The successful candidate will be responsible for helping all those of the Buddhist faith and, where applicable, those of other faiths, to practice their religious beliefs. This will include promoting Nepalese culture, customs, and traditions to members of the Unit, and to Gurkha children who are being educated outside the national educational curriculum of Nepal. You will be responsible for assisting the Unit Chain of Command / HQ Brigade of Gurkha's in the delivery of elements of the annual training requirements covering moral understanding, values, and standards. Frequent visits and travel to other locations including overnight stays and occasional overseas travel is required as part of this role to provide spiritual support to Gurkha serving personnel. You will also be responsible for conducting all Buddhist religious services and rites for individual Gurkha families (including birth, death, and naming ceremonies); administering Buddhist oaths if Gurkha's are called upon to give evidence in court; providing appropriate facilities for worship; and serving the various needs of the whole Gurkha unit during key religious festivals and Nepalese national events throughout the year. The role might also include visiting the sick at home or in hospital, and teaching or organising the teaching of Gurkha children about the culture, customs, traditions, history, and folklore of Nepal. For the benefit of those Gurkha children attending Local Education Authority or Services Children's Schools, priority is to be given to teaching them both oral and written Nepali. If you need to contact Defence Business Services (DBS) regarding this vacancy, please indicate that your vacancy is being handled by Resourcing Team 1. If you experience any technical difficulties with the CS Jobs system, please contact the Support Team at Person specification Essential: A good working knowledge and understanding of the various Nepali faiths, religious customs and culture is essential You must be fully trained and qualified to perform all religious rites and ceremonies, in accordance with those prescribed in Vajrayana Order, with at least 3 years experience as a practising Religious Teacher/Lama You are committed to Buddhism and living to the moral standards of at least the Five Precepts, and that you regularly practice contemplative techniques or meditation You must be an effective and confident communicator, with a proven ability to negotiate with, and influence, others You must be a clear thinker and have developed problem solving and decision-making skills You should have the ability to work as part of a team, but also independently without day-to-day supervision You should be used to planning and organising work effectively and be willing to adapt to changing circumstances The demands of the post, and the organisation, are flexible and changing in nature, so applicants must be prepared to work irregular hours and in a multi-faith environment Desirable: Ideally, you will have prior experience of working with vulnerable adults and children Qualifications Advanced Buddhist studies Khenpo (PhD) 9yrs, Lopon (MA) 9yrs, BA 5 yrs or Diploma 4 yrs You must be fully trained and qualified to perform religious rites and ceremonies in accordance with monastic education in Nepal, India, Bhutan and Tibet You must have at least 3 years Advanced Buddhist studies post qualification experience Evidence of qualification will be required at interview. All qualifications/licences/memberships declared must be held at point of application and if applicable be in date.Equivalent Qualifications will not be accepted. Languages You must be conversant in Nepali spoken and written language as your primary audience is Brigade of Gurkhas native Nepali language speakers (measured against the CEFR Level C1 minimum for Nepali Advanced (proficient user) You must have a high standard of English - IELTS requirement for: Minister of Religion T2 Visa (you must demonstrate English proficiency at CEFR Level B2 ( Equivalent to IELTS 5.5 - 6.5 in each component: reading, writing, speaking, and listening)) Evidence of qualification will be required at interview. All qualifications/licences/memberships declared must be held at point of application and if applicable be in date.Equivalent Qualifications will not be accepted. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Leadership Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form: Leadership Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Presentation of a mock lesson Benefits Alongside your salary of 36,530, Ministry of Defence contributes 10,582 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance. Other benefits for Army civil servants include: 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years service Highly competitive pension scheme Personal and professional development of skills Alternative working patterns for many roles Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle Enhanced parental and adoption leave 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities Learning and Development We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role. A modern apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through the schemes available you will gain a professional qualification, practical experience, and the broader skills required to develop in your current role and pave the way for your future career. Discover My Benefits: Please follow the link to visit the Discover My Benefits site which showcases the benefits and discounts offered when working as a civilian for the MOD: https://discovermybenefits.mod.gov.uk/civilian/ This post does not offer any assistance with Relocation Allowances. 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. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. At application you will be asked to provide parts of your CV including your career history and qualifications through the online portal. You will also be asked to provide a 500 word personal statement demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria for the role as outlined in the person specification and job description. You will also be assessed against the following behaviour - Leadership Applications will be sifted using all elements listed above, but in the event of a high number of applications, a sift will be conducted on the lead behaviour only - Leadership. At interview you will be assessed against the following - Experience - you will be asked about your career history, skills and experience with regard to the person specification Behaviours - Communicating and Influencing, Leadership, Managing a Quality Service Technical skills - Presentation of a mock lesson, in Nepali, of no longer than 20 minutes on a topic to be advised prior to interview Interview questions will be asked in English and the mock lesson will be required to be presented in Nepalese. Application sifting will be scheduled to take place within 7 days of the application closing date. Interview dates are to be confirmed but these will be held online via Microsoft Teams. We endeavour to keep to these time frames, but these are subject to change around business needs. Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out. As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment. MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The surveyis 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. 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. 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. 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 : Suzi Bateson Email : Suzi.Bateson328@mod.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : DBSCivPers-ResourcingTeam1@mod.gov.uk Further information Please see Further Information document attached. Attachments 20241009 - Further Information - External Opens in new window (docx, 34kB) Defence Civil Service Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)