Improvement Support Officer

Do you want to work on one of 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 one of our Improvement Support Officers, you can choose your base location from the listing at the start of the advert.

You will play a key operational role in supporting Defence Housing Services (DHS) to deliver its continuous improvement programme. Working within the Customer Experience and Insight function, you will help drive service improvements that enhance the experience of service personnel and their families.

You will provide coordination, analytical, and delivery support across a range of improvement initiatives involving internal teams and supplier partners. This includes maintaining oversight of activity, monitoring progress against objectives, and helping to ensure initiatives deliver measurable benefits.

Working with Improvement Partners, the Insight and Analytics team, and the Customer Experience and Insight PMO function, you will support the planning, governance, and reporting of improvement activity. You will maintain key delivery information, track actions and outcomes, and help promote the adoption of new ways of working across the organisation. You may also lead specific projects or workstreams delegated by Improvement Leads.

Building effective relationships across DHS and its partner organisations, you will use strong organisational and analytical skills to manage competing priorities, provide meaningful insight, and support informed decision-making.

Through a structured and collaborative approach, you will contribute to the successful delivery of sustainable improvements that enhance housing services and outcomes for Defence families.

What you'll be doing

• Provide day-to-day operational support to Improvement Partners in the delivery of continuous improvement initiatives across the DHS housing service.
• Support the implementation of improvement initiatives within operational teams and supplier organisations to ensure changes are effectively introduced and understood.
• Support the collection and organisation of performance data associated with improvement initiatives, enabling effective monitoring of outcomes and benefits. Ensure that data received and progress made is effectively communicated with the wider directorate.
• Support the monitoring of cultural adoption of improvement initiatives, identifying where further engagement or reinforcement may be required to embed new ways of working.
• Work closely with the Insight and Analytics team to support the collection and organisation of relevant data sets required to inform improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with the Customer Experience and Insight PMO function to ensure improvement initiatives follow established governance and reporting frameworks.
• Support Improvement Partners in coordinating engagement with internal teams and supplier partners.
• Assist Improvement Partners and the Head of Customer Experience & Insight in compiling updates for programme boards, steering groups, and leadership meetings relevant to the post holder's area of responsibility.
• Support the promotion of continuous improvement principles across the housing service by helping to share learning and good practice arising from improvement initiatives.

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.

Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:

At sift stage, applicants will be required to provide:

• A CV in the Job History section, ensuring it clearly demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification. We encourage you to use specific evidence from your experience to illustrate your suitability for the role.
• A personal statement (no more than 500 words) providing specific examples of how you meet the top two most critical criteria for the role. Further guidance is given within the Personal Statement section of the application.

Applications will be assessed against the essential criteria, with each criterion scored on a scale of 1 to 7. An overall score will then be calculated using the average of all criterion scores. To progress beyond the sift stage, applicants must achieve a minimum score of 4 on every essential criterion. This means that even if your overall average score is 4 or higher, you will not progress if you score below 4 on any individual essential criterion.

Please note that, in the event of a high volume of applications, the selection panel reserves the right to increase the overall pass mark.

At interview, you will be assessed against the following behaviours and technical skills

• Behaviour 1: Managing a quality service
• Behaviour 2: Working together
• Behaviour 3: Seeing the bigger picture
• Technical Skill 1: Operational leadership and management
• Technical Skill 2: Adaptability to change

Link to Technical Framework

https://www.odp.civilservice.gov.uk/skills-framework-new/job-families-and-role-clusters/#

In the event of a tie at interview, candidates will be ranked according to their scores in the assessed behaviours/technical, in the order listed below.

• Behaviour 1: Managing a quality service
• Behaviour 2: Working together
• Technical Skill 1: Operational leadership and management

If invited to interview, it will be conducted via MS Teams with cameras on.

We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates or locations for interviews.

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