Senior Principal Analyst – Land Survivability

About the job

Are you passionate about delivering high impact analytical research?

Do you want to make a difference to the way Defence and Security operates and how it protects the UK, and our armed forces, from real world threats, both at home and abroad?

Dstl’s Land Survivability Team, Platform Survivability Group, supports the Army, the Ministry of Defence and wider Government through the delivery of impartial evidence-based survivability studies, ensuring intelligent decision-making is at the heart of UK Defence and Security.

As part of a team that works with partners in industry, academia and internationally to develop and evaluate exciting new force and system capabilities, you will work on a dynamic range of projects, contributing to a diverse team of specialists delivering critical analytical advice and solutions, using creativity and innovation.

Our Analysts use and develop techniques, such as modelling, data analysis, focus groups and statistics in order to analyse the impact and effectiveness of different survivability technologies, concepts and policies. Our analysis primarily helps the Army's understanding of future key challenges, major equipment investment and operational decisions.

Our research provides unbiased advice to the Armed Forces. It enables informed decision-making regarding the design and procurement of battle-winning equipment and enabling manoeuvre capabilities. Our advice from this research also supports the development of strategic Defence policy and delivery of wider Government strategy. We work at the forefront of Defence and Security analytical research.

This is a dynamic and rapidly evolving area. Quite simply, this is work that you cannot do anywhere else.

Your work will impact the future decisions the MOD makes in the land environment, across a wide range of projects.

We develop innovative analytical models, tools and techniques which exploit new advances in science and technology and provide advice to maximise the performance of whole systems across MOD and Government.

Job description

Person specification

We are looking for someone who has:
• Substantial experience of leading project teams to deliver analytical studies.
• Substantial experience of developing the technical skills of project team members.
• Evidence of technical leadership of a range of projects utilising both quantitative and qualitative Operational Research techniques and skills.
• A strong knowledge and understanding of the Land domain, together with an appreciation of the current and future challenges that it faces.
• Substantial experience of undertaking and leading on projects that measure or assess survivability analysis, to include the application of Integrated Survivability principles.
• A desire to apply analytical rigour and evidence based decision making to customer deliverables that will be used to shape highly critical future Field Army and wider MOD decisions.
• The ability to understand both the strategic and operational customer space, and translate this into future direction that aligns with both the Dstl and DST strategies.
• The ability to effectively engage and lead junior analytical staff, and work effectively alongside other senior members of staff within Dstl, across many of our Groups and Departments
 •    The ability to effectively and clearly communicate technical and analytical information to senior Army and MOD customers.

Essential Qualifications
 •    Minimum of a degree within a science or analytical background: Recognised as a suitably qualified and experienced expert in their S&T speciality and domain(s).

Essential Skills
• Quantitative and qualitative Operational Research skills and knowledge e.g. modelling and simulation, wargaming, optimisation, soft systems approaches, and problem elicitation etc.
• An understanding of the Land domain.
• Broad understanding of the roles & capabilities of our Groups & Departments
• Excellent customer engagement and communication skills.
 •    Technical Partnering with industry/international/academic partners.

Essential Experience
• Leading project teams to deliver analytical studies: delegating and supervising work within a project team structure.
• Developing the technical skills of project team members.
• Using a range of quantitative and qualitative Operational Research techniques to answer analytical challenges within a Defence and Security environment.
• Effective senior military customer engagement, and delivery of technical outputs to military customers.
• Providing technical leadership, review/quality assurance and an appropriate challenge function to analytical staff in the pursuit of robust and relevant deliverables.
• Exploiting relationships with other Groups & Departments to ensure sufficient understanding of the potential challenges and impact of technological survivability solutions.
 •    Provision of appropriate guidance and advice to support capability development.

Important Information

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. For some roles Developed Vetting will also be required, in this case you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Qualifications

Minimum of a degree within a science or analytical background

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £54,961, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £11,070 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Dstl’s full range of great benefits can be found in the information pack which includes:

• Financial: An excellent pension scheme starting from 26% employer contribution (find out more here). In Year Rewarding Achievement bonuses and thank you vouchers. Rental deposit scheme and cycle to work scheme.
• Flexible working: Options include alternative working patterns such as; compressed hours (e.g. working a 4 day week/ 9 day fortnight), job shares and annualised hours (agreed number of hours per annum paid monthly i.e. working term-time only).
• Working hours: Flexibility around your working day (e.g. start time, finish time). Ability to bank hours in a 12 month reference period including the ability to accrue and use 3 days per calendar month.
• Where you work: Depending on your role, blended working may be available including remote working to suit you and your team. This can be discussed at interview.
• Annual leave: 25 days pro rata (rising to 30 after 5 years) plus 8 public holidays with the ability to buy/sell 5 additional days per annum.
• Family: Maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks with full pay, an additional 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid
• Learning and Development: Dstl encourages and supports charterships, accreditations and provides employees access to fully funded apprenticeships up to level 7 (Masters Degree). Dstl will pay for 2 memberships with relevant bodies/institutions. Employees also have access to Civil Service Learning.
• Facilities: Onsite parking, EV Charging points, restaurants, cafés and gyms.

The information pack can be found attached to the job specification on Civil Service Jobs. 

Our Diversity Networks

We have a number of support networks to ensure all employees feel supported at work. These include the following:

• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Network
• Race, Faith and Culture Network
• Parents and Carer Support Network
• Alternative Working Network
• Gender Equality Network
• New Starters Network
• Enabled Network, for people with visible and non-visible disabilities.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

Candidates who are successful at sift stage will be invited to an interview at Dstl Portsdown West.

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

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.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

 This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

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.