VALOUR Network Manager (North of England)

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), within the Ministry of Defence (MOD), is responsible for coordinating the delivery of the Veterans Strategy. The strategy sets the government’s new vision for veterans and challenges the whole of society to think differently about those who have served in the Armed Forces, their offer and their potential.

The framework is grounded in three core themes, each an equal and vital part to ensuring the best outcomes for both veterans and the UK. Together, they represent a powerful new approach to recognising veterans as one of the UK’s great strategic assets, underpinned by this government’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant. The long-term framework sets the commitment to these themes, and shapes how OVA’s work is prioritised in terms of investment and effort.

In May 2025, the government announced VALOUR – the first ever UK-wide government-led approach to veteran support. Building on successful existing provision, this programme, backed by £50 million of funding, will provide ex-Service people with easier access to services across health, housing and employment.

This is an exciting time to join the OVA to join a dynamic team to support the VALOUR initiative, which will attract Ministerial and media attention. As a leadership role within VALOUR HQ, the VALOUR Network Manager will play a central role in embedding the VALOUR operating model in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West, and the North East.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week and will involve travel across the patch.

This is a unique opportunity to make a tangible difference in the lives of veterans and their families, and in due course the wider Armed Forces community. You will become part of a team of passionate, committed, innovative and forward-thinking colleagues and be able to draw on a wealth of expertise to drive this ambitious programme forward. You will be able to make your mark by supporting VALOUR to transform the UK’s veteran support landscape.

Blending leadership, strategic engagement, operational delivery and change management, the VALOUR Network Manager (North of England) role will coordinate the gathering of insight and intelligence through the VALOUR Field Officer network to inform service delivery and policy design and strengthen central understanding of local networks. Working collaboratively with statutory partners, voluntary organisations and VALOUR Recognised Centres, the role will shape and oversee activity that encourages strategic coordination, and which facilitates the sharing of good practice across the north of England and beyond. Working closely with the VALOUR Network Manager (South of England), the position will support greater alignment of local effort and strategic plans across England with national initiatives like the Veterans’ Strategy and Armed Forces Covenant Duty.

As VALOUR Network Manager (North of England), you will lead a team of 7 VALOUR Field Officers based in and operating across the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West and the North East. These Field Officers will bring together strategic stakeholders (including local authorities, ICBs, DWP Armed Forces Champions, voluntary organisations, and other relevant services) to ensure that veterans, and in time the wider Armed Forces community, receive coordinated, timely and effective support, including via MOD Veterans’ Services case managers. As a leader within VALOUR HQ, you will consider how existing and developing local and regional networks can be linked into VALOUR and inform national VALOUR system governance.

You will play a critical role in establishing and embedding this new model, ensuring your team works consistently and effectively while also supporting wider system transformation and Defence initiatives. You will help shape processes, feedback mechanisms, and team culture to ensure long-term sustainability. Regular travel across the north of England will be required to support your team, engage senior partners, and promote the growth and success of VALOUR. Ultimately, this role offers the opportunity to directly influence the evolution of support services for veterans and the Armed Forces community in the UK.

Key work areas

• Provide visible and inspiring leadership to your Field Officer team, setting clear expectations around culture, quality and performance
• Develop and maintain trusting and effective relationships across the North of England with regional and local stakeholders providing services to the Armed Forces community.
• Maintain and evolve existing stakeholder networks and help facilitate effective sub-regional strategic forums that convene all relevant local stakeholders, ensuring clear channels for communication.
• Identify opportunities for taking forward action on defined strategic priorities and drive collaborative implementation across local government led partnerships
• Contribute to VALOUR system improvements by aiding visibility and understanding of the veteran support ecosystem at the regional and local level and sharing best practice across maintained partnerships.
• Promote awareness of statutory services and initiatives and influence regional strategies to improve outcomes for the Armed Forces community.

Please note that this role is likely to evolve to respond to priority changes to the Armed Forces support landscape and a degree of flexibility is expected, as well as a willingness to travel regularly.

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, Strengths and Experience.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history and qualification details.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability in no more than 500 words.

Important tip - please ensure that your statement includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification”.

At sift, you will be assessed against your CV, Statement of suitability and the following Behaviour:

• Leadership

Should a large number of applications be received, the sift will be conducted in stages. An initial sift will be conducted using the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will be progressed to the second sift stage based on their CV and the lead behaviour (Leadership).

At interview, you will be assessed against your Strengths and the following Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving

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.