Deputy Director, Workforce Development

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.

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.

• 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%