Chief of Staff

UK Ministry of Defence

23d ago

Job
Full-time
Senior & Expert Level
People, HR & Administration
Business, Operations & Strategy

AI generated summary

You must work independently, think strategically, possess strong organization skills, analyze data, communicate well, solve problems creatively, manage budgets, have experience with UK Armed Forces, and be CIPD certified.
You will lead the Business Management Team, oversee strategic and workforce planning, manage finances, ensure governance, and drive performance improvements across AFVS.

Requirements

• Able to work independently and with minimal direction, comfortable working in an environment which can be ambiguous and continuously evolving.
• Ability to think and act strategically, applying sound judgement in an environment where demand and priorities change at very short notice.
• Strong organisation skills and excellent attention to detail, demonstrating the ability to work accurately and meet challenging deadlines in a pressurised environment with competing demands.
• Ability to analyse and interpret performance data sets, and present findings clearly to inform decision making.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to build strong stakeholder relationships at all levels.
• Creative and innovative in their approach to problem solving.
• Experience of managing a budget, providing financial forecasting and workforce planning.
• Experience of working with UK Armed Forces
• CIPD

Responsibilities

The Chief of Staff (COS) is a key enabling role within the Armed Forces and Veterans Services (AFVS).
Primarily responsible for leading the Business Management Team in a fast-paced environment, ensuring timely and accurate responses are provided to a wide range of enquiries including Ministerial Correspondence and Parliamentary Questions.
The COS provides direction and guidance on all AFVS matters, cohering Senior Leadership Team engagement and effective stakeholder management across AFVS and wider Ministry of Defence (MOD).
The role is pivotal in delivering an effective and motivated workforce, providing advice on strategic workforce issues, easing team relations, and uniting the organisation to embed a culture of continuous improvement.
Leading a specialised team of 6 staff across 4 sites the COS is responsible for overall oversight in delivering the following specific tasks:
Business Management
Strategic input into prioritisation of all key business matters across a workforce of over 800 people.
Provide accurate and timely advice and information on critical business and resourcing issues to ensure that competing business priorities and deadlines are met.
Lead on all AFVS Secretariat business for Parliamentary Questions, Ministerial Correspondence, Parliamentary Debates and Defence Orals.
On behalf of Head AFVS, lead on ensuring the successful transition of all AFVS Norcross staff to new town centre location in Blackpool, ensuring estates and infrastructure requirements are met and key workforce risks are highlighted and appropriately mitigated.
Develop and implement appropriate AFVS specific induction activities across all AFVS sites.
Assist the AFVS Deputy Head, to work on staff survey activity for AFVS, briefing Head AFVS on feedback and recommending and implementing appropriate actions and plans in response.
Oversee all activity in support of Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees, including the delivery of events and support of recruitment activities through ministerial offices, drafting and submitting ministerial submissions on behalf of Hd AFVS.
Manage all outer office activities in support of Head AFVS, to ensure the principal is sufficiently supported in cross departmental strategic activities and decision making.
Strategic Workforce Planning
Work with HR Business Partner, Assistant Heads and Deputy Heads to ensure succession planning is undertaken to best effect and relevant skills are retained.
Manage the AFVS L&D plans, coordinating requests and prioritising them accordingly against business need and skills gap analysis work. Align decision making on L&D with future requirement. Ensure team compliance with mandated learning needs.
Oversee coordination and lead on the prioritisation of recruitment activities. Use skills, knowledge and relevant data to make sound assumptions on future workforce demands and articulate these clearly in line with workforce planning and strategic decision making.
AFVS staff point of contact for people matters including staff performance, discipline and restoring efficiency, escalating where appropriate to the Head AFVS with recommended courses of action.
Maintenance of MI suite to enable effective resource management and reporting AFVS internal management boards.
Depictive for AFVS Deputy Head at the DBS People Board, providing input on strategic workforce activities.
Financial Planning
Review the central and management budgets; monitoring of resource against control totals including monthly forecasting.
Lead financial planning reviews and Annual Budget Cycle (ABC) activity for AFVS, setting recommendations for resource allocation.
AFVS Performance and Governance
Lead on driving appropriate governance across AFVS, appropriately aligning governance structure with relevant external stakeholder boards.
Chair AFVS Performance Risk and Review meetings, ensuring they are structured effectively in order to maximise discussions and deliver tangible actions and outputs to drive improvements in AFVS performance.
Lead on the development and implementation of an AFVS performance dashboard, identifying appropriate metrics to measure performance, using both extant data and new.
Using performance data to track and monitor performance across all AFVS projects and programmes to identify and highlight dependencies, risks and opportunities across the AFVS portfolio. In particular, identify cumulative impacts on our customer base across the various workstreams of activity and work with project teams to develop recommendations on how to address them.
Lead stakeholder engagement across the senior leadership team to gain cooperation in the development of suitable performance metrics, and draft briefings to wider stakeholders, such as DBS Chief Operating Officer and DBS Chief Executive Officer on AFVS performance progress.
Ensure the team deliver papers for governance boards in advance of the meetings and that there is clear recording actions and decisions.
Depictive for AFVS Deputy Head in times of absence at the Delivery Board.

FAQs

What is the job title for this position?

The job title is Chief of Staff (COS) for Defence Business Services - Armed Forces & Veterans Services.

Where is this position located?

The position is located in Norcross, Blackpool.

What are the primary responsibilities of the Chief of Staff?

The Chief of Staff is primarily responsible for leading the Business Management Team, providing direction on AFVS matters, managing inquiries including Ministerial Correspondence and Parliamentary Questions, and overseeing workforce planning and governance.

How many staff members will the Chief of Staff manage?

The Chief of Staff will lead a specialized team of 6 staff members across 4 sites.

What type of environment will the Chief of Staff be working in?

The Chief of Staff will be working in a fast-paced environment that can be ambiguous and continuously evolving.

Is experience with the UK Armed Forces required for this position?

Yes, experience of working with the UK Armed Forces is required for this position.

What type of skills are necessary for this role?

Necessary skills include strategic thinking, strong organization, attention to detail, the ability to analyze performance data, excellent communication skills, and budget management experience.

Is a CIPD qualification desirable for this position?

Yes, having a CIPD qualification is considered desirable for this role.

What does the Chief of Staff need to ensure regarding workforce planning?

The Chief of Staff must ensure that succession planning is undertaken, relevant skills are retained, and that learning and development activities are aligned with future workforce requirements.

Will the Chief of Staff need to participate in financial planning activities?

Yes, the Chief of Staff will lead financial planning reviews and the Annual Budget Cycle for AFVS.

What type of stakeholder engagement will the Chief of Staff be involved in?

The Chief of Staff will engage with the Senior Leadership Team and other stakeholders to ensure cooperation in performance metrics development and governance.

UK Ministry of Defence

Official corporate LinkedIn channel for the UK Ministry of Defence.

Defence & Aerospace

Industry

1001-5000

Employees

Mission & Purpose

We protect the security, independence and interests of the United Kingdom at home and abroad. We work with our allies and partners whenever possible. Our aim is to ensure that the UK’s Armed Forces have the training, equipment and support necessary for their work, and that we keep within budget. Our priorities 2015 to 2020 are to: protect our people project our global influence promote our prosperity maintain a strategic base and integrated global support network, and manage the Department of State