Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner – Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner – Northern Ireland Office Closed

*Closes 01st November*

The Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner is a challenging and rewarding opportunity. It calls for someone who can work effectively with a wide range of individuals and who has good judgement, resilience, sensitivity and vision of a high order. He or she will be expected to engage with, listen to, and act upon the experiences of service users; promote rigorous and supportive challenge, while being sensitive to the views of others; foster and maintain good relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, and liaise effectively with the UK and Northern Ireland Governments, Health Boards, local councils and other local and national partners.

Introduction from the Secretary of State

Thank you for your interest in the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner position.

I place great importance on the role of Commissioner and seek an individual to be the advocate for veterans in Northern Ireland and ensure that their voices are heard and their needs are met.

The Commissioner must understand the wider public sector landscape and hear directly from veterans and from those who do so much to support them. Understanding the veterans’ perspective, knowing where the problems are, and working alongside partners to identify solutions, will be crucial to the continuing success of this office and that will require creativity and leadership. A good working knowledge of the veterans sector or the ability to understand it quickly will therefore be essential as would be experience of working in or with the public sector.

The enclosed information will, I hope, answer many of the questions you may have about the role and work of the Commissioner. The post is non-statutory and, as such, does not have legal powers or duties. It does, however, offer a unique opportunity for a dynamic individual to deliver maximum impact for former members of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force in Northern Ireland.

I will be looking to appoint an individual who can bring vision, influence and innovation to the role; someone who will work collaboratively with third sector partners and public sector leaders to drive improvements in standards of service. I welcome applications from all suitably experienced individuals regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief, political opinion, gender, sexual orientation, age and disability.

I hope that you will feel able to submit an application and, once again, thank you for your interest in the post.

The New Decade, New Approach agreement to restore the Northern Ireland Executive in 2020 included a UK Government commitment to:

“Appoint a Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner to act as an independent point of contact to support and enhance outcomes for veterans in Northern Ireland.”

The Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner will be a visible leader and advocate, establishing strong networks and being influential. The Commissioner, working constructively with senior stakeholders, from public sector organisations and the ex-service sector, will support improved outcomes for veterans in Northern Ireland through collaboration and negotiation.

The work of the Commissioner must remain outcome-focused, requiring an individual who is able to foresee and overcome barriers to progress, in order to support continuous improvement.

The Commissioner must have or be able to quickly gain an understanding of the veterans sector and the broader military landscape.

Much of the Commissioner’s work will focus on the veteran’s journey as they navigate public services and thus familiarity with the public sector in Northern Ireland and how it provides services to the veterans’ community will be desirable. An understanding of the complaints handling and appeals procedures in place within the public sector would also be of benefit.

In advising on future policy development, the Commissioner should be cognisant of the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive’s strategic objectives and the wider policy context, taking a long‑term, strategic and holistic approach. They should make connections across a number of environments and prioritise activities that will deliver the greatest value and link evidence to specific outcomes.

The budget for the Commissioner’s office is funded by the UK Government and will cover the Commissioner’s remuneration, support staff, office and IT requirements and general running costs. The Commissioner’s office will be supported by a small staff of civil servants.

Responsibilities

The duties and functions of the Veterans Commissioner as agreed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland are:

• being open and accessible to the real life experiences of individual veterans, using information about them to shape priorities and drive improvement in public services;
• raising the profile of veterans in Northern Ireland, improving communication and understanding of their needs, issues and aspirations and promoting wider recognition of their skills, experience and talent;
• working to support the alignment of effort on the delivery of priority outcomes for veterans through collaboration, building on and complementing the work of partners and stakeholders;
• improving outcomes for Armed Forces and Veterans’ Families, recognising that they too require support, including during periods of transition; and
• responding to inquiries or requests for advice from policy makers in the devolved administration and UKG, on the support that Armed Forces’ and Veterans’ families may require.

The Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner will be expected to fulfil these responsibilities by:

• engaging with veterans individually and their representative bodies to understand their needs and aspirations;
• understanding existing public service provision for veterans in Northern Ireland, identifying barriers;
• undertaking thematic inquiries and developing the evidence to make recommendations, in response to requests from Ministers and senior officials, for improvement in public service provision;
• developing and maintaining relationships with other relevant bodies in order to maximise opportunities to share advice, expertise and good practice, especially with third sector organisations;
• providing the strategic direction, performance framework and governance of the office of Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner;
• developing a communications strategy to raise the profile of veterans;
• being accountable to UK Government, through the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for the delivery of your objectives and performance of your office;
• giving consideration to which policy areas and services should be reviewed, including considering whether there are associated devolved issues for Armed Forces and Veterans’ families that need to be considered; and
• being guided by the Seven Principles of Public Life to secure the best possible outcomes for veterans and their families in Northern Ireland.

Person specification

All candidates for this challenging role will need to demonstrate:

• Strong and visible leadership skills, with the ability to challenge constructively, influence and negotiate with key stakeholders at local, national and strategic levels to deliver improvement.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively, delivering improved outcomes through partnership, demonstrating sensitivity in dealing with people, empowering and motivating, whilst maintaining a flexible and adaptable approach.
• Ability to make effective decisions and develop policy and strategy, be innovative and identify new solutions, providing a clear strategic vision for the work of the Veterans Commissioner’s office, translating that vision into successful outcomes.
• Knowledge of the ex-Service sector in Northern Ireland and Armed Forces transition arrangements or either the housing, health, employability or welfare sectors in Northern Ireland.
• Practical understanding of the requirements of good corporate governance, including financial and performance management and personal integrity.