UK Ministry of Defence
Data Governance Manager
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DMS Whittington, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS14 9PY
Job Summary
Do you want to work on one or the most exciting transformation projects in the public sector?
The Defence Housing Service (DHS) is being created through the Armed Forces Bill to deliver a step-change in housing for the UK’s Armed Forces and their families following the publication of the Defence Housing Strategy on 3 November 2025, which marked the most significant change to Armed Forces housing in over 50 years. DHS will bring a dedicated focus to improving the homes, communities and lived experience of Service personnel, placing families firmly at the heart of everything it does.
This is one of the most ambitious housing transformation programmes in the UK today. Backed by a £9.2 billion investment, DHS will modernise tens of thousands of homes, introduce a more proactive and customer-focused approach to maintenance, and unlock new opportunities to develop housing on Defence land. DHS will have the focus and agility to deliver change at pace, combining public service values with greater flexibility to build the skills, systems and partnerships needed for the future.
This is a rare opportunity to be part of shaping its culture, influencing how it works, and helping deliver lasting improvements for Service families across the UK.
The Defence Housing team is currently part of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), who respond to the evolving needs of our military personnel, and the ways in which they live, work, train and deploy. We are proud to be the expert partner Defence needs for all their infrastructure requirements. From large scale infrastructure projects such as runways for the F35 fighter jets to net carbon-zero accommodation for our Service families, our activities focus relentlessly on our customers, and our outputs are unique in the UK and across the globe!
DIO, What we deliver every day.
The future delivery model for this team is currently under review and may change as part of potential organisational developments. This could include the team or function transferring to a different employer or organisational structure in the future. Should activities transfer out of the Ministry of Defence existing employees transferring with those activities will maintain the same, or substantially the same, terms and conditions of employment.
Job Description
As Data Governance Manager, you’ll be responsible for supporting the development, implementation and continuous improvement of Defence Housing Service data governance arrangements. You’ll help ensure that DHS data is accurate, trusted, secure, accessible and managed in accordance with MOD policy, legislation and emerging DHS governance requirements.
You’ll work across operational housing, asset management, customer services, finance, supplier management and corporate functions, to establish common definitions, improve data quality, strengthen accountability and support informed decision making.
Contributing to the development of a DHS-wide approach to data ownership, stewardship, quality management and information governance, you’ll help ensure that data is treated as a strategic business asset and can confidently support reporting, operational delivery, assurance, regulatory compliance and organisational performance.
Responsibilities
- Support the development and maintenance of the DHS Data Governance Framework, maintaining and maturing governance documentation, including data standards, definitions, dictionaries and ownership registers; monitoring compliance with agreed governance standards and supporting establishment of governance boards, forums and data stewardship networks.
- Implement and maintain data quality monitoring processes, analysing and reporting on data quality issues, trends and risks, coordinating remediation activity with business areas and suppliers; support development of data quality KPIs and performance measures.
- Maintain issue logs, action trackers and improvement plans, including ensuring consistency across systems and preventing conflicting interpretations of performance, asset, customer and operational data.
- Lead development of agreed business definitions for DHS metrics and reporting, maintaining the authoritative repository of KPI definitions and metadata; ensuring that reporting measures are consistently understood and applied.
- Work with operational teams to resolve ambiguity in business rules and calculations, providing a critical part in support of the DHS objective of creating common definitions and an agreed "single version of the truth".
- Support Data Owners and Data Stewards in fulfilling their responsibilities, providing advice and guidance on governance responsibilities, maintaining records of data ownership and accountability arrangements; coordinating reviews of critical data domains.
- Ensure governance practices align with MOD information management and data governance requirements; assisting with audit activity, assurance reviews and governance inspections, supporting risk identification, mitigation and reporting, relating to data and information management.
- Work with suppliers and internal teams to improve the quality and integrity of data supplied to DHS, ensuring robust governance arrangements are applied consistently across the enterprise.
- Support implementation of controls for data exchange and system integration, monitoring adherence to agreed data standards across internal and external systems.
- Build positive relationships across DHS directorates, delivering advice, guidance and awareness training; support development of a positive data culture where accountability for data is understood across the organisation, encouraging adoption of governance standards and best practice.
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Person Specification
To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:
- Experience supporting data governance, information governance, reporting, assurance or business intelligence functions. (personal statement)
- Experience working with data quality issues and driving improvements. (personal statement)
- Experience interpreting and applying policies, standards or governance frameworks.
- Experience engaging with stakeholders across multiple business areas.
- Experience producing management information, reports or governance documentation.
Additional Information
We have a strong learning and development ethos, supporting you to fulfil your potential by providing learning and development tailored to your role, professional skills development, access to thousands of training courses through Civil Service Learning and the ability to obtain industry recognised qualifications, supported by MOD. You’ll also receive specific training on the platform selected for the future systems programme.
This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, blending a balance of attendance in the workplace (your permanent duty station, which is based on business assessment of where the work is best done) and working from home as a personal choice (if the role is suitable for this). If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.
Dependent on the business need, there will be a requirement to travel to meetings within the UK (and potentially occasional overseas visits), with some overnight stays.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
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Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Data governance
- Data maturity
Alongside your salary of £46,040, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,337 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).
- Learning and development tailored to your role with a dedicated minimum of 5 days per year
- 25 days paid annual leave rising (by 1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of five years’ service
- Ability to roll up to 10 days annual leave per year
- In addition to eight public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The King’s birthday
- A Civil Service pension
- Parental and Adoption Leave
- Discounts on a range of services within and external to the civil service – Defence Discount Service, Civil Service societies for Sports and Leisure, Healthcare, Insurance, Motoring, Company discounts with Virgin, Vodafone, and Microsoft Office.
- In year rewards and ‘thank you’ schemes such as vouchers and gift cards
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
Find out more here - Discovermybenefits
Our people are at the heart of everything we do. 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 just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process if this is something you want to explore.
Defence operates an organisation model in which every individual belongs to a Government Profession. The successful applicant will be posted into one of the defined Government Professions on Standard Terms of Reference for the grade. Defence reserves the right to move individuals between roles, within their allocated profession, to meet the needs of the business and in support of agile resourcing.
Defence is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to improve the way it conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, all posts 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 transformation programme, Defence 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 personnel and Trade Unions.
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, candidates Will Be Required To Provide:
- A CV detailing your job history and previous skills and experience
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