Defence Digital Service Owner

Defence Digital ensures our Armed Forces remain among the most technologically advanced in the world. We do this by putting innovative and effective technology into the hands of over 200,000 users, from the boardroom to the front line.

We lead on cutting-edge data science, automation, and cybersecurity at scale. Our mission goes beyond the battlefield by leading humanitarian efforts and driving digital innovation that impacts lives across the globe.

Defence Digital forms part of Strategic Command which manages the MOD’s joint capabilities for the Army, RAF, and Royal Navy.

Watch to find out more about what we do.

Passionate about using your skills to make a critical difference? Your next career move could be here!

This position is advertised for 37 hours per week.

Job description

Digital Identity is key to the effective operation of the MOD’s digital services across all security classifications, ensuring the right people have the right access to the right services, whilst also protecting those services from our adversaries. This service brings together several ongoing workstreams into a single coherent programme of activity.

As the Digital Identity Service Owner, you will be working in the Digital Identity for Defence (DIfD) Programme, following SAFe principles across the delivery of Live Services within the MOD Defence Digital (DD) organisation and be responsible for the end-to-end provision of all aspects of MoD Digital Identity across Defence, from product development through to product delivery and into a live service.

The DifD programme forms part of the digital backbone of Defence, with a focus on the robust, secure management of data to offer better services to end users, whilst increasing our cyber-resilience. This role will lead a multi-disciplinary team of 50 people and have accountability for a budget c £50m.

This is an exciting opportunity for the right person to join the team where you will adopt a portfolio view and be accountable for the quality of service by managing end-to-end services, which include multiple products and channels.

At this role level, you will: 

• Be accountable for assuring the end-to-end delivery of the MOD Digital Identity Service.
• Operate at scale and provide the connection between multidisciplinary business areas and stakeholders.
• Lead on quality assurance for the through life service management.
• Ensure the necessary business processes are followed.
• Participate in the governance of the service, including acting as a point of escalation for the delivery teams.
• Own the budget and allocate funding to areas of the service based on your decisions about priorities.
• Communicate the benefits and performance of your service.
• Be responsible for the successful operation and continuous improvement of the service.

Essential Criteria:

To be successful in this role you’ll need to demonstrate that you are:

• An experienced leader in a Digital / Technology businesses.
• Have a good understanding of Digital Identity and how it supports the business.
• Technically capable of leading a digital data and technology (DDAT) team.
• A good team player.
• Able to demonstrate strong leadership skills.
• An effective decision maker.
• Stakeholder focused with excellent communication skills.
• Able to build positive and effective relationships that enable goals to be delivered develop others.
• Experienced in a fast-paced, complex working environment with the ability to prioritise, and to respond promptly to change and devising solutions to problems
• A relevant professional qualification that demonstrates a commitment to ongoing learning - for example scrum master, agile PM, Prince2, MSP, MBA, chartered professional.

Person specification

You will be responsible for the quality of service and for assessing its effectiveness in meeting user needs. This may encompass a variety of products and channels. You will comprehend the issues and requirements of service users and communicate these to product managers, including success metrics. Collaborating with product managers, you will evaluate and prioritise these issues and requirements. The products involved in service delivery might be unique to a particular service or designed for broader application across multiple services, necessitating collaboration to achieve the right balance of specialisation and reusability.

We are looking for an ambitious, motivated, and confident candidate who possess excellent communication skills.  Experience of working with or in the Defence sector would be useful but not essential – there will be plenty of opportunity to learn - working with complex and diverse stakeholder groups, specifically, operating at scale and providing the connection between them and multidisciplinary business areas is crucial. You will be a key member of the management team and be able to develop strong relationships.

Responsibilities:

• Understand the customer need and issues and be able to articulate them clearly and concisely.
• Encourage and facilitate continuous improvement of the service.
• Line management of 6-9 members of staff.  Be a role model for team members in self-development and agile working.
• Maintain the service vision and ensure service value is assessed in-line with this vision.
• Communicate the service vision and strategy and progress towards outcomes both internally to the team and externally to stakeholders.
• Work with delivery team/s to ensure the problem is fully understood and they are fully enabled.
• Provide information needed to enable users to make the most of the service at different parts of its life cycle.
• Ensure quality is fundamental by helping the teams seek out and use best practice.
• Be an active participant in the product management community, supportive of its development.

Please ensure that your CV and application, meet the below essential criteria:

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.  You will be a key member of the management team and able to develop strong external and internal relationships.
• You need to be able to prove you are comfortable working within a digital business, ideally with experience of delivering technology-based solutions or services.
• Experience of finance (budget management) and commercial frameworks in a complex business. Please describe the extent of that portfolio.
• Candidates must be able to demonstrate they work collaboratively and enable expert/specialist teams and team members to deliver.

More detail about the Service Owner role in a government department will be found here:

Service owner - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk)

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Financial Ownership
• Agile Working
• Government Digital and Data Perspective
• Product Ownership
• User focus

Benefits

• Flexible working options- we understand the importance of adapting work to your life.
• Inclusion and diversity- our culture celebrates uniqueness and encourages collaboration of diverse thought.
• Pension contribution: 28.97%, which secures your future.
• Generous annual leave- starting with 25 days and growing to 30 after just 5 years.
• Minimum of 15 Days Special Leave in a rolling 12-month period to volunteer for military or emergency service reserve commitments.
• Special Paid Leave for volunteering up to 6 days a year.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
• Most sites have good travel links with free car parking; many also have other facilities such as a Sports & Social Club and Gyms
• You can read more here- Civil Service Employee Benefits , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

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 Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Equality and Diversity 
Our people are at the heart of everything we do at Defence Digital. It’s vital that our workforce reflects the diversity of both our audience and the wider society in the UK, so we’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and we actively seek candidates from diverse backgrounds and communities. We also recognise the importance of a good work life balance, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including part-time and job shares for all our roles. Please let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process if this is something you want to explore.