THE DEPARTMENT OF Defence (DOD) has begun the recruitment process for a Head of Transformation – a key recommendation in the Commission on the Defence Forces. 

The job will be at Assistant Secretary level in the DOD and will carry a wage in excess of €150,000.

The role has been advertised on the State’s publicjobs.ie website which says that the civilian will report directly to the Chief of Staff (COS) Lt General Sean Clancy and be based in the Defence headquarters in Newbridge. 

The recruitment booklet said that the Head of Transformation will be a member of the senior Defence Forces leadership and management team and the Defence Strategic Management Committee (SMC).

The role will support the CoS directly and ‘drive, support, advise and enable the
future transformation” of the Defence Forces in line with the Government’s High Level Action Plan (HLAP).

“The successful candidate will lead the delivery of challenging strategic transformation programmes across the organisation, working closely with senior colleagues and also with external consultants as required.

“Transformation delivery programmes will be iterative and updated to reflect evolving priorities and strategies within the broader organisation and wider Defence and Public Services sector where appropriate and relevant,” the booklet states. 

It is understood that a team of Defence Forces personnel led by a senior military officer are working on the plan which was announced in July. 

In July it was announced that the Government had approved a move to “Level of Ambition 2” (LOA2) – one of the scenarios for investment in Irish forces set out in a capability framework devised by the Commission on the Defence Forces, published in February – which would result in the defence budget rising to €1.5 billion.

The plan would see 6,000 extra troops, sailor and aircrew, over the next six years.

The Commission’s report outlined 130 recommendations. The action plan has accepted the majority of them – 48 fully and 55 “in principle” – with another 17 subject to further evaluation.

The Defence Budget for 2023 will see €1.174 billion in Defence Group funding.

This allocation represents an increase of €67 million on the corresponding 2022 budget allocation.