Chair, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Our highly-skilled 4,000-strong workforce is committed to providing sensitive and specialist science and technology research, advice and analysis for MoD and the wider UK government. Our context is exciting and demanding, with continuing globalisation and the rapid development and emergence of new technologies, against a against a backdrop of ongoing shifts in economic and military power, all influencing our customers and, by extension, Dstl. We play a central role helping MoD respond in a rapidly evolving and complex setting, and our advice to the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser and other MoD stakeholders makes a major contribution to keeping our country safe.

Our current Chair is standing down after six years’ successful stewardship of our large and complex organisation, and we are now seeking a successor to continue leading the Board in overseeing its important delivery programme and in developing the organisation’s capabilities. The new Chair and their board colleagues will work constructively with each other and with the executive team, drawing out their individual and collective strengths to enhance the quality and effectiveness of strategic decision-making and operational delivery.  It is an exciting yet challenging time for Dstl, driving efficiencies in the business, the absorption of the activities of the Home Office’s Centre for Applied Science & Technology into Dstl laboratories and significant IT infrastructure renewals being two of the key short- to mid-term challenges facing the organisation. The new Chair will lead the Dstl Board to meet these, and undoubtedly many others, during their tenure, ensuring its effectiveness in all aspects of its role.

You are an experienced non-executive with first-rate leadership and influencing skills who can point to a track record applying your excellent judgement, analytical and decision-making abilities to complex bodies and their wider contexts. A sophisticated operator, you are credible, representing a complex organisation at the highest levels and can point to a range of skills that will render you an effective ambassador for DSTL across the rich and diverse ecosystem in which our work takes place. You will have proven experience building and maintaining effective relationships with a wide array of stakeholders which will stand you in good stead with the key players in the government, industry and academic communities. You will also bring a successful track record supporting and challenging Chief Executives and their executive colleagues in the appropriate measures, and will be able to demonstrate robust understanding of the governance arrangements of large and complex organisations and ideally, of customer focus too.