FDSS Business Management Office – Coordinator - #1791327

MOD Abbey Wood, Filton, Bristol, BS34 8JH

Job Summary

Defence has a window of opportunity to aggregate, reset and optimise support services contracts in the window 2026-2028 when multiple high-profile contracts are due to expire.

The FDSS programme will succeed LCS(T) from 2028 and integrate elements of capability currently provided by the other contracts or in-house services to deliver the ability, agility, flexibility and resilience that Defence requires of it’s support services.

The Future Defence Support Services (FDSS) Business Management Office (BMO) Co-ord is a critical role to pro-actively support and manage the FDSS Programme Director's priorities for diary, travel arrangements, and OneNote updates, ensuring efficient scheduling, conflict resolution, and timely documentation to support meetings. Additionally, the role involves coordinating stakeholder engagements, supporting the UKStratCom FDSS Leadership Team and Workstream Leads, and completing various Business Management Co-ord tasks to ensure smooth operations and compliance within specified timelines.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job Description

Management of the FDSS Programme Director’s diary, travel and OneNote:

• Co-ordinate Programme Director’s Diary, ensuring that all diary invites are responded to within 48 hours of receipt.
• Manage all diary conflicts and ensure the deconfliction of any diary issues are resolved in a timely manner.
• Update OneNote with diary meetings, providing relevant notes that will be used for discussion during those meetings for four weeks in advance. OneNote to be updated to reflect all diary changes as they are made.
• Complete a final check of the following week’s diary and OneNote at the end of each working day to ensure it remains accurate.
• Request content or briefing material from the FDSS Chief of Staff (CoS) to support meetings, to be included in OneNote where appropriate.
• Book all required travel for the Programme Director, ensuring value for money for trips, and appropriate approvals have been obtained ensuring travel is compliant with Defence Travel Policy.
• Ensure, when attending bases outside of ABW, that visitor passes, vehicle passes, and desks are booked in advance and provide a map to enable navigation around the base.
  
  

Stakeholder Engagement Co-ordination:

• Develop and maintain an understanding of the existing FDSS Stakeholder landscape
• Co-ordinate discreet and regular engagements with key stakeholders, in line with the Programme Director’s vision and intent, seeking clarity where required.
  
  

Building And Maintaining Own Stakeholder Networks:

• Engaging with the relevant FDSS Stakeholder community and other interested parties to raise the profile of the FDSS.
• Pro-actively engaging and building networks across the relevant FDSS Stakeholder Outer Offices, ensuring introductions are made and relationships built and maintained.
• Join and pro-actively engage in the Executive Assistant (EA) community groups to share knowledge and experience.
  
  

Support to FDSS Leadership Team and Workstream Leads, including but not limited to:

• Monitor the FDSS Multiuser and FDSS Diary Multiuser on a regular basis (at least twice per day) in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
• Co-ordinate the FDSS Workstream Leads weekly meeting, ensuring documentation to support the meeting is prepared and issued to attendees 48 hours in advance.
• Co-ordination of all FDSS Events such as, but not limited to, Programme Dir Briefings and Programme Events, securing room bookings and setting up for the event at least 15 minutes prior to the start time.
• Record and monitor a Record of Decisions and Actions from key Programme Director meetings, such as, but not limited to, the Programme Director 1* Weekly Meetings.
  
  

Completion Of All BMO BAU Activity And Administrative Tasks:

• Act as a key point of contact for internal and external admin support requests, providing advice and guidance to complete within 48hrs of the request and escalating to more senior colleagues where appropriate.
• Completion of the Civil Servant and Contractor on-boarding and off-boarding, to action any requests within 24 hours of receipt. Update the onboarding and offboarding tracker at each stage.
• Assist with all aspects of Information Management: Responsible for maintaining an appropriate SharePoint file structure and ensuring compliance. Assisting Team members be added to the Teams site/remove people within 24 hours as they leave the team to ensure IKM/MOD compliance.
  
  

Management of the FDSS Programme Director’s diary, travel and OneNote:

• Co-ordinate Programme Director’s Diary, ensuring that all diary invites are responded to within 48 hours of receipt.
• Manage all diary conflicts and ensure the deconfliction of any diary issues are resolved in a timely manner.
• Update OneNote with diary meetings, providing relevant notes that will be used for discussion during those meetings for four weeks in advance. OneNote to be updated to reflect all diary changes as they are made.
• Complete a final check of the following week’s diary and OneNote at the end of each working day to ensure it remains accurate.
• Request content or briefing material from the FDSS Chief of Staff (CoS) to support meetings, to be included in OneNote where appropriate.
• Book all required travel for the Programme Director, ensuring value for money for trips, and appropriate approvals have been obtained ensuring travel is compliant with Defence Travel Policy.
• Ensure, when attending bases outside of ABW, that visitor passes, vehicle passes, and desks are booked in advance and provide a map to enable navigation around the base.
  
  

Completion Of All BMO BAU Activity And Administrative Tasks:

• Act as a key point of contact for internal and external admin support requests, providing advice and guidance to complete within 48hrs of the request and escalating to more senior colleagues where appropriate.
• Completion of the Civil Servant and Contractor on-boarding and off-boarding, to action any requests within 24 hours of receipt. Update the onboarding and offboarding tracker at each stage.
• Assist with all aspects of Information Management: Responsible for maintaining an appropriate SharePoint file structure and ensuring compliance. Assisting Team members be added to the Teams site/remove people within 24 hours as they leave the team to ensure IKM/MOD compliance.
  
  

Person specification

Essential

• Excellent organisational and time-management skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Good stakeholder management skills, and the ability to build effective relationships with a variety of people.
• Good digital skills including experience in Microsoft Office.
• Ability to work without supervision, using initiative to prioritise workload.
  
  

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
  
  

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Managing a Quality Service
  
  

Alongside your salary of £29,580, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,569 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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%
  
  

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this 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.

Selection process details

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

At Application, candidates will be assessed against CV, statement of suitability (Max. 750 words) and the following Behaviour:

• Managing a Quality Service
  
  

When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be undertaken on the Personal Statement. Only if successful at this initial sift will the entire application then be reviewed.

At Interview, candidates will be assessed against the following Behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
  
  

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 Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is 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: [email protected] .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to 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.

Strategic Command is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to improve the way the Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, all posts within Strategic Command Headquarters and in time the wider organisation, are/will be 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.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
  
  

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

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.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

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.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact :

• Name : Alison White
• Email : [email protected]
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]
  
  

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: [email protected].