Team Leader – HEROS 2 Lot 2 (Conflict Expert Advisory Service)

Overview

The HEROS 2 Programme is one of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) largest and most strategically significant programmes, designed to deliver rapid, high-quality humanitarian and stabilisation support in response to global crises. The programme is delivered through two lots. Lot 2 provides the Conflict Expert Advisory Service (CEAS): a dedicated capability that deploys conflict, security and stabilisation expertise at short notice to FCDO teams, overseas posts, other UK Government Departments (OGDs) and external partners.

Sitting within FCDO’s new Conflict and Violence Community of Expertise, CEAS enables evidence-based interventions to prevent, manage and resolve conflict in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. The service will deliver a ~90 expert deployments a year across a broad range of profiles, from conflict and atrocity risk analysis, mediation and stabilisation, to security sector governance, PSVI and serious organised crime. Deployments must be mobilised at pace and often into hostile and insecure environments.

The Team Leader holds overall accountability for the delivery, quality and performance of the Lot 2 contract throughout its lifecycle, from implementation and transition through to steady-state operational delivery.

Role Purpose

Lead the delivery of FCDO’s Conflict Expert Advisory Service (Lot 2), ensuring the rapid, high-quality deployment of conflict, security and stabilisation expertise in line with FCDO priorities. The role demands strategic oversight combined with strong operational delivery: the Team Leader must be a credible senior interlocutor for FCDO’s Conflict and Humanitarian Operations and Response Department (CHORD), while personally driving mobilisation, roster readiness, deployment management and performance against contractual KPIs. The Team Leader will ensure the service is ready to surge at short notice, that experts are deployable, cleared and safe, and that delivery consistently meets compliance, duty-of-care and value-for-money standards.

Key Responsibilities

Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the primary senior interface with FCDO (CHORD, the HEROS 2 Programme Management Team, Capability Leads and commissioning customers), ensuring responsiveness, timely reporting and trusted advice.
• Position CEAS effectively within the wider Conflict and Violence Community of Expertise, coordinating with the Lot 1 supplier and other FCDO partnerships to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication.
• Build and maintain credibility with FCDO conflict, security and stabilisation stakeholders across HMG, including the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and the Integrated Security Fund.

Operational Delivery

• Provide hands-on leadership of end-to-end deployment delivery: commissioning, tasking, mobilisation, in-deployment management and post-deployment reporting against agreed objectives and Terms of Reference.
• Maintain a state of readiness to surge, ensuring experts can be deployed to the FCDO crisis centre and to overseas locations within demanding, task-dependent timescales.
• Oversee recruitment, roster management and effective management of conflict and security experts, ensuring individuals meet the Conflict Expertise Profiles (Annex L), are suitably trained, security-cleared and deployable at short notice.
• Drive delivery of both national/regional and UK-based expert deployments, including into off-platform locations, ensuring interoperability with FCDO, OGD and partner platforms.

Team Management & Accountability

• Provide overall management and accountability for Lot 2 delivery, including financial oversight of the contract (initial value up to £40m; total value up to £68m over the term and any extensions).
• Lead a multi-disciplinary delivery team (including HR, security, ICT, finance and MEL functions) supporting expert deployment management, fostering collaboration and performance under pressure.

• Maintain a single, coherent management and governance structure for the lot, ensuring seamless and integrated delivery of all CEAS outputs.

Strategic Planning, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure robust duty-of-care, safeguarding and security arrangements for personnel deploying into fragile, hostile and insecure environments, including hostile environment training and medical clearance.
• Manage security clearance processes (Official, SC, DV) in line with FCDO policy, and ensure tax and IR35 compliance across deployments and the supply chain.
• Maintain effective risk management and compliance with HMG guidance, and lead the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) approach for the service, translating lessons into tracked improvement actions.
• Manage performance against KPIs and support continuous improvement and value for money throughout the contract term.

Essential Requirements

• At least SC and preferably DV-cleared.
• British citizen / passport holder.
• Substantial experience of FCDO conflict, security and/or stabilisation programming, including in leadership positions.
• Proven experience managing deployments or surge teams at pace in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
• Experience leading the delivery of major programmes, including financial and performance accountability.
• Deep understanding of conflict prevention, stabilisation, security sector governance, mediation and/or conflict and atrocity risk analysis.
• Strong understanding of deploying personnel into hostile and insecure environments, including duty-of-care, security clearance and safeguarding requirements.
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation and management skills, with the credibility to engage FCDO and wider HMG stakeholders at senior level.
• At least 15 years of directly relevant work experience.

Desirable Experience

• Experience as a team leader of FCDO major programmes on a commercial contract.
• Former FCDO staff member or comparable role within HMG conflict, security or stabilisation functions.
• Familiarity with the Conflict and Violence Community of Expertise, the Civilian Stabilisation Group, or comparable mechanisms.
• Experience working across HMG on conflict and security, including with the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and the Integrated Security Fund.
• Prior experience with HEROS or a similar mechanism.

Applications will be reviewed in a rolling basis.