Navy Command, Defence Marine Services, Delivery Team Leader

Job summary

At Navy Command, we lead, support an sustain the Royal Navy across every theatre of operations. We coordinate the people, platforms and missions that keep the Fleet ready for today's challenges and tomorrow's opportunities. Together, we uphold centuries of naval tradition while driving innovation that ensures the Royal Navy's readiness to protect our nation and secure our future.

As the authority responsible for generating the Royal Navy’s operational capability, Director Force Generation ensures ships, submarines, aviation, commando forces, and supporting elements achieve the required levels of readiness. By balancing capability, risk, and operational demand, the directorate provides assured force output and acts as the Fleet’s scheduling authority, ensuring the Royal Navy can deliver whenever and wherever required.

You will be based at HMNB Portsmouth, one of the oldest and busiest naval bases in the world. It is home to the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers (HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales) alongside destroyers, frigates, and specialist squadrons. As a vibrant hub of maritime power and innovation, Portsmouth sustains the Fleet and supports thousands of personnel.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Are you seeking a new opportunity to advance your career while making a real difference? At Navy Command, we recognise and value your abilities and potential. Join us in a role where you’ll lead, inspire, and contribute to the delivery of the UK’s most diverse and advanced maritime assets. Together, we’ll ensure the Royal Navy continues to protect our nation and shape the future of global defence.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to lead the Defence Marine Services Delivery Team. Defence Marine Services, often shortened to DMS, is the Ministry of Defence organisation responsible for managing contracted marine services that support the Royal Navy and wider Defence. These services include the use of more than 100 vessels, ranging from small harbour craft to larger specialist vessels, operating across the main UK naval bases, Kyle of Lochalsh and, for some specialist vessels, worldwide.

This is a senior leadership role. You will oversee the performance of four major marine services contracts, lead a team of around 10 people, work closely with contractors and Defence customers, and make sure services are delivered safely, effectively and with value for money. You will also act as Deputy Head of Defence Marine Services when required.

We are looking for a confident, adaptable and experienced maritime leader, who must have professional marine service qualifications (listed below) and knowledge of competencies in the maritime intelligent customer framework.

The successful applicant must be able to operate in a busy, high-pressure marine service environment. You will need strong written and verbal communication skills, good IT skills with knowledge of Artificial Intelligence an advantage, good judgement, and experience of working with commercial maritime organisations, customers and senior stakeholders. You do not need to have worked inside the Ministry of Defence before, but you will need to understand maritime legislation, safety, environmental compliance and contractor performance management.

What you will be doing:

As Delivery Team Leader within Defence Marine Services, you will provide senior oversight of contractor performance and assurance for marine services delivered to Defence customers. In practice, this means checking that contractors are delivering the services they are paid to provide, that they are meeting safety and environmental expectations, and that the Ministry of Defence is receiving a reliable, effective and value-for-money service.

You will act as the senior customer representative for several commercial marine services contracts. This includes ensuring contractors comply with contracted service levels, maritime law, port safety requirements, Ministry of Defence policy, Defence maritime regulations and you hold the contractors to account via contract performance frameworks. You will also help prioritise and coordinate competing demands for marine services, to balance limited resource to meet emergent requirements, making sure vessels, people and resources are used to support the most important Defence outputs. You will:

1. Lead delivery of the marine services contracts
o Provide technical leadership and act as the senior Ministry of Defence customer representative for marine services contracts covering more than 90 vessels across Portsmouth, Devonport, Clyde, Kyle of Lochalsh and specialist training support vessels with worldwide operating capability.
o Lead engagement with a wide range of customers and stakeholders across Defence, including Royal Navy surface ship and submarine communities, training organisations, naval bases and enabling organisations.
o Act as the escalation point for delivery risks, issues, and opportunities.
o Coordinate vessels, people and resources across different delivery areas, working with stakeholders across service delivery areas to resolve competing priorities and deliver the most important outputs for Defence.
o Hold contractors accountable, representing the taxpayer to ensure safe, efficient, and value-for-money service delivery.

2. Oversee safety, environmental and regulatory compliance
o Make sure contract outputs are delivered safely and in line with legal and environmental protection requirements, Ministry of Defence policy and relevant maritime regulations.
o Oversee specialist services that fall outside normal civilian maritime regulation that are assured by the Ministry of Defence, working with the Defence Maritime Regulator and relevant safety teams.
o Support working arrangements with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the UK body responsible for maritime safety regulation, and the Defence Marine Services health, safety, environment and quality team.
o Ensure appropriate safety and environmental evidence is available so that Defence regulators and Ministry of Defence authorities can be satisfied that services are being managed properly.

3. Deputy Head of DMS
o Support the Head of Defence Marine Services in meeting financial, safety and leadership responsibilities.
o Represent DMS Head in their absence, including at meetings and governance forums.
o When formally delegated, act as the accountable senior person for specified health, safety or operational decisions during the Head of Defence Marine Services’ absence.

4. Governance
o Attend and contribute to performance, contract, risk and governance meetings, and represent the Head of Defence Marine Services when required.
o Serve as a member of the DMS Senior Leadership Team.

5. Future Requirements Technical Input
o Provide technical input to future marine services planning.

6. Line Management
o Lead and direct the Delivery Team to provide high-quality, assured marine services support to Defence customers.
o Line manage and support maritime specialists and civil servants, including contributing to performance management, development and assurance of professional standards.
o Provide functional leadership to in-port marine services staff at Clyde, Devonport and Portsmouth

7. Third-Party Income Generation
o Help explore opportunities for contractors to use spare capacity for approved third-party work where this could generate income or other benefits for the Ministry of Defence, while protecting Defence priorities.

We value flexible ways of working. This role requires regular onsite attendance (around 60% of the working week) to benefit from face-to-face collaboration and team leadership, while offering flexibility of hours to support work life balance and business needs. During the initial period, you may be