UK Ministry of Defence
Programme Support Lead
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Job Summary
Do you want to work on one of 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
Are you an organised and proactive programme professional looking to help deliver complex transformation programmes? As a Programme Support Lead within the Defence Accommodation Future Contracts Team, you'll play a key role in coordinating delivery, managing governance and supporting senior stakeholders as we shape the future of Service Family Accommodation and the wider Defence housing estate.
You will provide senior-level support to a strategically important programme delivering future accommodation contracts across Defence. Working closely with commercial, programme and stakeholder teams, you will coordinate governance activities, monitor delivery progress, support procurement and supplier engagement, and provide assurance to help ensure contracts deliver value for money, compliance and operational effectiveness.
Your work will contribute to the delivery of sustainable, innovative and customer-focused accommodation services, supporting Defence's long-term housing strategy and improving the experience of Service personnel, their families and other accommodation users.
This is a unique opportunity to influence the future of Defence housing, working with a diverse range of stakeholders to deliver lasting improvements across the Defence community.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Support the development of procurement strategies, tender documentation, evaluation models and contract requirements.
- Manage day-to-day procurement activity, ensuring compliance with MOD and Government commercial policies and frameworks.
- Contribute to the drafting of contract terms, schedules, performance measures and commercial documentation.
- Maintain procurement trackers, risk registers and assurance documentation to support effective programme governance.
- Prepare commercial reports and briefings for programme boards, governance forums and business cases.
- Work closely with the Transition and Mobilisation team to ensure commercial programme commitments are reflected in delivery plans.
- Collaborate with technical, policy, project delivery and operational teams to align commercial, operational and customer requirements.
- Deputise for the Project Manager as required.
- Provide guidance, coaching and support to colleagues involved in the programmes’ delivery.
- Contribute to the development of commercial capability and promote knowledge sharing across the wider team.
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Person Specification
We're looking for an organised and proactive programme professional with strong attention to detail and experience of procurement, contract management or commercial activity, ideally within a public sector environment. You'll be a collaborative team player with strong analytical skills, be comfortable managing competing priorities in a complex programme environment, and demonstrate resilience, adaptability and integrity in all aspects of your work.
Essential Criteria
- Experience in procurement or contract management within estates, housing, facilities management or public sector services.
- Evidence of analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret data and evaluate options.
- Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Strong understanding of procurement regulations and government procurement policy.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks to deadlines in a complex programme environment.
Whilst this role is advertised as a full-time position of 37 hours per week, we recognise the benefits of flexible working and are open to discussing part-time hours, job share arrangements, or other flexible working patterns with suitable candidates. Regular in-person attendance is required (this is expected to be approximately 60% of your working week) to promote the benefits of face-to-face collaboration alongside flexibility of hours to support work-life balance and business need. Initially, you may be expected to attend more frequently to familiarise yourselves with the site, the team, and your role.
Pre agreed travel to London will be required as part of the role.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Managing a Quality Service
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
Benefits
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).
- 25 days’ annual leave plus one day a year up to 30 days after five years, and eight bank holidays
- An extra day off to honour the sovereign’s birthday
- Flexible and hybrid working wherever possible to support your work-life balance - attending site a few days each week will be required and encouraged, depending on your role and team.
- Market-leading employer pension contribution of around 28.97%
- Enhanced parental leave schemes
- Recognition awards
- Access to specialist training and funded professional qualifications
- Support for progression
- Huge range of discounts – plus more!
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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.
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.
Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:
At Sift Stage
Applicants will be required to provide:
- A CV in the Job History section, ensuring it clearly demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification. We encourage you to use specific evidence from your experience to illustrate your suitability for the role.
- A personal statement (no more than 500 words) providing specific examples of how you meet the two most critical criteria for the role. Further guidance is given within the Personal Statement section of the application.
Applications will be assessed against the essential criteria, with each criterion scored on a scale of 1 to 7. An overall score will then be calculated using the average of all criterion scores. To progress beyond the sift stage, applicants must achieve a minimum score of 4 on every essential criterion. This means that even if your overall average score is 4 or higher, you will not progress if you score below 4 on any individual essential criterion.
Please note that, in the event of a high volume of applications, the selection panel reserves the right to increase the overall pass mark.
At Interview
You will be assessed against the following Behaviours:
- Working Together
- Managing a Quality Service
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
In the event of a tied score at interview, the order of merit will be distinguished based on the ranking of the assessed behaviours above.
We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for interviews or assessments.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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
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