UK Ministry of Defence
HEO OC Shorncliffe SP Unit - Shorncliffe
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Location: Folkestone, South East England, CT20 3HJ
Job Summary
Do you want to play a key role in supporting Defence operations and delivering essential services across a busy military estate?
We are looking for a proactive and adaptable individual to lead the Shorncliffe Support Unit at Sir John Moore Barracks, Folkestone. This is a varied and rewarding role at the heart of station delivery, providing leadership across people, infrastructure, security, compliance, logistics, and business support functions.
You will work with a wide range of military and civilian stakeholders to ensure the effective running of the station and support the operational readiness of units based across the Firm Base. Leading a diverse team, you will coordinate competing priorities, provide advice to senior leaders, and help ensure the delivery of safe, compliant, and effective support services.
This is an excellent opportunity to develop your leadership and operational delivery experience while making a direct contribution to Defence outputs in the South East.
This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.
Job Description
As Officer Commanding Shorncliffe Support Unit, you will play a central role in ensuring the effective delivery of support services across Sir John Moore Barracks and the wider Defence community. You will lead the coordination of people, infrastructure, security, logistics, and business support activities, helping to create a safe, compliant, and operationally effective environment.
Working closely with military and civilian colleagues, you will act as a key advisor to senior leaders, providing direction, oversight, and assurance across a broad range of station functions. You will build strong relationships with stakeholders, contractors, and partner organisations to ensure services are delivered effectively and priorities are aligned.
This is a varied leadership role requiring sound judgement, resilience, and the ability to balance competing demands in a fast-paced environment. You will lead and develop a diverse team, drive continuous improvement, and ensure that governance, compliance, and risk management requirements are met.
Responsibilities Include, But Are Not Limited To:
- Leading the delivery of personnel, administrative, and business support functions across the station.
- Providing oversight of security, information management, data protection, and compliance arrangements.
- Coordinating support services and infrastructure activity to ensure the effective operation of the military estate.
- Managing stakeholder relationships across Defence, industry partners, and local support organisations.
- Leading assurance activity and preparing the organisation for inspections, audits, and regulatory assessments.
- Maintaining governance arrangements, managing risk, and ensuring compliance with relevant policies and processes.
- Overseeing the management and accountability of equipment, stores, and other assigned resources.
- Line managing and developing a mixed military and civilian workforce, fostering a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Providing clear advice and recommendations to senior leaders to support informed decision-making and operational effectiveness.
Person Specification
We are looking for a confident and adaptable leader who can build strong working relationships, influence stakeholders, and deliver high-quality outcomes in a complex operational environment. The successful candidate will be comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy, balancing competing priorities, and responding effectively to changing demands.
You will be able to analyse information, exercise sound judgement, and provide clear, evidence-based advice to support decision-making. Strong organisational skills and attention to detail are essential, as is the ability to maintain oversight of a broad and varied portfolio of responsibilities.
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The role requires excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to establish credibility and work effectively across military, civilian, and external stakeholder groups. You will be collaborative in your approach, committed to delivering excellent customer service, and focused on achieving positive outcomes.
As a leader, you will foster an inclusive and supportive working environment, developing individuals and encouraging continuous improvement. You will demonstrate integrity, accountability, and professionalism, ensuring that governance, compliance, and risk considerations are embedded in decision-making and delivery.
The Successful Candidate Will Demonstrate:
- Strong leadership and people management capability, with experience of motivating and developing teams.
- The ability to build effective relationships and work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders.
- Sound judgement and the confidence to make decisions within delegated authority.
- Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise competing demands and deliver results under pressure.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- A proactive approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.
- A commitment to inclusion, collaboration, and professional standards.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
Leadership
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £37,720, Ministry of Defence contributes £10,927 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
- 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 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.
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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.
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.
Applications will be assessed against the Experience and Behaviour requirements outlined in this advert.
At application stage, candidates will be assessed against the following:
- A CV detailing their employment history, skills, and experience.
- A Personal Statement (maximum 500 words) demonstrating how they meet the essential criteria for the role and providing evidence of their suitability for the position.
- Behaviour: Leadership.
During sift, applications will be assessed against the Behaviour Leadership and the Experience requirements evidenced through the CV and Personal Statement.
Should a high volume of applications be received, the sift will be conducted against the lead behaviour only.
Candidates successful at sift will be invited to interview.
At Interview, Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
In addition, candidates will be assessed against relevant Strengths aligned to the requirements of the role.
Further information regarding the interview process will be provided to candidates invited to interview.
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.
There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all DCS candidates that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations such as a high volume of applications, seasonal demand, or peak periods, the employer may wish to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both DCS and non-DCS applicants.
As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the
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