DBS Civilian Payroll - Operational Expert

Job summary

Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?

Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?

Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.

• Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
• Our Mission - Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.

DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

Come and join the DBS community today!

Job description

As a Payroll Operational Expert, you will work alongside operational payroll teams, customers and stakeholders to resolve complex payroll matters and provide specialist expertise across a range of payroll processes.

Key responsibilities include:

• Taking ownership of complex overpayment cases, including prior year overpayments and disputed debts.
• Calculating overpayments, repayment arrangements and associated adjustments.
• Managing Negative Net Pay cases and ensuring appropriate action is taken.
• Calculating pension and tax adjustments where required.
• Supporting annual payroll reporting activities.
• Assisting with pension reporting and submissions.
• Supporting internal and external audit activity, including National Audit Office and Government Internal Audit Agency audits.
• Acting as a focal point for escalation of complex payroll enquiries.
• Liaising with stakeholders including Civilian HR policy owners, Finance, Change Management Team and other business areas.
• Supporting change initiatives and payroll testing activities.
• Producing guidance, FAQs and desk instructions to improve payroll knowledge across operational teams.

Assisting operational delivery teams with specialist payroll activities requiring expert knowledge

Person specification

Desirable experience

• Understanding of MOD pay policies.
• Understanding of MOD pension policies.
• Experience of payroll operations or payroll-related customer service environments.

Essential criteria

• Experience working in a payroll team/environment.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage a varied workload.
• Experience delivering customer-focused services.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams and stakeholder groups.
• Strong attention to detail and analytical capability.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,740, Ministry of Defence contributes

£8,905 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).

• An environment with flexible working options Monday-Friday
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service (pro rata). In addition to 8 public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for His Majesty The King’s birthday
• Hybrid working where role permits
• An opportunity to be considered for Reward and Recognition
• Family-friendly policies including - parental leave and adoption leave
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• Professional and personal development of skills
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Minimum of 15 days special leave in a rolling 12 month period for volunteer reserve commitments
• Special paid leave to volunteer up to 6 days per year
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

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 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.

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 and Experience.

Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.

Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history and previous skills and experience.

Personal Statement:

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability. (500 Word Max)

At sift , Candidates will be assessed against their CV and Statement of suitability and the following:

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

At interview , Candidates will be assessed against the following:

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Applications will be sifted on all Success Profile elements, but in the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted on the following success profile elements:

Primary: Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service

Priority order - Interview

In the rare case where individuals have exact matching scores, the order of merit will be determined based on the behaviour scores at interview in the following order:

• 1 - Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service
• 2 - Behaviour - Delivering at Pace
• 3 - Behaviour - Changing and Improving
• 4 - Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
• Priority order - Application

If candidate scores are still exact, the merit order will then be determined on the sift score in the following order:

• 1 - Career - Job History
• 2 - Career - Previous Skills
• 3 - Career - Personal Statement
• 4 - Behaviour - Changing and Improving
• 5 - Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service
• 6 - Behaviour - Delivering at Pace
• 7 - Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
• Sift and interview timeframes
• Sift start date: 13/09/2026
• Interviews are currently taking place via the following method: MS Teams
• Interview start date: 20/09/2026

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.

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.

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 unacc