These dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process. If you are unable to meet these timeframes, please let us know in your application letter.
Selection Panel
Martin Spencer, a Civil Service Commissioner, will chair the process. The Civil Service Commission has two primary functions:
- Providing assurance that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. For the most senior posts in the Civil Service, the Commission discharges its responsibilities directly by overseeing the recruitment process and by a Commissioner chairing the selection panel.
- Hearing and determining appeals made by civil servants under the Civil Service Code which sets out the Civil Service values – Impartiality, Objectivity, Integrity and Honesty – and forms part of the relationship between civil servants and their employer.
More detailed information can be found on the Civil Service Commission website.
In addition to Martin Spencer (Commissioner), the other panel members will be:
- Marion Leslie, Chair UKHO
- Nina Cope, Chief Operating Officer MOD
- Sherin Aminossehe, Director Infrastructure in Head Office Finance and Military Capability
Selection Process
- The Selection Panel will sift and assess each application against the essential criteria (professional and strategic & stakeholder engagement expertise) to produce a shortlist to invite to interview.
- Subject to agreement by the MOD Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Selection Panel will then conduct interviews to ascertain which candidates are appointable to the role.
- The decision to appoint to this role rests with the MOD COO (delegated to the MOD COO by ministers).
- Candidates considered appointable by the Selection Panel may be invited to meet with the MOD COO before a final decision is made. As a result, there may be a delay in informing candidates of the outcome of the competition.
Assessment
During the recruitment process, after the shortlist has been compiled, there will be two types of Pre-Interview Assessment that will be used during the recruitment campaign for this role;
- Psychometric tests / Leadership assessments
- Staff engagement exercise
Psychometric Assessments
Shortlisted candidates will be contacted by Green Park via email to complete two online psychometric assessments. Candidates do not need to prepare anything in advance. Candidates will be invited to select a date/time for a 90-minute ‘validation interview’ with an occupational psychologist. The purpose of this call is to validate the outputs of the psychometrics and to understand more about your leadership style and preferred ways of working.
Details of the Staff engagement exercise will be shared after shortlist meeting has taken place.
Status of application / feedback
We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.
Reasonable adjustments
Government departments are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so. Some examples of reasonable adjustments are:
- Ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats.
- Making adaptations to interview locations.
- Allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way.
- Giving detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves.
- Allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters.
- Making provision for support animals to attend.
Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS) – guaranteed interview
UKHO embraces diversity and promotes inclusion and equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident employer, which
includes offering a guaranteed interview to candidates with disabilities, providing they meet the minimum selection criteria. If you are a disabled candidate and wish to be considered under the Disability Confident guaranteed interview scheme, please ensure you select the correct response while applying.
By ‘minimum selection criteria’ we mean that the evidence you provide in your application must demonstrate that you meet the minimum pass mark, set by the short-list panel, for each criteria listed in the ‘short-list’ section, above.
The short-list panel will not be made aware of any disability you may choose to declare; this information will be processed solely by HR, in accordance with Data Protection legislation.
Great place to work for Veterans scheme – guaranteed interview
When you apply for a role through Civil Service Jobs, you will be prompted to enter whether you are eligible for the Great Place to Work for Veterans Initiative and whether you would like to apply for the role through this route.
In order to use the Great Place to Work for Veterans Initiative, you must also meet the minimum standard for the role you would like to apply for.
The minimum standard is the combination of experience, behaviours, strengths, abilities and technical/professional skills that a candidate will need to perform effectively in the role. For more information – see here: Great Place to Work for Veterans
Redeployment Interview Scheme (RIS)
Under this scheme, the UKHO offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of civil servants who are at risk of redundancy and who meet the minimum job requirements.
For example, you may be at risk if your work area has launched a voluntary or compulsory redundancy scheme that you’re eligible for, or you are aware that your employer has begun consultation on how to reduce staff in your immediate team or work area. information will be processed solely by HR, in accordance with Data Protection legislation.
To be considered for an interview, you must:
- Have good reason to believe that you are likely to be made redundant in the near future.
- Have demonstrated in your application and testing stages that you meet the minimum job criteria detailed in the person specification.
- Be applying for a job at the same grade as, or lower than, your current job.
- The application form will ask if you want to apply under the Redeployment Interview Scheme.
Pre-employment checks at the UKHO
How we manage our responsibility on nationality rules related to Civil Service recruitment.
If you are successful at interview, you will be checked against the HMRC PAYE Employment History Database to verify employment records. Please note that IF there are gaps in your employment history, we will request references from you to cover the employment gaps.
Your personal details – Name, NI Number and date of birth will be checked against the Civil Service Fraud database (IFD). Anyone included on the IFD will be refused employment (unless they can show exceptional circumstances). We shall send you a Fair Processing Notice to notify you prior to this check (for GDPR purposes). If you are refused employment because of the IFD check, our HR Department will be in touch to inform you.
Candidates will be subject to UK immigration requirements (Right to Work Checks) as well as Civil Service nationality rules. If you’re applying for a role requiring Security Check (SC) clearance, please be aware that foreign or dual nationality is not an automatic bar. However certain posts may have restrictions which could affect those who do not have sole British nationality or who have personal connections with certain countries outside the UK.
This is a non-reserved post.
What do I do if I want to make a complaint?
We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy. If you feel that you have a complaint about the way in which your application has been handled, please contact the MOD Public Appointments Team at People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.
We will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and aim to provide a response within 15 working days.
To download the PDF version of this candidate pack, please click below:
Candidate Pack – UKHO CEO
