Navy Command, Strategic Planning Lead

At Navy Command, we lead, support, and 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 for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine capability, the Submarine Directorate oversees one of the most complex and critical elements of UK defence. Covering everything from in‑service management to long‑term fleet modernisation, the directorate ensures the Submarine Flotilla remains safe, reliable, and ready to meet national security requirements.

You'll be based at HMNB Devonport, the largest naval base in Western Europe and a powerhouse of Royal Navy capability. It is home to amphibious ships, survey squadrons, submarines, and two-thirds of the frigate force. With its unique nuclear refitting facility, Devonport ensures the Fleet remains ready to support operations worldwide.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Do you enjoy turning complex information into clear plans, bringing people together, and helping big decisions happen with confidence? If so, this could be the role for you. As Strategy and Planning Group Lead, you’ll be at the heart of one of the UK’s most important defence environments — helping to shape priorities, make sense of competing demands, and support the governance that ensures Devonport is positioned for the future. This is a brilliant opportunity for someone who enjoys strategy, problem-solving, stakeholder engagement and making a real difference in a busy, high-profile setting.

What you will do:

• Analyse portfolio data to identify and formalise strategic issues, trends, risks and opportunities that could affect delivery of strategic outputs.
• Work with stakeholders to develop practical solutions that support effective planning, prioritisation and decision-making.
• Support in maintaining key strategic artefacts, ensuring there is a clear and consistent “single version of the truth”.
• Manage and maintain important planning products.
• Draft proposals, options papers and supporting material to inform senior-level decisions.
• Communicate executive decisions and direction clearly to stakeholders, supporting implementation of agreed proposals or options.
• Identify and record areas of conflict, duplication, opportunity, resource pressure and enterprise support and enabling (e.g. infrastructure) gaps.
• Produce, manage and update Joint Business Procedure improvement proposals.
• Support effective governance by maintaining accurate records, decision logs and audit trails.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with programme teams, business stakeholders, subject matter experts and Industry Partners.

Level 5 in Portfolio, Programme & Project Management, Change Management or a Business-related subject

Membership (or working towards membership) of a professional body (e.g Association for Project Managers, Chartered Management Institute etc).

Open to UK nationals only.

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

At Sift, you will be assessed against the following;

• Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history and qualification details.
• Candidates will be required to provide a personal statement. This should be a maximum of 500 words that sets out your motivation for applying and shows how your skills and experience meet the essential requirements for the role.

At Interview, you will be assessed against the following success profiles:

Behaviour

• Seeing The Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Further information:

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

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