Head of Resilience

VIVO provides facilities management and accommodation maintenance for the UK military and its partners. VIVO embodies both experience and innovation.

What we do

We put our Customers and Families First. They are the driving force behind everything we do. We drive forward improvements for them to ensure the service they receive, whether reactive repairs or a major project, is completed safely and on time. In order to achieve this, we have 4 core values: open, caring, agile and collaborative. These are at the heart of everything we do.

The Role

We’re looking for a Head of Resilience to lead and embed a best-in-class resilience and business continuity capability across VIVO. Reporting to the Special Projects Director, this role is responsible for ensuring critical defence infrastructure and services remain operationally ready in a complex, high-risk environment. You’ll establish and lead the resilience function—setting standards, frameworks, and governance—while strengthening VIVO’s position across the defence estate.

Key Responsibilities

• Resilience & Operational Readiness
  • Develop and implement a resilience and Business Continuity strategy aligned to defence priorities
  • Identify critical infrastructure and lead risk assessments and scenario planning
  • Establish crisis management frameworks and response structures
  • Design and implement operational playbooks for high-risk or degraded environments
  • Lead resilience testing, simulations, and exercises across sites and teams
• Stakeholder Engagement
  • Build strong relationships with defence stakeholders, including MoD and DIO
  • Act as a trusted advisor on resilience, risk, and infrastructure readiness
  • Embed resilience capability across operational and infrastructure teams
• Commercial & Growth
  • Identify opportunities to develop resilience-led service offerings
  • Support bid activity and contribute to winning new work
• Leadership & Governance
  • Establish and lead the resilience function, setting clear standards and frameworks
  • Provide strategic advice to senior leadership on risk and preparedness
  • Ensure compliance with defence, security, and regulatory requirements

What We’re Looking For

Experience

• Senior experience in resilience, business continuity, or infrastructure operations
• Strong understanding of defence environments or critical national infrastructure
• Proven experience delivering BCP and crisis response frameworks
• Experience working with military or defence stakeholders
• Track record of influencing at senior level in complex environments

Skills

• Strategic thinker with strong operational delivery focus
• Calm, credible, and decisive under pressure
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills
• Commercial awareness with the ability to identify growth opportunities

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline
• Professional resilience or risk qualifications (e.g. CBCI, ISO 22301) desirable
• Military or operational leadership experience highly valued

Additional Requirements

• Hybrid working with regular UK travel
• Must be able to obtain and maintain security clearance
• Flexibility to support operational demands

At VIVO, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. We will make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and hybrid working and are a Disability Confident Leader. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.