Principal Occupational Psychologist

Would you like to make a difference to UK Defence by applying your Occupational Psychology skills and experience? Would you like to be at the cutting edge of performance prediction? Would you like to work flexibly, have a generous holiday entitlement and contributory pension, and support for at least five days of professional and personal development each year? If so, this could be the role for you. This is a rare and exciting opportunity for an Occupational Psychologist to lead RAF specific aptitude testing for Air & Space Command. The role of the Air & Space HQ Occupational Psychology Team is to apply professional skills and knowledge to deliver outputs relevant to stakeholders in order that they can make evidence-based policy decisions. Whilst the RAF purpose is to deliver Air and Space Power for the UK this cannot be achieved without a focus on people and harnessing their potential. Our work focuses on designing and delivering RAF specific aptitude testing, understanding the attitudes of RAF People and how these might shape their behaviours and decision making, and providing consultancy-based services for bespoke people requirements. Our work encompasses the Whole Force (Regulars, Reserves and Civil Servants) as well as families of serving personnel. The post holder will have responsibility for design, validation and technical monitoring of the Computer Based Aptitude Testing for critical RAF roles such as Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers. You will also be responsible for management and technical oversight of a wider Occupational psychology Team working across multiple areas of Occupational Psychology.

You will join the MOD Occupational Psychology profession which is part of the wider Government Occupational Psychology Profession (a recognised government specialist profession). The profession comprises over 250 members across all the major government departments and many agencies and arms-length bodies – which makes us the largest Occupational Psychology community in the U.K. We are a vibrant community with a long history in government going as far back as, at least, World War II, as shown in the Fifty Years of Occupational Psychology in Britain.

Key Duties

As a Principal Occupational Psychologist within the team you will be responsible for:

Test and assessment design and development

• Lead and manage the design, development, monitoring and validation of aptitude tests and test batteries for RAF led personnel selection and provide SME in this area.
• Refine, design and develop Computer Based Aptitude Tests, working closely with programmers to ensure they are effective, suitable to the candidate population and are unbiassed.
• Validate the tests’ predictive effectiveness.
• Evaluate their psychometric characteristics and update norm groups annually.
• Lead on design and application of psychological assessment to meet the requirements of HQ Air & Space.

Research and development

• Identify, initiate, plan, conduct and report on research studies to appraise and improve the effectiveness, efficiency and fairness of the RAF led recruitment and selection processes / methods / approaches to meet current and future RAF operational/training requirements and business needs.
• Work closely with training units to conduct needs analysis (including cognitive task analysis for aptitude testing) to establish training and operational requirements.
• Deliver bespoke research in support of the People research agenda on a variety of Occupational Psychology areas.

Stakeholder engagement and advice

• Provide professional advice to the RAF on the use of selection tests, e.g. selection criteria, strategies and approach.
• Provide support where appropriate to the Armed Forces Recruitment Service on Psychometric Testing matters.
• Provide evidence based up to date advice on occupational psychology to the RAF to meet priorities.
• Support the British Defence Diplomacy mission and brief foreign Air Force delegations on aptitude testing and other selection methods.
• Support British Defence sales of the RAF’s computer-based aptitude tests.

Team management and objectives

• Oversee the work of Senior and Higher Psychologists to ensure appropriate research techniques are applied, and outputs meet stakeholder requirements and enhance decision making and policy development.
• Set work objectives to meet strategic aims of the occupational psychology capability.
• Quality assurance of the Occupational Psychology Team’s outputs.

BSc in Occupational Psychology that confers Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the BPS.

MSc Occupational Psychology (or equivalent titled course) approved as Stage 1 by the BPS.

Chartered Member of the BPS (or immediately eligible to join). (Membership)

Full Member of the Division of Occupational Psychology (or immediately eligible to join). (Membership).

Essential – British Psychological Society Qualification in Occupational Testing – Personality.

Essential – British Psychological Society Qualification in Occupational Testing – Ability.

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.

The selection process will include an application sift and interview with presentation.

A CV will be required for this position; this cannot be uploaded to the advert. You will submit using the CV template provided on the CS Jobs dashboard in part two of your application, detailing job history, full qualifications, previous experience and skills.

A Personal Statement will also be required (1250 Word Max). Please state your suitability against the key criteria.

At application stage, you will be assessed against:

CS Behaviours

• Leadership
• Delivering at pace
• Managing a quality service

Technical behaviour (Government Occupational Psychology Profession Professional Skills and Standards)

Ambassador

Qualifications, memberships and licenses, as stated in the job advert and the experience listed in the key criteria.

At interview stage, you will be assessed against:

CS Behaviours

• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and improving
• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

• Knowledge base (Psychological assessment at work).
• Research and evaluation

Presentation

You will be asked to present on a psychological assessment design you have delivered. Full details will be provided upon invitation to interview.

Application sifting is scheduled to take place week commencing 2nd November 2026. Interviews will take place on the week commencing (23 Nov 26). We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs.

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.