Head of Corporate Affairs, Department of Defence 2026: TLAC guide

This post gathers several functions that can each become a career in their own right. The Head of Corporate Affairs is responsible for people and development, finance, pay and pensions, corporate support, communications and projects, while also carrying Management Board duties.

That breadth is the assessment problem. A candidate can be excellent in HR, finance or communications and still fail to show that they can lead across all of them at Assistant Secretary level.

The portfolio behind the title

The people brief covers HR for civil servants and civilian employees, learning and development, mentoring and wellbeing. Finance includes budget oversight, Estimates and Appropriation Accounts, plus shared services supporting several Defence bodies. Pay and pensions covers the Defence Forces payroll, expenses, superannuation and related policy.

Corporate support brings facilities, major works liaison, health and safety, records, data protection, freedom of information and protected disclosures. Communications includes press, social media and internal communications. The post holder also has named project responsibilities concerning military aviation regulation and military intelligence legislation.

The application should therefore show how you lead through other senior specialists. It does not need to claim personal mastery of every technical field.

What the person specification is really testing

The booklet asks for a senior record in a large, complex organisation, with corporate governance, operational issues and change all visible. It also names organisational design, workforce planning, employee engagement, significant financial resources and public financial procedures.

Relationship evidence matters because the post works within a political process and across Defence stakeholders. Team leadership should show quality, value for money and delivery under pressure. The successful candidate also needs to contribute beyond the portfolio as a Management Board member.

Ideally, an applicant will meet at least two of four breadth indicators: work in more than one organisation, international experience, experience outside the Civil Service, or varied policy, strategy and operational work.

Use that list as a diagnostic. Do not force a weak claim. Where experience is transferable, state the bridge clearly.

Build examples at the right altitude

A senior example needs more than a large number. Explain the choice you faced and the system you changed. For finance, that may be how resources were redirected while accountability was protected. For people, it may be an organisational design decision with operational consequences. For governance, show the point at which your challenge changed the course of a proposal.

If your first draft reads like a job description, use the evidence rule in the publicjobs application process: role, personal action, decision and result must all be visible.

What is and is not confirmed about selection

The process may include application shortlisting, a preliminary interview, an online questionnaire, a case study, work sample, role play or media exercise. The final competitive interview is conducted by TLAC and may include a presentation.

No numerical, verbal or situational-judgement aptitude test is named. Nor does the list guarantee that every exercise will be used. Wait for the invitation before treating any format as fixed.

Useful preparation now is format-neutral: practise extracting the decision from a short briefing, presenting a recommendation with risks, and defending a trade-off under questioning.

Booklet reading order

Pages 5 and 6 are the core: the portfolio and person specification. Page 7 sets out the Assistant Secretary competencies. Page 8 covers pay. Pages 9 and 10 explain the application and selection options.

PSP checked these official sources on 14 August 2026. Use the current listing and booklet if any detail changes.