Defence Digital – Customer Manager

Would you like to use your IT knowledge, skills or technical qualifications to make a difference and help our customers deliver Defence operations, military capability and support?

Would you like to gain a recognised qualification through fully supported training and development?

We are Defence Digital, part of Strategic Command, fulfilling an important role in the age of information warfare within the Ministry of Defence (MOD). We provide digital and technology services to our Armed Forces, ensuring they can operate securely via various communication means, including radio, satellite and internet. Operating at scale, with an annual budget in excess of £2Bn and a diverse team of 2,500 colleagues, we’re aiming to make our Armed Forces some of the most technologically advanced in the world.

If you can see yourself contributing to the world of Defence digital and technology, the next chapter of your career may be with us!

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

The purpose of Defence Digital Customer Services is:

• To provide our customers with a consistent and proactive focal point for engaging with Defence Digital.
• To understand our customers’ businesses and their challenges, playing a critical role in representing their view across all levels of DD.

The Customer Manager position is responsible for the day-to-day relationships with key business customers, ensuring consistency in engagement across the business. At this level, you will act as translator and mediator between IT operations and the business and be the single point of contact for the business.

This is a multifaceted and fast paced role, drawing on a range of skills. It is essential that the post holder is flexible, work to the demanding timelines of priority user groups and manage their time efficiently.

Joining us enables you to take advantage of our excellent benefits package, including flexible working, discount schemes, a generous leave allowance and a market-leading Civil Service pension.

Our commitment to your development is fundamental. We’ll provide as many learning opportunities as we can, allowing you to gain industry recognised qualifications, such as ITIL v4, as well as in-house training, within your field and beyond. We’ll support your development within the role from day 1.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities will include:

• Support and track IT hardware/software issue resolution, raising awareness when required.

• Ensure that IT equipment and processes are fully functional and enable customers to work optimally.

• Facilitate and advise on improvement initiatives, to modernise ways of working and behaviours.

• Be the face of DD and the first contact for allocated customer communities.

• Build DD’s reputation at senior level and maintain and grow working relationships between DD and key parties.

• Produce specific communications, updates and prompts – e.g., on key DD changes.

• Enable regular formal engagements with key customer points of contact and with other key customers as required.

• Work with DD project teams to understand emerging IT issues, that may impact the customer, or new capabilities that could be incorporated into key allocated customer communities and processes.

• Support allocated customer communities in the articulation of new requirements, working with DD colleagues to find a route to market.

• As the need arises, provide wider customer support to customers, particularly Priority User Groups and other customers supported by the team.

• Provide customer insight back into DD.

• Horizon scanning for new capability and policy being introduced by Defence Digital, as well as customer requirements.

As a customer champion, you’ll put the customer needs first, whilst still aligning with business requirements that both manage and meet expectations. In supporting live service and customer change, you’ll need great customer facing skills, adding value at every layer, being innovative and adaptable to change. You’ll need the ability to work alone and as a team member and have a broad knowledge of network infrastructures, and digital systems and services.

This is a role that requires interacting with a varied range of people and you’ll need to use your excellent communication skills, to build and maintain great working relationships with both internal and external customers.

If you have the following skills and experience, we would love to hear from you!

• Highly effective networking and able to negotiate well and influence people.
• Able to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences, synthesising information to portray key messages and facilitate effective decision making.
• Good problem-solving skills, including being able to demonstrate self-resilience when resolving issues.

Desirable/beneficial qualifications and skills:

• ITIL qualification (can be gained in post)
• Cyber Confident training (to be gained in post)
• Proficient in using O365 and associated applications
• The desire to continue to learn and develop as an ICT professional!

Dependent on the business need, there is a requirement to travel to meetings within the UK, including the occasional overnight stay away from home (and potentially occasional overseas visits).

This job role is suitable for hybrid working, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, blending a balance of attendance in the workplace (your permanent duty station which is based on business assessment of where the work is best done) and working from home as a personal choice (if the role is suitable for this).  If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

This position can be based at either Main Building, London SW1A 2HB, Abbey Wood, Bristol, BS34 8JH or MOD Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 9NR.

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together

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

• Stakeholder relationship management (IT operations)

• Learning and development tailored to your role with a dedicated minimum of 5 days per year
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (by 1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of five years’ service
• Ability to roll up to 10 days annual leave per year
• In addition to eight public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The King’s birthday
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Parental and Adoption Leave
• Discounts on a range of services within and external to the civil service – Defence Discount Service, Civil Service societies for Sports and Leisure, Healthcare, Insurance, Motoring, Company discounts with Virgin, Vodafone, and Microsoft Office.
• In year rewards and ‘thank you’ schemes such as vouchers and gift cards
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Please see Benefits Leaflet for more detail

Our people are at the heart of everything we do at Defence Digital. It’s vital that our workforce reflects the diversity of both our audience and the wider society in the UK, so we’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and we actively seek candidates from diverse backgrounds and communities. We also recognise the importance of a good work life balance, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including part-time and job shares for all our roles. Please let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process if this is something you want to explore.

Defence Digital operates an organisation model in which every individual belongs to a Government Profession. The successful applicant will be posted into one of the defined Government Professions on Standard Terms of Reference for the grade. Defence digital reserves the right to move individuals between roles, within their allocated profession, to meet the needs of the business and in support of agile resourcing.

Within Defence Digital each profession is led by a Professional Head of Community who will lead professional development and support the Continuous Professional Development path for their group.

Strategic Command is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to improve the way the Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, all posts within Strategic Command Headquarters and in time the wider organisation, are/will be subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities.  Throughout, the Command’s transformation programme is committed to following the MOD’s framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Command’s personnel and Trade Unions.

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.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

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.

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/.

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 however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. 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 Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Job contact :

• Name : Defence Digital Talent Acquisition Team
• Email : ukstratcomdd-hr-talentacqdel@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk