectively engage and interact with business leads and stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
• Good analytical skills and the capability to understand and interpret data and to assimilate and present data analysis, to inform decision-making, in both narrative and digital formats.
• Personal impact and credibility, ability to handle difficult situations and conflicting priorities.
• Ability to analyse and to solve problems in creative, pragmatic ways.
• Responsive and positive approach to change and to changing demands.
• Excellent organisation and planning skills.
• Good project management skills to effectively manage multi-strand projects and cross-team activities.
• The ability to effectively manage a range of potentially conflicting and complex administrative tasks.

To note, whilst a relevant CIPD (i.e. CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management) and a relevant SWP qualification would be beneficial for this role, these are not essential. Applicants should be aware that there is a drive to professionalise the whole of the MOD’s HR function; therefore a commitment to commence a CIPD qualification within 12-18 months of joining the People Team is required. All agreed CIPD professional studies will funded and supported by the Department. Specialist SWP training will also be provided.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture

• 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 King’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 27%.

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.

Job contact :

• Name : Jacqui Donnelly
• Email : Jacqui.donnelly306@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk