Assistant Head – Systems & Transformation

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.

As Assistant Head - Systems & Transformation, you’ll support the Deputy Head of Accommodation - Digital & Systems in the development and delivery of the Accommodation Future Systems Programme. This strategic programme will establish a single, integrated set of digital systems to be used across DIO and Future Industry Partners, to support the next generation of DIO Accommodation contracts.

In parallel, you’ll also play a key role in supporting, co ordinating and overseeing the operation of existing DIO and Industry Partner systems, that will remain in use until Future Systems are delivered. This includes ensuring effective integration, governance, and performance across the current and transitional system landscape.

Shaping and delivering the Future Systems programme across its full lifecycle, you’ll play a key role in supporting the definition and prioritisation of user, business and contractual requirements; contributing to system and supplier evaluation and tender activity; and supporting the selection of both the technology platform and implementation partner.

You’ll support the delivery of the implementation phase, working closely with both DHS staff and the appointed implementation partner, to manage delivery, dependencies and outcomes. This will extend through to overseeing business change activity, ensuring that new systems are effectively embedded, adopted and aligned to operational needs.

Working closely with commercial, technical, and operations colleagues, you’ll provide day to day leadership for wider systems and transformation activity, managing internal and external dependencies across both Future Systems delivery and the existing live services environment. You’ll ensure that current systems remain stable and effective during transition, while delivering a future digital solution that is robust, scalable and capable of supporting both DIO and Industry Partners, over the lifetime of future contracts.

Responsibilities

• Support the delivery of the discovery phase, working with contracted external support to fully understand, document and prioritise requirements. Ensure requirements reflect the needs of both DIO and future industry partners and support future Accommodation contracts.
• Support the procurement of external discovery support, selection of a suitable technology platform, appointment of an implementation partner and work closely with Commercial colleagues to shape evaluation criteria and support supplier engagement activity.
• Work with technical and architecture stakeholders to ensure solutions are scalable, secure and capable of supporting integrated working across DIO and industry partners.
• Act as a one of the key points of contact for internal stakeholders and manage relationships with external suppliers and partners, ensuring effective collaboration.
• Identify, manage and escalate risks and issues relating to the Future Systems programme.
• Support the planning and delivery of business change activity, required to successfully implement Future Systems across DIO and Industry Partners, and support the development and delivery of change plans, including communications, training and stakeholder engagement, to drive adoption and minimise disruption to live services.
• This position will potentially have line-management responsibility at a future date.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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

At application, candidates will be required to provide:

• A CV detailing your job history and previous skills and experience. Review the essential criteria above and evidence how you meet them with clear and relevant examples.
• A personal statement (no more than 500 words). Applicants should use their personal statement to demonstrate how their skills, knowledge and experience align with essential criteria 1 & 2, as detailed in the Person Specification.

The sift will be conducted on your CV and personal statement.

Interviews

We’ll assess you against these behaviours, technical skills & experience during the interview process:

Behaviours

• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

Technical Skills

• Continual service improvement
• Stakeholder relationship management (IT operations)
• Technical understanding

The Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework used in this vacancy can be found at: IT service manager - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In the event of a tied score at interview, the order of merit will be distinguished based on the ranking of the assessed Behaviours and Technical Skills in the order listed above.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.