Assistant Head Test and Data Governance

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE-1; Blackpool; Hybrid; GBP 59,000 - 60,000

Job description

Defence Business Services (DBS) - Assistant Head Test and Data Governance

Ministry of Defence

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 27th April 2025

Reference number: 397382

Salary: GBP59,690 per annum (pro rata)

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Location:

Centurion Building, Gosport, PO13 9XA,
Kentigern House, Glasgow, G2 8EX,
Tomlinson House, Norcross, Blackpool, FY5 3WP
Innsworth - Imjin Barracks, GL3 1HW

About the job

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.

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 society.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop 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 28.97%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

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 the office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments.

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 2026.

Come and join the DBS community today!

Job description

As the Armed Forces and Veteran's Services (AFVS) Technology Group Assistant Head for Test Management and Data Governance, you are a key member of the Sub-Portfolio and Optimisation staff and will lead and be responsible for testing strategies and data governance initiatives within AFVS, overseeing comprehensive testing processes to support our digital services and ensuring the integrity, quality, and governance of data.

You own the quality assurance and testing (QAT) strategy as part of a broader risk-based approach; are responsible for test improvement and optimisation; potentially promote and advocate for test capabilities internally and outside the government; have responsibility for talent, succession planning and supplier management and make important decisions relating to test within the context of the delivery environment.

You undertake complex work related to the principles and practices of data governance, overseeing: coordination with data owners to lead wider data management competencies; the formation, implementation and management of data governance frameworks, policies and standards; implementation and establishment of wider data management competencies within the organisation; and have responsibility for understanding and managing the organisational data risks and issues, and coordinating with data owners to accept or resolve them.

Applying an "Agile-first" approach, collaborate with the commercial contractor to create, deliver and assure robust test and data governance strategies that will enable the effective delivery of the AFVS Sub-Portfolio and the transformation programme which supports the Service Integration and Management (SIAM) model, and increase the use of augmentation, automation and AI.

Desirable Experience:

• Proven experience in either or both testing and data governance roles.
• Expertise in functional and non-functional testing methodologies.
• Strong understanding of data governance, data quality, and data integrity principles.
• Excellent leadership and team management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a proven ability to recommend and implement novel solutions whilst maintaining equilibrium.
• Effective communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Familiarity with agile methodologies and project management.
• Experience with data analytics and data visualisation tools.
• Knowledge of relevant regulations and compliance standards.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing successful test strategy and management processes and procedures, encapsulating robust defect management, in waterfall and agile delivery frameworks, and on-premises and cloud hosted environments.
• Broad experience of applying business experimentation to promote rapid learning and option creation, reducing risk and verifying strategies or new processes in discrete user segments or small parts of the organisation before scaling as required to maximise user benefit.
• Broad practical experience of change and project delivery using traditional waterfall and agile approaches; including the implementation of agile practices; and agile at scale.
• Experience of the current Mil HR system (JPA).

Desirable Qualifications:

• NSV Security Clearance
• Extensive use of Microsoft Office 365
• Practitioner Qualification in Testing
• Agile Practitioner, Scrum Master or Product Manager or similar
• Project Management Qualification (e.g Prince 2, APM, Agile)
• Commercial contract management foundation qualification
• Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) foundation level qualification (SAFe for Teams, Leading SAFe)