Grade 7 Director of Research

Job summary

The Director of Research (Dir Res) supports the Medical Director in delivering the Medical Directorate’s mission to support Defence Medical Command (DMedC) personnel through academia, research, personnel management, promoting innovation, world leading, quality and safe patient care.

This is a full time role offering 37 hours per week. Part-time candidates will be considered but due to service delivery requirements it must be on a job share basis as full time hours need to be covered. The salary will be pro rata where part time hours are undertaken.

Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) generates and operates specialist capabilities, ready to fight across all domains to make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.

Always on, we are across every UK operation, delivering the capabilities you don’t usually see - or those you can’t.

From cyber warriors and medics to intelligence analysts, special forces, educators, and Defence attachés, our collective expertise delivers the warfighting edge Defence needs to deter threats and secure the nation today and prepare for tomorrow.

CSOC unites Defence’s cyber and specialist capabilities under a single, military command alongside the Royal Navy, British Army, and the Royal Air Force - acting as the UK’s fourth Military Command. For more information, please see here.

Job description

Dir Res is the focus for the management, prioritisation, and support of military medical research within the DMedC. They are to ensure financial probity; given that research maybe sponsored from within Defence Medicine (DMed) by Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) through Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), from National and International Academic Institutions and the third (charity) sector.

Dir Res is expected to foster collaborations within DMedC, across Defence, with academic and industry partners and with international allies. They are to oversee the process via which research is reviewed and endorsed, ensuring DMedC-sponsored research is military relevant, of high scientific quality, and represents value for money.

Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to design the way in which the new Military Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, posts within CSOC are/or may become subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities. Throughout, the Command’s transformation programme is committed to following the MOD’s framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Command’s personnel and Trade Unions.

Person specification

The duties and responsibilities of the role include, but are not limited to:

• Aggregation of responses into strategic themes and lower-level topics and production of the DMed Research Strategy. This is the north star strategic direction that informs the medical research demand signal within and outside of Defence.
• Working across the Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ), the Department of State (DOS), and the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group (including Dstl and United Kingdom (UK) Defence Innovation) to ensure the medical research voice is heard, particularly among financial decision makers.
• Fostering the culture of research and encouraging collaborative projects within the Defence Medical Services (DMS), which encompasses the Defence Medical Command, Royal Army Medical Services, Royal Air Force Medical Service and Royal Navy Medical Services.
• Maintaining oversight of the DMedC research budget and tracking of actual vs predicted project spend. This ensures RCI remains within SG’s delegated Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL) control total and informs decisions around budgeting at Research Steering Group meetings.

Please see the attached Terms of Reference for the full list of duties.

Essential experience:

• Experience of developing and delivering scientific strategy, preferably in the field of medical research.
• Experience managing a research budget and ensuring future spend is affordable against existing financial commitments.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills to convey complex information across a broad range of stakeholders (including scientific and non-scientific).
• Experience in overseeing research funding processes.
• Experience of organisational representation at senior national and international scientific meetings.

Qualifications

Essential - Masters-level degree or higher in a relevant scientific discipline is required for the position.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Scientific Knowledge
• Financial and Business Management
• Information Technology Skills

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £61,630, Ministry of Defence contributes

£17,854 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).

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Free parking
• Café

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

At application stage you will be assessed against the following:

CV:

• Please ensure you demonstrate that you have the required skills, knowledge, experience, qualifications and memberships in the CV section of the application form.
• Please provide information of how you meet the criteria set out in the Job Description. You may wish to further include examples of how you have tackled similar tasks or demonstrated the skills outlined in the job advert.

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical Skills:

• Scientific Knowledge
• Financial and Business Management
• Information Technology Skills

You will also be required to complete a Civil Service Judgement Test.

At interview you will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical Skills:

• Scientific Knowledge
• Financial and Business Management

Please see the link to our YouTube channel for advice preparing your best responses with some hints and tips on answering behaviour-based questions. Hints and tips such as: Your behaviours can be based on situations from work, volunteering or home; match your situation to the behaviour requested and how to use your 250-word limit.

Are you applying for a job in Civil Service? - YouTube

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and working from home as part of a non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. All office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to site capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of office attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this and other flexible working arrangements 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 sift will be completed within 10 working days of the vacancy closing date. Interviews will be held on a date to be confirmed.

There will be no reimbursement for any travel expenses for the interview.

Requests to work flexibly and/or part time will be considered, taking into account business needs. Please note the salary will be pro-rata where part time hours are undertaken.

All employees joining Ministry of Defence who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a 6-month probation period (unless otherwise advised) effective from the employment start date.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

To be considered for this role, qualifications detailed must be held in full, prior to submitting your application.

The post does NOT offer relocation expenses (move of home, excess fares or temporary transfer). Non-Standard move applicants will be eligible for the full package, subject to eligibility.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

This vacancy is part of the A Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. Making the Civil Service a Great Place to Work for Veterans - GOV.UK

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.

If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact DBSCivPers-SGDMSResourcing@mod.gov.uk.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its st