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 28.96%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.
DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and have consolidated all activities in Norcross, Blackpool. A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2027.
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.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Are you organised, detail-focused, and passionate about delivering high-quality service? If so, we want you to be part of something bigger — helping to support the UK’s Defence community by joining Defence Business Services (DBS), a key enabler within the Ministry of Defence.
We are currently recruiting Administrative Officers (AO) to join our Financial, Procurement & Civilian People Services (FPCP) team. This is an exciting opportunity to build a meaningful career, develop professionally, and make a real difference every day.
What You’ll Do

As an AO within FPCP, you’ll be fully trained and supported to provide a range of vital administrative services across areas such as:

• Recruitment and On-boarding
• Redeployment and Redundancy
• Security Clearances
• Pay and Workforce Management
• Finance & Procurement Services

No two days are the same. You’ll be solving problems, supporting our internal customers, and helping to keep critical services running smoothly for Defence personnel.

ESSENTIAL

We’re looking for proactive, people-focused team players who can:

• Deliver excellent customer service with a “right first time” approach
• Communicate clearly and effectively – both verbally and in writing
• Handle sensitive data with accuracy and discretion
• Stay organised and manage tasks to tight deadlines
• Use Microsoft Office tools like Word and Excel confidently
• Investigate and resolve customer queries with care and attention to detail

COMPLETING YOUR APPLICATION

Behaviour examples requires more than just information about what you did, it requires you to explain. There are many different approaches you could take to writing behaviours, such as the STAR, or the CAR method. As to which one you chose to use, it’s all down to your personal style of writing. Within the Civil Service, the most common approach is: The STAR method.
Using the STAR method, allows you to set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome. The job holder (and later the interviewer) will use this method to gather all the relevant information about a specific capability that the job requires.

Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.

• Where are you?
• Who was there with you?
• What had happened?

Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.

• What was the task that you had to complete and why?
• What did you have to achieve?

Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information of what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit of something that you did not do.

Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures easily understandable.

• What results did the actions produce?
• What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
• Was it a successful outcome? If not what did you learn from the experience?

Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.
Remember- if you are a school leaver or out of employment, and feel that you don’t have the experience to apply for this role then do this-
Make a list of your skills, strength and experience
Focus on your education/day-to-day life/extra-curricular activities such as team sports
Highlight anything that would help you perform in the job that you are applying for
For more information on applying for Civil Service jobs and completing your application please visit-
The STAR method , National Careers Service
Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Working for the Civil Service - Civil Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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.
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.
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: Career - Personal Statement
At application stage you will be assessed against the following:

EXPERIENCE:

• Personal Statement - Please submit a 500 word personal statement explaining how you meet the requirements of the role
• CV

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)
• 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

Operational Delivery