Chief Operating Officer, Defence Business Services

This role can be based at either Bristol or Blackpool. Regular travel to all DBS sites within the UK and other key MOD locations will be required, commensurate with the visible leadership required across the organisation.

Defence Business Services (DBS) are one of the largest shared services providers in Europe delivering corporate HR, payroll, Armed Forces pensions and compensation, finance, and information services for over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MOD civil servants and industry. DBS aims to be the ‘best business services partner for the UK Defence and Security Communities’ by providing critical business services that enable our customers to focus on strategic Defence priorities and maintain National Security.

The DBS Chief Operating Officer (COO) is a new role within DBS, accountable for overseeing delivery of a significant range of services that support the successful operation of Defence, you will be a pivotal member of the DBS Executive Team, providing strong and collegiate leadership across the organisation. In this role, you will collaborate with a counterpart Programme Director for Corporate Services Modernisation in supporting the preparation of the major change delivery across Defence, ensuring DBS fully inputs into the major change including development of a single Enterprise Resource Platform (ERP) and that DBS’s future operating model is developed to land a different operating environment. 

We welcome external candidates and believe that this role would be suited for an external candidate with a private sector background.

If you’d like hear more, please click on this link to watch a brief video about the role and more information from Nina Cope.

The current responsibilities of the role include:

• Being accountable for overseeing all operational delivery in Defence Business Service and the management of a large number of major project/ programmes.
• Being a corporate leader within MOD, working horizontally across functions.
• The direct line management of 7 staff in operational delivery roles that oversee delivery of operations and major project/programmes.
• Ensuring robust business continuity and resilience capabilities and plans are in place to ensure maintenance of key business outputs.
• Act as the ‘Contract Owner’ for the £340m outsourced delivery contract for armed forces and veterans services, working closely with Commercial colleagues and supporting the Senior Responsible Officer for Transformation.
• Work closely with the Senior Responsible Officer for the NW Workplace Programme, ensuring successful safe landing of the key remaining deliverables in 23/24 and the preparation of the new site in Blackpool in 2025/6.
• Lead the continued development of improved portfolio management across all of DBS’s major projects and minor change, building capabilities in programme and project professions and the operational delivery profession.
• Understanding productivity and efficiency of the business and identifying ways to reform and modernise to improve effectiveness and customer experience, reporting performance against Key Performance Indicators.
• Supporting the CEO in strategic relationships across the Ministry of Defence, account managing key relationships and attending various MOD governance forums.
• Lead on the continuing integration of operational areas following the 2022 DBS Organisational redesign, preparing for the next phase towards the ‘end state’ in 26/27.
• Developing with colleagues a longer-term 10-year prioritised plan aligned to the IR and Defence Plan that supports the wider reform of business operations in Defence and to provide key capabilities, designed to address ageing infrastructure as well as future capability requirements.
• Delivering digital services that mobilise, modernise and transform DBS’s approach to information technology, support the delivery of the programme and including the management of DBS’s IT contracts.
• Working with Ministers and other senior officials in MOD and Cabinet Office in support of the Veteran’s agenda in particular, in ensuring high profile projects and improvement work are successfully delivered.

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• A track record of strong leadership in a shared service environment and/or large-scale operational delivery enterprise.
• An inspiring, confident and thoughtful leader with a proven track record of building, developing and continuously improving high performing, diverse and inclusive teams.
• Excellent communication skills with an ability to establish and maintain influential relationships with senior stakeholders across a wide range of complex organisations.
• Demonstrable evidence of developing strategic plans with the use of data from disparate sources by aligning these to overall business strategy and decision making.
• A high level of commercial awareness, with a proven ability to understand, negotiate and influence across a complex, multi-dimensional supply chain.
• Project and portfolio management expertise.

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%

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.

Open to UK nationals only.

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.
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Job contact :

• Name : SCS Management Team
• Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk