Defence Business Services (DBS) - Medical Adviser

Ministry of Defence; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 73,000 - 89,000; Full time

Job summary

Defence Business Services (DBS) is recruiting a Grade 6 Medical Adviser for the AFVS team in the UK. The role provides verbal and written medical advice and statutory certification for War Pension Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme claims, with no direct clinical contact.

The position is office-based with some homeworking, 37 hours per week. Salary £81,310 per annum (pro rata) with generous employer pension contributions; closing date 16 November 2026.

Qualifications

• Valid licence to practise medicine in the UK (GMC registration and re-validation).
• Must be registered with the GMC and hold a full unrestricted licence to practise medicine.
• Level 5 Medical qualification required and authorised to practise medicine.

Responsibilities

• Provide accurate verbal and written medical advice for War Pension Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme claims.
• Provide statutory certification for claims, reviews and appeals.
• Do not involve clinical diagnosis or treatment; rely on pre-existing medical evidence.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge through CPD.

Skills

Communication

Medical knowledge

IT skills

Education

Level 5 Medical qualification

GMC registration

Job description

Defence Business Services (DBS) - Medical Adviser
£81,310 per annum (pro rata) with generous employer pension contributions of approx. 27% depending on your salary. A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
Location: Tomlinson House, Norcross, Blackpool, Lancashire, North West and Kentigern House, Glasgow, Scotland

What do the Armed Forces & Veterans Services (AFVS) Team do?

AFVS work with delivery partners to provide a range of trusted and efficient services to both service personnel and Veterans' communities. For current serving members of the Armed Forces this includes:

• Personnel support processes;
• Pay, Pensions & Allowances;
• The Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre; and,
• The MOD Medals Office.

For service Veterans and their dependants we provide support by administering the Armed Forces Pension Schemes, compensation payments for those injured or bereaved through service, and providing a package of welfare for Veterans. We also provide information and support to service leavers and their families as they leave the Armed Forces and transition to civilian life.

We also manage the Ilford Park nursing home for Polish Veterans and their families.

The positions are advertised at 37 hour per week full time. Part time positions are available.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Grade 6 medical advisor to work for AFVS. The purpose of this role is to provide accurate verbal and written medical advice and statutory certification in respect of claims, reviews and appeals for the War Pension Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. No prior knowledge of the compensation scheme/s is required.

The role can be office based with some homeworking and requires no clinical contact with those applying for the schemes. The successful candidate will annually undertake continuous professional development activity to keep knowledge in medicine and legislation up to date. They will also support operational delivery by demonstrating an understanding of key performance indicators and business pressures.

The compensation schemes are no-fault and, for both schemes, Medical Advisers give case-specific, evidence-based advice and certificates on causation and assessment and provide reasons for decisions.

DBS Medical Advisers are not involved in the clinical diagnosis, care or treatment of War Pension or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme claimants. The Medical Adviser’s role is to provide advice and guidance based upon pre-existing medical evidence which is used to determine the level of disablement in accordance with the relevant scheme rules.

Person specification

The chosen candidate will have highly effective written and oral communications with an ability to develop effective rapport with colleagues at all levels. They should have a broad-based medical knowledge.

They will have a good level of IT skills to include using e-mail, Excel and Word.

Licences

A valid licence to practise medicine in the UK, registration with GMC and current re-validation certificate

Qualifications

Level 5 Medical qualification- must be authorised to practise medicine.

Memberships

Must be registered with the GMC and hold a full unrestricted licence to practise medicine

Selection process details

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

At application stage you will be assessed against the following:

Experience

• Personal Statement (maximum 1,000 words) – all elements of required person specifications as they apply to the role advertised, should be reflected in the personal statement.
• CV and job history; full details of education, qualifications and previous experience and skills.

At interview you will be assessed against the above PLUS the following;

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership

In the rare case where individuals have exact matching scores, the order of merit will be determined based on the behaviour/technical ability scores at interview in the following order:

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership

If candidate scores are still exact, the merit order will then be determined on the sift score in the below order of priority:

1. CV
2. Personal Statement

We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this is not always possible, so we will hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months. There may be opportunities in the future for roles to be offered to candidates placed on the reserve list on a Fixed Term Appointment basis.

Application sifting and interviews will likely be conducted in Nov/Dec. Interviews will be held via MS Teams. If you require any reasonable adjustments please contact: [e-mail]

A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to adhere to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs.

For those who wish to find out more about these roles, or indeed DBS and the AFVS team, a short Candidate Information Session will be scheduled on Wednesday 28th October at 13:00pm.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact:

• Name: Dr Judith Power
• Email: [e-mail]

Closing date: 16 November 2026