Board Secretariat & Business Manager

UK Ministry of Defence; Lichfield; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service pension

Learning and development days

Annual leave up to 30 days

Flexible working options

Job summary

UK Ministry of Defence's Defence Housing Service is seeking an experienced board secretariat and governance professional to deliver high-quality secretariat support to the DHS Board, Executive Committee, ARAC and governance forums.

You will lead line-management, influence senior stakeholders, and contribute to continuous improvement across the housing transformation programme, ensuring robust governance and accountability.

Qualifications

• Proven experience providing high-quality secretariat, governance or business support to senior leadership teams.
• Experience driving improvements to processes and services.
• Strong judgement, discretion and professionalism when handling sensitive information and supporting senior leaders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including producing high-quality minutes, correspondence, briefings and reports.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines.
• Demonstrable experience building relationships and influencing stakeholders at all levels, including coaching colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality secretariat support to the DHS Board, Executive Committee, ARAC and governance forums.
• Coordinate governance calendars, forward plans and meeting cycles for strategic decisions.
• Review and quality assure papers and submissions for senior stakeholders.
• Prepare meeting packs, take accurate minutes and maintain governance records.
• Monitor actions and decisions, escalate risks when appropriate.
• Lead and develop team members through line-management responsibilities.
• Contribute to wider business management activity and continuous improvement across DHS.

Skills

Secretariat support

Governance coordination

Stakeholder engagement

Executive communication

Line management

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Do you want to work on one or 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.

About the role:

Reporting to the Board Secretariat & Business Management Lead, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality secretariat support to the DHS Board, Executive Committee, Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee (ARAC) and associated governance forums; and business management support on cross-enterprise activity. You will work closely with senior leaders, Board members and Non-Executive Members, helping to ensure effective decision-making, robust governance and organisational accountability.

In addition to leading this activity, you will provide day-to-day leadership to team members, support business management across the Directorate and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives that enhance the effectiveness of the service.

We are looking for a proactive and highly organised individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys working with senior stakeholders. You will be comfortable balancing competing priorities, maintaining attention to detail and providing credible advice and support within a complex organisation.

What you'll be doing:

• Working confidently with senior leaders and stakeholders across Defence, ensuring a professional, responsive and customer-focused service; managing the end-to-end delivery of secretariat services for senior boards, committees and governance forums.
• Coordinating governance calendars, forward plans and meeting cycles to support strategic decision-making.
• Reviewing and quality assuring papers and submissions for senior stakeholders, ensuring high standards and clear decision-making information.
• Preparing meeting packs, producing accurate minutes and maintaining action logs and governance records.
• Monitoring actions and decisions, driving accountability and escalating risks where appropriate.
• Through line-management responsibility, lead and develop team members, allocating work and supporting performance and capability development.
• Contributing to wider business management activity, corporate priorities and continuous improvement initiatives across DHS.

About you:

This role offers an excellent opportunity for an experienced board secretariat, governance or business management professional to broaden their leadership experience, gain exposure to senior decision-making and play a key role in supporting one of the most important housing transformation programmes in government.

1. Proven experience providing high-quality secretariat, governance or business support to senior leadership teams, boards, committees or equivalent decision-making forums.

2. Experience of driving improvements to processes and services.

3. Strong judgement, discretion and professionalism when handling sensitive information and supporting senior leaders, together with excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce high-quality minutes, correspondence, briefings and reports for senior audiences.

4. Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, coordinate complex workloads and consistently deliver to tight deadlines.

5. Demonstrable experience of building effective relationships and influencing stakeholders at all levels, including leading, coaching or developing colleagues and contributing to a high-performing team environment.

6. Advanced use of Microsoft Office packages, particularly Outlook, OneNote, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, to support senior-level communication.

What makes us great!:

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.

• Learning and development tailored to your role with a dedicated minimum of 5 days per year.
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (by 1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of five years’ service.
• Ability to roll up to 10 days annual leave per year.
• In addition to eight public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The King’s birthday.
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Parental and Adoption Leave.
• Discounts on a range of services within and external to the civil service – Defence Discount Service, Civil Service societies for Sports and Leisure, Healthcare, Insurance, Motoring, Company discounts with Virgin, Vodafone, and Microsoft Office.
• In year rewards and ‘thank you’ schemes such as vouchers and gift cards
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

Equality and Diversity

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. It’s vital that our workforce reflects the diversity of both our audience and the wider society in the UK, so we’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and we actively seek candidates from diverse backgrounds and communities. We also recognise the importance of a good work life balance, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including part-time and job shares for all our roles. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process if this is something you want to explore.