Lead Scrutineer

UK Ministry of Defence; Lichfield; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 47,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service pension

Learning & development days

Annual leave up to 30 days

Employee discounts

Job summary

UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Housing Service seeks a Lead Scrutineer to strengthen investment governance, provide evidence reviews and clear recommendations on approvals. You will design efficient ways of working, align with HMT Green Book and MOD policies, and engage sponsors to resolve high‑value proposals.

You’ll oversee business cases, advise SROs, and build trusted, cross‑team relationships to ensure proportionate, value‑for‑money decisions across projects.

Qualifications

• Qualified or actively working towards CCAB, CIMA, or equivalent, or equivalent experience.
• Proven ability to assess and challenge business case evidence.
• Ability to produce concise, evidence‑based outputs for senior audiences.

Responsibilities

• Oversight of DHS investment proposals and accommodation business cases.
• Provide guidance on MOD and HMT business case requirements and standards.
• Produce high‑quality assurance assessments and risk/issue analyses.
• Conduct impartial reviews of evidence underpinning business cases with SME input.
• Prepare scrutiny reports and Accounting Officer assessments for approvals.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Clear communications

Independent judgement

Influencing

Change and improvement

Education

CCAB/CIMA or equivalent

Job description

This role can be based at Andover, Lichfield or Wyton.

Subject to meeting the required criteria for a fully qualified accountant, this post may attract a Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA) of £3,000 per annum + 13% accountancy allowance.

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:

The DHS Lead Scrutineer strengthens investment governance by providing expert business case guidance, independent evidence reviews, and clear recommendations to approving authorities.

You’ll also lead the design and implementation of ways of working that improve consistency and quality across business case production and assurance. A further part of the role is to support project teams with sponsor department engagement on high value, complex, risky, novel, or contentious proposals to ensure alignment, transparency, and early resolution of issues. All responsibilities align with HM Treasury (HMT) Green Book, Managing Public Money and MOD Investment Appraisal and Approval policy.

What you'll be doing:

• Oversight and management of assigned service family’s accommodation and wider DHS business cases, covering a varied range of projects, providing lead scrutiny on investment proposals.
• Provide authoritative guidance to Senior Responsible Owners (SRO) project teams on MOD and HMT business case requirements, ensuring clarity on structure, proportionate evidence standards, and compliance.
• Produce high‑quality assurance assessments to support Senior Responsible Owners and project teams with evidence and business case readiness decisions including an assessment of principal risks and issues.
• Conduct impartial, proportionate review of evidence underpinning business cases, engaging with subject matter experts on the strategic, economic, commercial, financial, and management cases; ensuring business cases meet HMT and MOD standards, including proportionality, value for money, and stewardship.
• Produce high‑quality scrutiny reports and Accounting Officer assessments to support DHS Investment Approvals Committee and other DHS approving authorities
• Design and embed consistent, scalable, proportionate, and MOD‑compliant ways of working for business case development and assurance across project archetypes. Developing templates, guidance, workflows, and quality standards for project archetypes to improve efficiency, reduce rework and ensure proportionate requirements and processes.
• Build trusted relationships across Finance, Commercial, PMO, Delivery, Sponsor teams and across MOD.

About you:

1. Analytical and critical thinking — Ability to interrogate business case evidence, challenge assumptions, identify gaps and determine the proportionate and pragmatic changes required.

2. Clear and impactful communications — Able to produce concise, authoritative outputs for senior audiences, including an assessment of the principal risks and issues, within a business case.

3. Independence and professional judgement — Demonstrates impartiality, integrity, and evidence-based decision making.

4. Influencing across team boundaries – Able to influence across organisational boundaries to deliver mutually acceptable outputs and outcomes.

5. Change and improvement — Ability to create and embed structured processes, templates and standards, across complex organisations.

We would expect to see applicants who are qualified or actively working towards qualifications with CCAB, CIMA, or equivalent or who have experience in a similar role.

This role can be based at Andover, SP11 8HJ, Lichfield, WS14 9PY or Wyton, PE28 2EA. Work location will be agreed once the successful candidate has been selected.

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.