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Defence Business Service (DBS) Upper Tier Tribunal Officer
| Posting date: | 06 February 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £29,580 per year, pro rata |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 20 February 2025 |
| Location: | FY5 3WP |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | Ministry of Defence |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 389979 |
Summary
Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?
Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?
Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.
Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
Our Mission – Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.
DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society.
We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.
Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.
DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and have consolidated all activities in Norcross, Blackpool. A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2026.
Come and join the DBS community today!
https://youtu.be/gUw0ToaRGgk
Job description
This role is based near Blackpool, at Norcross within the Compensation Scheme Defence team, working within the Operational Procedures, Training and Courts (OPTaC) part of Defence Business Services (DBS).
The team works closely with the Operational areas responsible for administration of the War Pension Compensation Scheme (WPS) and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) as well as the Armed Forces Tribunal Services within HMCTS and MoJ.
Amongst a wide range of responsibilities, OPTaC provides representation at Tribunals throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland to defend decisions made on behalf of the Secretary of State by the Operational areas, on Compensation claims made by serving and ex-serving military personnel.
This post is varied and offers an exciting opportunity for involvement with appeal tribunals at the Upper Tier levels and Information Assurance, Data Retention and Sharing agreements between business partners.
Responsibilities
You will have (or gain) a comprehensive knowledge of the WPS and AFCS schemes administered by Veterans UK to enable you to understand how decisions have been reached.
Appeals
You will have (or gain) a comprehensive knowledge of Tribunal Rules and Procedures as required to enable you to understand and analyse Tribunal Decisions and Directions; reacting accordingly by preparing Observations on behalf of the Secretary of State in appeal applications to the Upper Tier.
You will be able to construct written, robust arguments to defend the Secretary of State’s decision and work alongside lawyers engaged in responding to questions received from the Upper Tier Tribunal. You will also be required to support the team’s appeal monitoring practices as part of continual business improvement.
Information Assurance
You will have (or gain) the necessary skills to become the focal point within OPTaC for the various aspects of information assurance and data sharing. This includes annual recording of information within OPTaC, ensuring this is accurate, contemporary and within Government Guidelines including those covering Information Assurance, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Retention and Distribution.
Person specification
Skills - In order to carry out this varied, interesting and demanding role you must have:
Essential
Ability to analyse and interpret key points of Tribunal Decisions and Directions to prepare Observations and articulate a robust defence for the Secretary of State
Strong communication and drafting skills to convey detailed submissions to Tribunal and Operational colleagues alike in order to progress complex cases.
Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative approach to working alongside external and internal stakeholders
Ability to react and address potential challenging questions under tight deadlines
Ability to effectively time manage your working week to meet challenging time sensitive Tribunal Directions
Desirable Skills
Knowledge of War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme legislation
Knowledge of Tribunal Rules and Regulations
Ability to recognise and answer technical questions from the Tribunal Decisions and Directions regarding Tribunal Rules and Regulations and Veterans UK processes and legislation
Experience of Information Assurance, Data Sharing and GDPR
Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?
Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.
Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
Our Mission – Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.
DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society.
We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.
Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.
DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and have consolidated all activities in Norcross, Blackpool. A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2026.
Come and join the DBS community today!
https://youtu.be/gUw0ToaRGgk
Job description
This role is based near Blackpool, at Norcross within the Compensation Scheme Defence team, working within the Operational Procedures, Training and Courts (OPTaC) part of Defence Business Services (DBS).
The team works closely with the Operational areas responsible for administration of the War Pension Compensation Scheme (WPS) and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) as well as the Armed Forces Tribunal Services within HMCTS and MoJ.
Amongst a wide range of responsibilities, OPTaC provides representation at Tribunals throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland to defend decisions made on behalf of the Secretary of State by the Operational areas, on Compensation claims made by serving and ex-serving military personnel.
This post is varied and offers an exciting opportunity for involvement with appeal tribunals at the Upper Tier levels and Information Assurance, Data Retention and Sharing agreements between business partners.
Responsibilities
You will have (or gain) a comprehensive knowledge of the WPS and AFCS schemes administered by Veterans UK to enable you to understand how decisions have been reached.
Appeals
You will have (or gain) a comprehensive knowledge of Tribunal Rules and Procedures as required to enable you to understand and analyse Tribunal Decisions and Directions; reacting accordingly by preparing Observations on behalf of the Secretary of State in appeal applications to the Upper Tier.
You will be able to construct written, robust arguments to defend the Secretary of State’s decision and work alongside lawyers engaged in responding to questions received from the Upper Tier Tribunal. You will also be required to support the team’s appeal monitoring practices as part of continual business improvement.
Information Assurance
You will have (or gain) the necessary skills to become the focal point within OPTaC for the various aspects of information assurance and data sharing. This includes annual recording of information within OPTaC, ensuring this is accurate, contemporary and within Government Guidelines including those covering Information Assurance, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Retention and Distribution.
Person specification
Skills - In order to carry out this varied, interesting and demanding role you must have:
Essential
Ability to analyse and interpret key points of Tribunal Decisions and Directions to prepare Observations and articulate a robust defence for the Secretary of State
Strong communication and drafting skills to convey detailed submissions to Tribunal and Operational colleagues alike in order to progress complex cases.
Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative approach to working alongside external and internal stakeholders
Ability to react and address potential challenging questions under tight deadlines
Ability to effectively time manage your working week to meet challenging time sensitive Tribunal Directions
Desirable Skills
Knowledge of War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme legislation
Knowledge of Tribunal Rules and Regulations
Ability to recognise and answer technical questions from the Tribunal Decisions and Directions regarding Tribunal Rules and Regulations and Veterans UK processes and legislation
Experience of Information Assurance, Data Sharing and GDPR