Portsmouth - HMNB
Job Summary
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 the 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 flexible working pattern and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
Come and join the DBS community today!
Job Description
Business Management
* Ensure day to day management of office activities are coordinated. Ensure all office defaults are reported, recorded and dealt with in a timely manner. Manage requirements for IT, furniture and office supplies ensuring they are actioned in accordance with MOD Policy.
* Act as Business Unit Point of Contact (BUPOC) and distribute all relevant information pertinent to the smooth running of the office via email, notices and Temporary Memorandum.
* Responsibility for financial approvals/payments on the Contract, Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) and Low Value Purchasing (LVP) systems, and provide scrutiny and governance advice for purchases as appropriate. Conduct and assist with scrutiny of Business Cases and other spend proposals. Ensure supply and demand forecasting and budgeting spreadsheets are maintained.
* Act as Building custodian focusing on building safety. Manage and maintain Health and Fire Safety policy and procedures. Act as 4C’s coordinator maintaining the safety and security of any visitors. Ensure notices and notice boards remain up to date and relevant.
* Ensure Business Continuity policies and procedures are reviewed, tested and promulgated.
* Act as a Branch Security officer ensuring all members adhere to security rules and regulations that apply. Ensure inspection recommendations are followed up and relevant notices are displayed and updated. Escalate any security issues to the appropriate department when necessary and ensure corrective action is taken if required.
* Maintain Risk Management and Risk Assessment registers (DSE, Manual Handling, First Aid, Fire, PPE, Legionella) highlighting to management any issues raised.
Records Preparation Administration
* To ensure Ministry of Defence compliance with its obligations under the terms of the Public Records Act 1958 and 1967 by transferring records selected for permanent preservation to The National Archives (TNA). Recording and maintaining TNA records preparation standards and ensuring that all preparation staff are kept up to date with any changes/amendments or training requirements.
* Quality Assurance – responsibility for conducting checks on the prepared material and co-ordinating with TNA where necessary to ensure that the specific requirements are met and maintained; collating data on any deviations from the standards to enable further training if required. Produce and review internal administrative work instructions for the Preparation Team.
* Ensure that all non-standard archive materials required for file preparation are sourced in the most cost-effective manner and are available when required.
* Overseeing the management of the Preparation Team ensuring performance levels specified in the MOD-DBS Service Level Agreement are met.
* Act as line manager for 2 Preparation Team AO’s.
Business Management
* Ensure day to day management of office activities are coordinated. Ensure all office defaults are reported, recorded and dealt with in a timely manner. Manage requirements for IT, furniture and office supplies ensuring they are actioned in accordance with MOD Policy.
* Act as Business Unit Point of Contact (BUPOC) and distribute all relevant information pertinent to the smooth running of the office via email, notices and Temporary Memorandum.
* Responsibility for financial approvals/payments on the Contract, Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) and Low Value Purchasing (LVP) systems, and provide scrutiny and governance advice for purchases as appropriate. Conduct and assist with scrutiny of Business Cases and other spend proposals. Ensure supply and demand forecasting and budgeting spreadsheets are maintained.
* Act as Building custodian focusing on building safety. Manage and maintain Health and Fire Safety policy and procedures. Act as 4C’s coordinator maintaining the safety and security of any visitors. Ensure notices and notice boards remain up to date and relevant.
* Ensure Business Continuity policies and procedures are reviewed, tested and promulgated.
* Act as a Branch Security officer ensuring all members adhere to security rules and regulations that apply. Ensure inspection recommendations are followed up and relevant notices are displayed and updated. Escalate any security issues to the appropriate department when necessary and ensure corrective action is taken if required.
* Maintain Risk Management and Risk Assessment registers (DSE, Manual Handling, First Aid, Fire, PPE, Legionella) highlighting to management any issues raised.
Records Preparation Administration
* To ensure Ministry of Defence compliance with its obligations under the terms of the Public Records Act 1958 and 1967 by transferring records selected for permanent preservation to The National Archives (TNA). Recording and maintaining TNA records preparation standards and ensuring that all preparation staff are kept up to date with any changes/amendments or training requirements.
* Quality Assurance – responsibility for conducting checks on the prepared material and co-ordinating with TNA where necessary to ensure that the specific requirements are met and maintained; collating data on any deviations from the standards to enable further training if required. Produce and review internal administrative work instructions for the Preparation Team.
* Ensure that all non-standard archive materials required for file preparation are sourced in the most cost-effective manner and are available when required.
* Overseeing the management of the Preparation Team ensuring performance levels specified in the MOD-DBS Service Level Agreement are met.
* Act as line manager for 2 Preparation Team AO’s.
Person specification
Essential:
* High attention to detail.
* Strong IT skills.
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
* Ability to deliver at pace, experience of managing a varied workload, prioritising effectively and the ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently.
* Proactive and able to look ahead to anticipate issues
* Ability to build and maintain excellent relationships with people at all levels across an organisation.
* Experience of raising and amending contract and purchase requisitions in CP&F.
Personal Attributes & Skills
We are looking for a proactive self-starter who is highly organised, flexible and efficient.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Leadership
* Making Effective Decisions
* Communicating and Influencing
* Working Together
* Managing a Quality Service
Alongside your salary of £29,580, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,569 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
* 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 addition to 8 public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for the King's birthday
* Hybrid working, where role permits
* An opportunity to be considered for Reward & Recognition
* 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 employer contribution of 28.97%
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.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected.
Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.
Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.
Applications Will Be Sifted On All Success Profile Elements, But In The Event Of a High Number Of Applications, An Initial Sift Will Be Conducted On Your :
Primary: Behaviour - Making Effective Decisions
Secondary: Behaviour - Leadership
In this instance the remaining elements will be tested at interview.
At application stage you will be assessed against the following:
Behaviours:
* Leadership
* Making Effective Decisions
* Communicating and Influencing
* Working Together
* Managing a Quality Service
Experience:
* CV
* Personal Statement( 500 Max word count) Please provide information of how you meet the criteria set out in the job description. You may wish to further include examples of how you have tackled similar tasks or demonstrated the skills outlines in the job advert.
Behaviours:
At interview you will be assessed against the following:
* Leadership
* Making Effective Decisions
* Communicating and Influencing
* Working Together
* Managing a Quality Service
In The Rare Case Where Individuals Have Exact Matching Scores, The Order Of Merit Will Be Determined Based On The Behaviour Scores At Interview In The Following Order:
1 - Behaviour - Making Effective Decisions
2 - Behaviour - Leadership
3 - Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
4 - Behaviour - Working Together
5 - Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service
If Candidate Scores Are Still Exact, The Merit Order Will Then Be Determined On The Sift Score In The Below Order Or Priority:
1 - Career - Personal Statement
2 - Career - Previous Skills
3 - Behaviour - Leadership
4 - Behaviour - Making Effective Decisions
5 - Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
6 - Behaviour - Working Together
7 - Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service
8 - Career - Job History
9 - Career - Qualification Details
We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isn’t always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months.
Sift start date: Mid July 2025
Interviews are currently taking place via the following method: Face to face
Interview start date: Mid to late July 2025
A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk
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.
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.
We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs.
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.
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.
To assist with your application please find attached -
DBS Candidate Information Guide - Working for Defence Business Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
(26) UK Ministry of Defence: Life, LinkedIn
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
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 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.
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 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.
Medical
Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.
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.
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).
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 : Amy McIntyre
* Email : amy.mcintyre110@mod.gov.uk
Recruitment team
* Email : DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@mod.gov.uk
Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeam@MOD.gov.uk in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/ #J-18808-Ljbffr