Deputy Director, Workforce Development
Regular attendance to London is required although contractual location can be any main MOD site within the UK (subject to line manager agreement and site capacity). There is an expectation that a minimum
On-site
Permanent
17 Applications
Job description
- Job grade: SCS Pay Band 1
- Contract type: Permanent
- Business area: MOD - Department of State
- Type of role: Human Resources, Senior leadership
- Working pattern: Flexible working, Full-time, Job share
- Number of jobs available: 1
Location
Regular attendance to London is required although contractual location can be any main MOD site within the UK (subject to line manager agreement and site capacity). There is an expectation that a minimum of 60% of working time will be spent in the office.
All work-related travel and subsistence costs will be reimbursed except when travelling to your base location, in line with departmental policy.
All work-related travel and subsistence costs will be reimbursed except when travelling to your base location, in line with departmental policy.
About the job
Job summary
The Deputy Director, Workforce Development is accountable for setting MOD’s system-wide skills priorities, leading strategic trade-offs and external engagement to align Defence capability with future need, and providing strategic leadership across Workforce Development. The role also leads Civil Service Workforce Development, bringing together learning and development, talent and employee insights, alongside end-to-end management of the Senior Civil Service. This includes shaping the SCS cadre, from attracting and recruiting senior leaders through to developing leadership capability.
Job description
Senior Leadership & Workforce Operations
- Provide strategic leadership for Defence’s Senior Civil Service, joining up recruitment, talent, succession, performance and leadership development and while ensuring Defence’s approach is aligned with and helps shape the Future Civil Service agenda.
- Ensure SCS workforce operations are effective, well governed and responsive to changing Defence priorities
Workforce Capability
- Lead Defence’s approach to Civil Service workforce capability, connecting learning, talent, development, professions and skills to current and future workforce demand.
- Work across Defence and government to strengthen workforce and leadership capability, building strategic partnerships and maximising the Defence Academy’s contribution to learning, skills and leadership development.
- Strengthen how Defence plans, commissions and evaluates learning and capability activity, using workforce evidence, skills data and insight to inform priorities and investment.
- Champion accessible and inclusive approaches to workforce development, harnessing innovation, digital, data and AI to build future capability.
Leading Change & Delivery
- Lead the transition to a smaller, integrated and agile Workforce Development function, maintaining effective delivery while creating capacity for transformation and focusing the central function on areas of greatest strategic value.
- Manage budgets, resources, governance and supplier relationships effectively, ensuring value for money and strong delivery standards.
- Build and lead a high-performing, multidisciplinary team with the capability and flexibility to work across portfolio and organisational boundaries.
Person specification
- Strategic workforce Leadership: Strong strategic thinking, with experience of shaping workforce development or people capability priorities to support organisational objectives and future needs.
- Executive leadership: Excellent leadership skills, with the ability to motivate and empower others and build high-performing, diverse and inclusive teams.
- Leading change and improvement: Experience of leading and driving change in a complex environment, using project and change disciplines and working across organisational boundaries without direct authority.
- Executive influence and judgement: Strong interpersonal and influencing skills, with significant experience of building trusted relationships with senior leaders at Director General, Executive Director or equivalent level, and providing credible challenge and advice.
- Financial and commercial judgement: Sound financial and commercial judgement, with experience of managing budgets, governance and supplier relationships.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £86,000, Ministry of Defence contributes
£24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
- 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 employer contribution of 28.97%
Things you need to know
Artificial intelligence
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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
Application
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process accessed via the Civil Service Jobs portal. This should be completed no later than 23:55 Wednesday 25 November 2026 and will involve providing the two documents which are weighted equally:
- A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
- A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages) providing tangible examples that clearly evidence how you meet the essential criteria for the role.
External candidates who join the MOD and are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.
For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.
Simon Gush, Workforce and Skills Director will be offering a Q&A session at 09:00-10:00 on Wednesday 18 November 2026 to provide an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clicking here. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. If you have any issues accessing the session, please contact: People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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.
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.
Security
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).
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
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).
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 : SCS Recruitment Team
- Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission Civil Service Commission - Recruitment.
Attachments
| Deputy Director Workforce Development Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 258kB) |
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