Executive Assistant to Director Defence Innovation

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

London (region), South East England

About the job

Job summary

The Defence Innovation Directorate sits at the heart of the Department’s approach to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. The Directorate is combined of the Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), with this role sitting within the Chief of Staff area at the centre of the Directorate, working closely with the DIU.

The Defence Innovation Unit was set up to lead on delivery and coordination of innovation activities across the Department, breaking down barriers to innovation across Defence, engaging stakeholders across Defence and government, and key international partners and allies.

We are a diverse team of both civil servants and military personnel, with varied professional backgrounds including policy, project delivery, and science. The Chief of Staff area reports directly to the Director Defence Innovation providing a vital role in raising the importance of innovation across Defence, ensuring we continue to develop and exploit the technologies to defeat our adversaries.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Current priorities for the role are broadly:

• Managing and owning the Director’s diary; arranging and de-conflicting meetings in line with the Director’s needs; researching and booking travel options within MOD policy and assembling and organising the Director’s briefing materials.
• Given the high number of requests, this role works closely with the Chief of Staff and Secretariat to maintain a well organised schedule, adapting as priorities change.
• Liaising with stakeholders across MOD, government, academia, and industry.
• Delivering verbal briefs to the Director and wider team to give the context behind meetings.
• Providing office management services including room bookings, visitor management (booking and escorting), reprographics, and logistics requests;

The responsibilities will ebb and flow depending on departmental priorities. The successful candidate will need to be adaptable, comfortable with uncertainty, and resilient to change.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. The current expectation is that staff will spend 40 – 60 % of their time in the office or in a non-home based location. If you have any queries about working location / flexible working, please contact the hiring manager to discuss how this may work in their team.

New entrants to the civil service are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band and will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Person specification

Essential criteria:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent organisational and time-management skills
• An ability to prioritise tasks effectively
• Good IT skills, familiar with basic Microsoft O365 apps
• Enjoy working in a rapidly changing area, quickly responding to emerging issues

Desirable skills:

• Prior experience as an EO or in an outer office role
• Security clearance

Applicants are not required to hold any level of security clearance to apply, but will need to willing to undergo Security Clearance (SC) upon appointment.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,300, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,198 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
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual leave is 25 days on appointment, increasing by 1 day per financial year up to a maximum of 5 additional days
• Posts based in London will attract the relevant London weighting

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

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.

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 : Naomi Brooks
• Email : naomi.brooks111@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: , Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email:

info@csc.gov.uk.

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