Chief Executive for Defence Equipment and Support

The post of Chief Executive (CEO) for the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) has been created to lead the development of the organisation as a unique trading entity at arms-length from the Ministry of Defence, operating on a transparent and commercial basis with its customers.

The CEO will be the lead executive, but will be working to deliver this agenda as part of a team with the Chairman of DE&S and the other non-executives, as well as with a number of private sector partners.

In parallel with this major transformation, the CEO will also need to ensure that day-to-day delivery performance is significantly improved, focusing the organisation and its staff on efficiency, effectiveness and customer service. In doing so, the CEO will be expected to make powerful use of unprecedented operational freedoms which DE&S has been given to improve its performance.

The successful candidate will need to be able to deal with scrutiny and sustained pressure. You will need to be strongly committed to the civil service values of impartiality, honesty, integrity and objectivity. You will need resilience in abundance, an understanding of how to influence and achieve results in a large and complex organisation and a proven track record of successful projects or service delivery. We are also looking for an inspirational leader who can motivate and get the best out of the 12,000 committed staff who work for the DE&S, promoting both delivery focused and empathetic leadership behaviours by example.

We hope you will be excited by this opportunity and if you think you fit the bill, we would like to hear from you.

This is a full time appointment, based in Bristol. A basic salary in the range of £250,000, with the potential to earn up to £250,000 per annum in bonuses, is on offer.

For further information on the role please call Alex Ross at Heidrick and Struggles on +44 (0)20 7075 4058.

For the full candidate brief please go to www.heidrick.com/des

Applications should arrive no later than 5pm on Friday 14 November 2014.

When applying, please state where you saw the position advertised.

The Ministry of Defence is an equal opportunities employer.